Make a Paper Daisy

Daisies are pretty, but they don't last very long. Luckily, you can make realistic daisies at home that will last a lot longer if you take care of them. All you need is some paper, a wire stem, florist's tape, and a Styrofoam ball. Once you know how to make a basic daisy, you can experiment with making them in all sorts of interesting colors.

Steps

Cutting the Pieces

1. Cut petals out of crepe paper or tissue paper. Cut a skinny strip out of white crepe paper or tissue paper. Fold it in half several times, then cut a long, skinny petal shape out of it. This should give you several petals. Repeat this step until you have about 20 to 24 petals.
   • Have the petals taper into a skinny tab at the bottom so that you can secure them more easily.
2. Shape the petals further, if desired. If you used crepe paper, you can gently pull the petals apart at the center to widen them. If you used tissue paper, you can fold the petals over a toothpick or skewer lengthwise to create a slight crease.
   • Make the petals more realistic by cutting a notch into the tip
3. Cut a jagged fringe from green paper for the flower base. Begin by cutting a 1 to 2-inch (2.54 to 5.08-centimeter) tall rectangle from green tissue paper or crepe paper. Next, cut a jagged, grass-like fringe into one of the long edges. This will make the base of the daisy and help cover up the bottom part of the petals.
   • Plan on making the rectangle about 5 inches (12.7 centimeters) long. You can always trim it down later if it's too long.
4. Cut some leaf shapes, if desired. Begin by folding a piece of green tissue or crepe paper in half. Cut a half-oval out of it, then cut notches into the curved edge of the oval. Unfold the oval to reveal your leaf.
   • You can make as many leaves as you want. 2 to 3 would be ideal, however.

Making the Center

1. Roll a small Styrofoam ball into a teardrop shape. The ball needs to be proportionate to your flower; something around 1 inch (2.54 centimeters) in diameter would work for most flowers. You can also roll some aluminum foil to a teardrop shape instead.
   • For a more realistic center, gently flatten the curbed part of the teardrop.
2. Stick the teardrop pointy-side-down onto a florist's wire stem. If the teardrop is loose, pull it off, fill the hole with glue, then push it onto the wire again. Make sure that the wire doesn't pop out of the top part of the tear drop.
   • If you can't find any wire stems, you can paint a skewer green and use that instead. Don't use regular wire or pipe cleaners.
3. Consider giving the teardrop some texture. You don't have to do this if you used a Styrofoam ball, but you might want to if you used aluminum foil. Paint the teardrop with glue first, then dip it into ground rice. Let the glue dry, then seal it with another coat of glue.
   • You only need to coat the top part of the teardrop.
   • If you can't find ground rice, try something else that has a grainy texture, such as ground/steel cut oatmeal or ground buckwheat.
4. Paint the teardrop yellow with acrylic paint. You may need to add a few coats of paint to completely cover the base material. Let each coat of paint dry before adding the next one.

Assembling the Flower

1. Begin hot gluing the petals around the teardrop. Apply some glue to the side of the teardrop, from the bottom point up to where it starts to curve into a dome. Press your first petal, tabbed side down, into the glue. Continue gluing the petals, one by one, until you complete your first row.
   • Hot glue sets quickly, so work only one petal at a time.
2. Add a second row of petals. If you look at your teardrop, you will see some gaps between the petals. Fill those gaps with glue, then press more petals into the glue.
3. Glue the fringe to the flower's base, extending it onto the stem. Coat the bottom portion of the teardrop with glue. Wrap the fringe around it, with the jagged side facing up. The bottom edge should extend past the bottom of the tear drop and onto the stem. Cut off any excess fringe hanging off the side.
4. Twist the bottom part of the fringe to close it. Gently pinch the bottom part of the fringe, then twist it slightly around the wire. If you need to, secure the twisted part to the wire with a strip of florist's tape.
5. Wrap florist's tape around the stem. Begin wrapping from the base of the fringe, where the pinched/twisted part is. Continue wrapping all the way to the bottom of the stem.
6. Secure the leaves to the stem, if you made them. Place the bottom point of the leaf against the stem and pinch it. Give it a slight twist, then secure it with green florist's tape. Repeat this step for all of the leaves you made. You can have them as close together or as far apart as you want.
7. Open up the flower, if desired. Some daisies are open all the way while others are closed. You can leave your daisy closed, if you want to, or you can gently pull down on the petals to open it up.

Tips

• If you can't find crepe paper anywhere, use a paper streamer instead. You can also unroll a paper rope, and use that instead.
• You can make the daisies using tissue paper if you can't find any crepe paper. Regular paper will also work for the petals.
• Your daisies don't have to be white. You can make them any color your want.

Things You'll Need

• White crepe paper
• Green crepe paper
• Florist's wire stem
• Green florist's tape
• Scissors
• 1-inch (2.54-centimeter) Styrofoam ball
• Yellow acrylic paint
• Hot glue gun and hot glue sticks

Sources and Citations

See also

• Make a Paper Straw
• Make Placemats by Weaving Paper Strips
• Fold a Paper Into Thirds
• Make Paper Look Old
• Make a Translation Tessellation
• Make a Paper Bag
• Make a 3D Paper Snowflake
• Fold a Hexaflexagon
• Use Paper Creatively
• Make a Chinese Paper Lantern

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