Crepe Paper Flowers – The Easiest Paper Flowers

Instructions

1. Create the flower centers. Using pliers, bend a small hook in a 20 cm (8 in) piece of 18-gauge wire. Insert 8 to 10 millinery stamens and close the hook around them. Tape the base with floral tape to keep the stamens in place. Stretch the tape to activate the glue.
2. Make the petals. Lay an oblong piece of crepe paper over a small bowl. Place the wooden ball or golf ball on top and tightly twist both ends of the paper like a candy wrapper. By using differently sized balls, you can create numerous sizes of flowers. Make 5 petals per flower.
3. Assemble the flower. Gather 5 petals and wrap wire around the base to secure them in position. Insert the flower center in the middle and tape down the stem with floral tape. Snip off the tips of the petals and pinch the ends.
4. Make the leaves. Fold a strip of paper several times, so it has roughly the size of the leaf template. Place the template on top and cut along the outline. Apply glue to a leaf, stick a piece of wire on it and then a second leaf. Bend to make the leaves more life-like.
5. Create the bouquet. To arrange the crepe paper flowers in a vase, shorten the stems as needed, and place the flowers in the vase allowing the flowers to rest on each other. If the vase has a wide opening, put floral foam into the container and then insert the flowers and leaves. To make a hand-held bouquet, tape together the stems of a couple of flowers. You can make the bouquet smaller or larger in size by removing or adding flowers. To add more girth to the handle, wrap paper towel or a napkin around the base of the bouquet and tape tightly down with floral tape. Optionally, use ribbon to decorate the handle further.