About the Recipe
Ingredients
2 tones of a similar color of crepe paper- size wise depends on how many petals you want, but the more the merrier
2- 4x8” pieces of green crepe paper
One small styrofoam ball for the flower center (around 1”)
1 floral Stem/ I’ve used wire in the past and that works too! You can find this supplies in the fake-flower sections in Michael’s
Scissors
Hot glue
Preparation
***Important note! When cutting out the crepe paper, you want to make SURE the grain is running vertical (up and down). If you cut the petals out and the grain is horizontal, the paper won’t stretch right and you’ll have to do it all over again ;)!***
If you know me, you know I have an infatuation with making paper flowers. Do they take a million years to make, yes. Do they use a randomly large amount of crepe paper and hot glue, yes. So are they worth it, absolutely. Anything that brings us joy is always with it!
Why Paper Flowers?
While in Yogyakarta I was able to see two temples. They were both beautiful temples themselves, but being so close to each other, it created a larger historic environment that told stories of more than just building a structure. For instance, one of the temples, Prambanan was built as a Hindu temple complex for the Sanjaya dynasty during the 9th century. Prambanan was built in what folks think was a response to the completion of the Buddhist temple Borobadur which had been completed just before under the Shailendra dynasty not 20 km away. They are both massive feats of construction that much like single flowers are still beautiful and full of life. However put them together as you put a bouquet together, and the differences really exemplify their uniqueness.
To make these paper flowers, use the template in the pdf OR I just wing the petals. You must remember that flowers were never made to be perfect. Each petal is similar, yet has grown independently. Has been through the wind at different milliseconds, receives sun differently at different hours, so if a flower’s petals are not perfect, don’t worry about making your exact!
Cut out your petals first. What’s cool about the crepe paper is the ability to stretch it. You can use your thumbs to give the paper a little tug in the center of each petal. This will create an almost dome-like shape that will help give the flowers that depth we want to see in petals. Set the petals aside.
Grab one of the green crepe paper strips and stretch it as long as if can go. Fold it in half hotdog style and use your scissors to cut slits along the folded edge. Be careful not to cut all the way through. This is going to be your flower center. Use your hot glue and the styrofoam ball to glue the open edge of the paper to the styrofoam center and keep glueing/ wrapping around the center in a slight upward motion until you can’t see the white of the styrofoam.
Now that you have your centers, use the hot glue to attach your petals. Have fun with it and remember, it doesn’t need to be exact! Play with how the petals are curving- do they curve up, curve down, I always have the inside petals curve in and the very outside petals curve down depending on how many layers you want to include.
Hot glue the tip of the Floral wire and stick it into the styrofoam center. Let it completely dry (3 minutes) before taking your last green strip and configuring it around the base of the flower to cover the bottom of the petals. This creates that finished look.
Voila! You just made a fairly simple paper flower! If you want a challenge, make a dozen! Sometimes I’ll add pom poms around the center too!