How to make luxe Crepe paper flowers 

Paper flowers have been around for years dare I say since the 70’s, think tissue paper flowers.  But nowadays paper flowers are made with everything from regular paper, cardstock, tissue paper, coffee filters, and crepe paper.  I’ve made a few flowers in my time and have tutorials for

1. tissue paper flowers
2. giant flower stems
3. paper flowers

today I’m taking a more artistic view on these beauties. How to make luxe crepe paper flowers, why is this luxe you ask?   The effect you can get with crepe paper is just stunning it looks like a real flower and isn’t that what we want?  I’m doing a flower wall for a June bride but I wanted it to be a bit more modern than ones I’ve done in the past.  I’m going to stain a few pieces of plywood to create the wall and just frame the outside corner with flowers and greenery.   It’s going to be a romantic garden wedding that I can’t wait to set up!

I’m going to show you how to make these giant beauties and a few things you can use them for besides a party or wedding backdrop.

THIS IS WHAT YOU NEED

1. Crepe Paper in the colors you want, don’t forget about  green for the leaves I love the Lia Griffith brand
2. Hot Glue and lots of it
3. Heavy duty Scissors so you can cut through lots of layers
4. A pattern’s for each flower I used Paper to petal’s template
5. Card Stock for the base
6. Binder Clips to keep things together

Step 1 trace petals

1 the first thing you need to do is print out the patterns or make your own and then trace the petals onto the crepe paper. (I made my own pattern because I wanted to have a larger flower than the pattern I found) When you are tracing the pattern make sure that the crepe paper is turned the right way.  You are going to want to have the stretchy part of the paper to be vertical. can you see the little lines that go up and down?  Make sure you always lay your patterns with the petal tip pointing up.  That way when it comes time to stretch the middles or ends you will have some give and get a great looking ruffle.

Step 2 cut out petals 

Cut out as many layers as your scissors will handle.  I love my Nat Berkus Scissors from Target because they are strong and will cut through about 10 layers.  I like to accordion fold my crepe after I trace a few petals onto the edges of the paper,  I try to get as many folds as I can.  After I fold the crepe I will use binder clips to secure the paper so that I don’t get any slippage.

Step 3 make numbered piles of petals 

I cut out a ton of petals in lots of sizes so that I can make a few flowers at a time.  Make piles on the floor in front of you with the numbers of the petals showing on the paper templates. This just makes it easier to grab the right size. The templates are at the end of this post.

(these are not the petals I used for this flower I never got a good photo of them all lined up)

Step 4 make a base for your flower

Draw a circle onto card stock, this will be your base it should be as big as you can get it.  You will be trimming it later so its no big deal if it is lopsided or not perfectly perfect.

Step 5 start gluing

Make sure that glue gun is plugged in and hot, because now the fun part is going to begin.  Start with the smallest size petal you have cut out, pull at the crepe almost at the top to create a bowl shape.  Then fold the bottom of the petal over each ( or squish together) and glue just a bit so that the petal holds its shape.  I wanted to skip this step when I started my first flower, and it seemed to work out OK but the flower was a lot looser and not as sculptural.  If you need to make a few stunning flowers don’t skip this step.  If you need a hundred flowers then skip this step and solder on!

Step 6 glue the centers to the base

Bend the tip of the glued bottom of the flower over about an inch and use that as a base to glue the petal to the cardstock circle I use about 5-6 with the bent part facing inward. after that round, I start facing the petal feet outward.

step 7 keep gluing

Keep going round and round with the small petals until you get a full center using the 1. petal and the size 2. petals.

step 8 keep gluing 

Then start the same thing using size 3 go around the flower once squishing as many petals as you can in overlapping and filling in holes.  then keep adding with sized 4-5 as will so that your flower is a big and full as you want it to be.

Step 9 outer layer of large petals

This is the last round of petals, these outer petals are a bit bigger than the others and will hold the flower together in a beautiful shape.  Don’t get too picky because some of the charms of paper flowers and real flowers are to have the petals falling open….. like a real flower.

Step 10 make it look pretty 

Cut off the cardstock circle around the base so that there isn’t any white part showing,  to finish the edge you will attach one more layer of petals along the outside and glue them to the bottom of the card stock so that it looks likes a finished flower.

step 11 add leaves optional 

To finish it off you can glue some green leaves to the bottom of the flower and larger ones peeking out from the bottom.

Now your masterpiece is finished!  This flower is so beautiful and sculptural I had to hang it in a frame in my office.  But eventually, it will be apart of a wedding backdrop in June.  If you do need an easier and faster flower you can pop back to my tissue paper flower tutorial.  They are still beautiful but a bit more whimsical and would be perfect for a fairy party or garden wedding. If its more of a modern vibe your looking for my cards stock paper flowers might be a better fit. Any flower that you chose will defiantly make a statement and be such a beautiful touch to your spring decor, party or wedding.  I’d love to see what you create with these flowers so tag me on Instagram @theglitzypear.

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