Crepe Paper Flower Tutorial

We have had a relatively mild winter so far, but it finally caught up to us. It snowed ALL day yesterday. So this morning it is a white wonderland out my window.  Not a flower in sight. Any of you have the same scenery this morning? No worries. You can make a beautiful flower out of crepe paper.  Just because there’s no flowers outside doesn’t mean you can’t have flowers inside. And if you have a black thumb like me, it helps that they are already dead, no watering required. 😉

I got the idea for these flowers off of Pinterest, but there was no tutorial, just a photo. Danggit. I tried using the method shown in the photo, but it didn’t work out so well. Double danggit.  After a bit of trial and error, I came up with my own instructions. Hope you like them. They sure brighten up my day when I walk by them!

How To Make a Flower Out of Crepe Paper

Supplies:
-crepe paper (duh)
-scissors and pencil
-needle and sturdy thread
-hot glue gun
-scrap of paper

Cut a piece of crepe paper about 2 yards (72 inches) long. Using a good pair of scissors, cut scallops all across the top edge.
Tip: If you are making more than one flower, stack all the strips on top of each other and secure them with paper clips every few inches. That way they won’t slip around and you can cut out several at a time. I cut three at a time and it worked just snazzy.
Take a needle and a long piece of sturdy thread and sew a running stitch along the bottom edge, pulling and gathering the paper as you go. Be gentle, crepe paper is pretty fragile and you don’t want to tear it!
After you have it all stitched and gathered, wrap it around in a spirally circle with the long thread on the top. Don’t cut the thread yet! When you have it arranged how you like, poke the needle down through the middle.
Cut two circles that are about 1 1/2″ across. One out of crepe paper, one out of white cardstock.
Put some hot glue on the cardstock circle. Take your flower and pull the thread tight through the bottom. Now carefully place it on top of the glued circle, trying to center it the best you can. It’s OK if it’s not perfectly centered. Mine weren’t.
Take the crepe paper circle and scrunch it around the end of a pencil. Ah, brings back memories of elementary school, doesn’t it? Put a bit of hot glue on the end and push it into the center of the flower. Hold it for a few seconds till the glue dries.
After you pull the pencil out, fluff up that piece in the middle a little, and you’ll have this:
They are beautiful as is, but if you want, you can add a little color like I did. Just use in ink pad and rub it on the edges of the flower. I used just a little for the flower on the left, and more on the one on the right. Then I spritzed them with a little water.
I used my flowers as wall decor. I had a frame in my laundry room that has been hanging on the wall EMPTY for over a year. I know. I’m ashamed. All I did was add some scrapbook paper to the back and hot glue the flowers on. I wanted a variegated look, so I put a white flower on top, the light blue in the middle, and the darker one on the bottom.
I love these crepe paper flowers–they are so pretty in real life!

In love with paper flowers like I am? You might like these as well:

Coffee Filter Roses
Rolled Paper Roses