This is an introduction to crepe paper flower making for older children.  We should offer a disclaimer, however, once you make one, there will be bouquets, many, many  bouquets…

Materials

  • Crepe paper rolls (we recommend this heavy weight form for maximum pliability, but you could also use crepe paper folds)
  • Double sided crepe
  • Child safe cotton swabs
  • Scissors
  • Fringing scissors
  • Tacky glue
  • Artificial stamen
  • Floral tape
  • Branches
  • Craft feathers
  • Vine Leaf wreath
  • If you are giving this as a Mother’s Day gift, we attached a set of tags for you: HappyMothersDay

Source List

Here is a list of some of the stores that we have used in making crepe paper projects.  We selected them both for the products and the customer service that we received.

Double Sided Crepe

This is the fold type and is lighter weight, but what makes it special is that it is often two colours put together so it draws attention in a project.

Crepe Paper Rolls

This is the heavy weight variety and has amazing pliability.

Floral Tape

Stamen

Directions

TAKE A PEEK AT OUR STEP-BY-STEP VIDEO!

Flower Centre (Stigma)

  • For children (or adults) just learning, it is good to start with a child safe cotton swab, as it is easy to hold and manipulate.  (You can later progress to spun cotton shapes and floral wire or many other pre-made centres on floral wire).  Cut off one end of the swab.  Cut off the little tip on the remaining end.
  • Cut out a small square of crepe paper (that you have already stretched out).  Depending on the size of your swab, it will be approximately 2.5-5 centimetres/ 1-2 inches by 2.5- 5 centimetres/1-2 inches in size.
  • Using tacky glue, fill in a circle of glue in the centre of the crepe paper square.  Place the swab in the glue and twist the paper around the stick portion of the swab. Secure with floral tape.  One way to do this is to hold the swab in one hand and twist it, while pulling the tape almost up and over (it must be stretched to activate the glue).  Once you have wrapped around the bottom edge of the paper, securing it to swab stick, then wrap down the stick at a diagonal angle to hold it in place.

Stamen & Fringe

  • To cut a fringe, stretch out your crepe paper and then fold it in half.  Cut down from the fold (either with fringing scissors or with regular scissors cutting about 3/4 down the height of the crepe, making parallel cuts).  If you plan on making many flowers you can do a long strip and then cut it into portions about 2. 2.5-5 centimetres/ 1-2 inches by 2.5- 5 centimetres/1-2 inches for each flower.
  • If the stamen is double-ended, fold it in half.  Put some glue on the bottom of the fringe, making a thin line.  Put your stamen in between the flower centre and the fringe, wrapping the fringe around.  Secure it in place with floral tape, wrapping down the stick of the swab.

Petals

  • We show a very basic petal.  You can experiment with various shapes and/or ones that are joined.  This is just one example to get you started.
  • Cut strips of crepe paper and stretch it horizontally.  You can then stack the strips and cut a few petals at a time to make them uniform or each on their own for a more organic look.  You can then stretch the upper portion of the petal (between your thumbs and forefingers, pulling outward to give some shape to the petal (making almost a slightly boat like shape.)
  • Put a thin line of glue at the bottom two petals and place them opposite each other on the swab stick (slightly overlapping them).  Cut a longer piece of floral tape and secure those two petals (leaving the excess tape for the next few sets of petals).  Repeat with another two petals, placing them in the open spaces and secure with the tape.  Continue until you reach your desired fullness.  When you have completed, wrap your floral tape down the stem.

Embellishments

  • Some basic embellishments might include adding a stripe or dots with a metallic pastel or marker to the petals before attaching or adding similar details with glue and microbeads or fine glitter post forming the flowers.

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We then attached the flowers to branches with floral tape.

We took the branches and wove them into the grape vine wreath (you could glue them into place with a glue gun should you like)

We added a further bit of texture by adding some craft feathers.

Attach the provided Mother’s Day gift tag, should you like to give it as a gift.

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 Once you have mastered this basic technique, explore these amazing titles and websites to inspire you to the next level:

  • The Exquisite Book of Paper Flowers: A Guide to Making Unbelievably Realistic Paper Blooms, by Livia Cetti

Purpose

  • Developing fine motor skills, using a variety of materials to create a likeness of an object, item

Safety Notes

  • Use scissors with adult supervision

Crepe-paper-flower-wreath-all Crepe-paper-flower-wreath-2

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2 Responses

  1. Alka

    These flowers are just wooow… dont know if these are easy to make at home but i really like the look if these ones.
    You can also try these flowers here. Paper flowers

    Reply
    • Bonnie Scorer

      Thank you! Looking at what you can make out of origami, I am sure you would be able to make these!

      Reply

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