Make Crepe Paper Peonies

While you can make most paper flowers out of tissue paper, peonies need to be made out of crepe paper. This is because crepe paper stretches in ways that tissue paper doesn't; this is important when recreating the ruffled tips of the peony. These flowers may look intimidating to make, but they are actually quite simple. Best of all, they will last much longer than real peonies!

Steps

Making the Stamen

1. Roll some crepe paper into a small ball. The ball should be about the size of a marble, a blueberry, or your thumb. Yellow crepe paper will work the best for this, but you can use white as well.
2. Cover the ball with yellow crepe paper and secure it to a wire stem. Place the ball on top of a green, wire florist's stem. Cover it with a small square of yellow crepe paper. Wrap and twist the crepe paper around the ball to secure it to the stem, just like wrapping a lollipop. Set the stem aside when you are done.
3. Wrap yellow embroidery thread 9 to 10 times around two fingers. Place the end of your yellow embroidery thread across your index and middle finger. Wrap it 9 to 10 times around those fingers, like making a pompom or tassel.
   • Choose a color that matches your yellow crepe paper.
4. Pull off the looped thread and cut it. Slide the looped thread off of your fingers first. Cut through the top and bottom loops with a sharp pair of scissors. You will now have 18 to 20 short strands of embroidery thread. Keep them all together.
5. Spread the floss across a strip of double-sided tape. Cut off a strip of double-sided tape that's long enough to hold your pieces of embroidery thread. Set it down onto a smooth surface, like a metal tray, wax paper, or parchment paper. Spread the cut threads across the tape to make a fringe. Make sure that the bottom ends of the threads are aligned with the bottom, long edge of the tape.
   • If you don't have enough threads, cut more using the same technique as before.
6. Wrap the double-sided tape around the base of the ball. Press down on the threads first to make sure that they are stuck to the tape. Peel the tape off, then wrap it around the base of the ball, where the twisted part is. Make sure that the threads are on the outside and pointing upwards.
   • Don't worry if it looks messy now; you will be covering this up eventually.

Creating the Petals

1. Cut crepe paper into rectangles for the base of the petals. You will need 10 strips of 2½-inch (6.35-centimeter) long and ¾-inch (1.91-centimeter) wide crepe paper for the small petals, and 10 strips of 2½-inch (6.35-centimeter) long and 1-inch (2.54-centimeter) wide crepe paper for the large petals. You can use white or pale pink crepe paper.
   • Try to use 180-gram Italian crepe paper if you can. It is much thicker than regular crepe paper and easier to stretch and sculpt.
   • For something more realistic, consider making 5 of the small petals pale yellow.
2. Cut the rectangles into tabbed petal shapes. Make each petal shaped like a tear drop with a wavy, rippled edge along the top. If you want to, you can add a small tab to the bottom of each petal to make it easier to secure to the stem.
   • Stack several sheets of paper at once while cutting. You can also make a template out of cardstock or thin cardboard and use that instead.
3. Shape the small petals into ruffed cups. Take a small petal, and make little upward tugs along the top edge to create a ruffle. Gently pull the side edges apart at the center to form a cup shape. Do this for all 10 small petals.
4. Shape the large petals into plain cups. Take a large petal, and pull the side edges apart to form a cup shape. Do this for all 10 large petals. You can add a ruffle to some of the top edges, but leave some unruffled for the outer petals.
5. Glue the first small petal to the stem. Apply some hot glue to the tabbed part of your first, small petal. Press the tab against the wire stem, just below the stamen ball. Wrap the edges of the tab around the stem so that it doesn't stick out.
   • If you made some pale yellow petals, start with one of these.
6. Continue gluing the small petals to the stem. Overlap each petal slightly, so that the side edge of the first petal is touching the inside of the next petal.
   • If you made any pale yellow petals, start with these, then move on to the white or pink ones.
7. Finish off with the largest petals. Each layer needs to have 5 large petals. If you made some large petals ruffles, start with these, and finish with the unruffled ones.

Making the Leaves

1. Cut 5 small leaf shapes out of green paper. Make them skinny and oval shaped, with pointed tips. To make the leaves easier to secure to the stem, add a small tab at the bottom of each one.
2. Glue the leaves to the bottom of the flower. Add a bead of hot glue to the tabbed part of the leaf. Press the tab against the stem, just below the bloom. Continue glue leaves all around the base of the bloom; you may not end up using all of them.
   • Have these leaves pressed up against the base of the bloom.
3. Cut three 3-point leaves. These leaves should be shaped a little like a bird or T-rex footprint, or like three fingers making a W symbol. Do not add tabs to these leaves.
4. Glue the leaves to wire stems. Draw a short, vertical line of hot glue down the center of one leaf, right at the base. Quickly press a new wire stem into the glue. Repeat this step for the remaining two leaves. Your leaf stems are almost complete.
5. Wrap the top part of each leaf stem with florist's tape. Take your first leaf stem. Wrap green florist's tape around it, starting at the base of the leaf. Continue wrapping for 4 inches (10.16 centimeters), overlapping each later slightly. Tear off the tape, but don't trim the wire. Repeat this step for the remaining two leaf stems.

Assembling the Stem

1. Wrap the top of the main stem with green florist's tape. Start wrapping at the base of the bloom. Continue wrapping the tape, overlapping each layer slightly, for about 4 inches (10.16 centimeters). Tear off the tape, and leave the bottom of the stem intact.
2. Secure the a leaf stem to the main stem. Place the a leaf stem against the main stem, just below the bloom. Make sure that the taped part of the leaf stem is sticking out, and the bare part is against the main stem. Secure the leaf stem to the main stem with green florist's tape. Wrap it around both stems for 4 inches (10.16 centimeters), then tear it off.
3. Secure the next two leaf stems, spacing them 4 inches (10.16 centimeters) apart. Place the second leaf stem right where you finished wrapping, about 4 inches (10.16 centimeters) below the first one. Secure it to the main stem in a similar fashion. Wrap for 3 to 4 inches (7.62 to 10.16 centimeters), then add your final leaf stem.
   • Make sure that the taped pat of each leaf stem is sticking out.
4. Finish wrapping the tape around the main stem. When you reach the bottom, tear the tape off. Cut the excess wire stems off with a pair of heavy-duty wire cutters.
5. Finish shaping the flower. At this point, your flower is essentially done. The petals will all be clumped together, like a closed flower. If you want to make the flower look fuller, gently pull down on the petals to open the bloom up. The leaf stems will be pointing upward. If you want to, you can gently pull down on them so they stick out of the stem at different angles.

Tips

• Do not use a green pipe cleaner in place of the wire stem; it is not the same thing.
• Avoid using the green wire that comes on a spool; it is too flimsy.
• You can find crepe paper online, certain art shops, and paper-supply shops.
• You can make your peonies other colors as well. Look at pictures of real ones to get ideas.
• Work a little bit at a time with the hot glue, or it will set up too fast.
• You can try using regular crepe paper or paper streamers, but they won't be as easy to sculpt.
• Do not use tissue paper. It won't stretch the same was as crepe paper.
• If you can't find any hot glue, you can use another type of fast-drying glue, such as super glue.

Things You'll Need

• White and/or pink crepe paper, preferably 180-gram Italian
• Yellow crepe paper, preferably 180-gram Italian
• Green crepe paper, preferably 180-gram Italian
• Yellow embroidery floss
• Double sided tape
• Wire florist's stem, green
• Floral tape, green
• Scissors
• Hot glue gun and hot glue sticks

Sources and Citations

See also

• Make a Kusudama Flower
• Fold a Paper Rose
• Make an Origami Flower
• Fold an Origami Lily
• Make a Kusudama Ball
• Fold a Napkin Into a Rose
• Make a Simple Origami Lotus Flower
• Make a Paper Flower Bouquet
• Make a Dollar Bill Rose
• Make a Paper Orchid

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