Arnt these cute! They were really easy to make, though it did take me a few hours. I sat down one evening and made them while I watched a few episodes of Amazon’s ‘Hand of God – Season 2’, which I highly recommend. The time flew by, and I found it very enjoyable and relaxing. It’s the first time I ever tried to make crepe paper flowers, and they didn’t come out perfect but they are cute and I enjoyed myself.
I photographed my process, I made a few mistakes along with way but for the most part, I think I figured it all out and I think you’ll get the gist of it.
I got the crepe paper at a dollar store,and I had all of the other stuff already. You could most likely find nearly everything at a dollar store, except maybe Aleen’s Tacky Glue (which I love) but they do sell a “craft glue” that might be good. Otherwise, ordinary white glue will do. You’ll just have to wait longer for it to dry. Oh, and I didn’t end up using the tape, so just ignore that.
I used…
- Aleen’s Tacky Glue
- 1 sheet of 9×12 inch green construction paper
- Green acrylic craft paint & paint brush
- Crepe paper in yellow, purple, and white
- Bambo skewers, 12
- A toothpick
- Scissors
- 1 1/2 inch circle punch (optional)
- Standard hole punch (optional)
To make the flowers…
First, paint your skewers and leave them to dry completely. It’s important they are dry, or glue may lift the color. I left the pointy ends on, I think they’ll stick into a piece of foam better that way. But you could cut them off and sand them smooth before painting if you like. You could also cut them to different lengths, I didn’t. I figured I’d just stick them in further to the foam.
Cut your construction paper into 8: 1.5″ circles, 8: 2×1 rectangles 8: 2×2″ squares. Fold 4 of the squares in half, and 4 of the squares in quarters. Fold all of the rectangles in half.
Cut 4 of the circles 1″ down the middle. Then either poke or punch a hole in the middle. Cut the other 4 circles completely in half.
Cut the rectangles as shown.
Cut the folded in half squares as shown.
Cut the folded in quarters squares as shown. As an optional step, I scratched leaf veins into the paper leaves with the dull and sharp sides of the tips on my scissors. Fold back the little tabs on the leaves for later.
Cut 2: 8″ strips of yellow crepe paper. Fold each piece 4 times, then cut in half. Make 1/8″ cuts half way down on once side of each strip.
Unfold the strips, dip the blunt end of one of the painted skewers in glue and then tightly wrap the uncut side of a strip around the end. Dab on a little glue every few inches.
Cut 4: 24″ strips of white crepe paper. Fold each over 4 times and cut out “V” shapes like in the picture. Add a little glue to one end and wrap a strip over the yellow already on the skewer, add a dab of glue every few inches, and a few dabs at the end of the strip.
Roll the wet with glue end of the flower and punch it tight. Add glue to one of the half circles and roll it round side up, tightly around the bottom of the flower. Hold with your fingers until it all stays put. Set it aside to dry completely.
Once dry, fluff out the petals. Then glue on two of the long leaves cut from the rectangles.
Cut 8: 2″ strips of the purple crepe paper. Wade up half the squares into balls, glue on a ball into each of the remaining squares. Dip the blunt end of one of the painted skewers into glue and then into the center of the square with the ball in it. Wrap the paper around the skewer and secure with glue.
Cut 4: 24″ strips of yellow crepe paper. Fold it 4 times and cut out a petal shape as shown in the picture.
Add the petals by dipping the bottoms in glue and attaching them to the purple center. At first, wrap them, as you go you’ll be able to just glue them onto the bottom. Dry them upside-down if you can.
Attach the rounds with the holes to the bottom, use plenty of glue and be sure to overlap slightly. Add one of the large round leaves that were cut out of the folded in half squares.
Cut 4: 12″ strips of purple crepe paper. Fold 3 times, and snip halfway up at the sides. Then, cut half way up evenly 4 times, as in the picture.
Unfold, and curl all the petals in the same direction. I used the bottom of my paintbrush, but anything similar will work. Place blobs of glue along the opposite side away from the curls.
Starting at the blunt top of one of the skewers, roll the gluey side of the strip around in a sort of long spiral.
Glue and roll one of the cut in half circles, round side up to the base of the flower. Glue on 4 of the tiny leaves cut from the quarter fold squares.
That’s it! It might be a little time consuming, but it’s certainly easy enough to do while watching a show or two.