When my lovely friend Krassi showed me the secret weapon for making humble paper flowers, I was blown away. I have tried to make paper flowers before, but crepe paper is normally so flimsy that the results lack life and form and disintegrate pretty quickly. What you actually need is not just any old crepe paper, but (as M&S would say) ITALIAN crepe paper, which has a totally different weight and feel.
You can find Italian crepe paper on ebay for about £2.50 a roll. Yes it’s a little more pricey than the party-hat staple, but not extortionate, and once you’ve tried it, you won’t go back!
So, first up, buy yourself a roll of this stuff. You’ll also need some thin wire (I managed to find a twist of floristry wire covered in green paper), scissors, pliers (for cutting the wire), a few little double-ended stamens (cake decorating suppliers often sell these), glue (not super glue or you’ll stick your fingers together - agggh), a felt tip pen to complement the colour of your crepe paper, a knitting needle, thread, and floristry tape.
Next cut out 6 or 7 small petals and 6 or 7 large ones (you can see the dimensions on the materials picture above - 5.5cm and 7 cm long) from the crepe paper. Make sure the grain is going up and down and not across the petal. Next, add a little colour with the felt tip. Not difficult. Focus on the top and the middle. Then, you need to shape the petals. I did this by rolling them over the knitting needle then stretching them in the middle so they curl just like real petals do. OK. Once you’ve prepared your petals it’s time to make your flower. Start by twisting the stamens onto a length of wire. Add a tiny dab of glue to attach your first petal and bind tightly with thread. Make sure each successive petal goes in a gap - not on top of the preceding one. Just keep binding with the thread and add an odd spot of glue here and there.
Now. Watch closely and follow me! Let me see what you make. If you’d like to join me in person to create some of these flowers I’m taking part in The Great Get Together on Sat June 29th with The Collective Makers’ Market in Woolwich. Come along and say hello!
XX