| Paper Flowers |
From "Ask DIY"
episode ADI-507 |
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Q: I've seen giant flowers made out of crepe paper in stores and I want to learn how to make them. Can you teach me? A: (from DIY crafts expert, Debbie Stapely) Pre-made paper flowers can be expensive if you buy them in decorating shops, but they're easy and inexpensive to make yourself. Here's how.
Paper Flowers
Materials: Tissue paper, various colors
Chalk or pencil
Rotary cutter
Self-healing mat and weights
Scissors
Paper clips
Awl
Needle-nose pliers
Artificial flower-stamen (available from crafts or floral shops)
Paper-covered wire (available from floral shops)
Steps: - Start out by selecting some colored tissue paper (figure A) from your paper-goods store. These are usually displayed in the store with families of colors grouped together. Tissue like this is not very expensive. Get a variety if you want to create a multicolored flower display. To make flowers similar to the ones in our demonstration, you'll need from 10 to15 sheets of tissue per flower. For each flower, group a variety of colors together that look attractive in combination with one another.
- Layer several sheets of tissue together for cutting, and outline a flower-shape of your own design on the top layer (figure B) using chalk or a pencil. Make flower-patterns in three or more sizes so you can achieve a graduated effect in the paper "petals."
- Use weights to hold the paper steady and a rotary cutter to cut out your shapes (figure C). Consider using a self-healing mat to protect your table surface from damage caused by the cutter blade. Go over the lines of your diagram repeatedly to cut through all of the layers.
- If you don't have a rotary cutter, you can use scissors to cut out your pattern. To make the job easier, clip the paper sheets with paper clips to hold them together as you cut them with scissors (figure D).
- Once you've cut your patterns from the layers of tissue, group and stack them with larger cutouts on the bottom and medium and smaller ones on top (figure E).
- Eyeball the center of your cut-outs, and punch a hole through the center using an awl (figure F) or other sharp point.
- Use paper-covered wire to make the stem by poking the end of a section of wire through the hole. Bend back the end of the wire using needle-nose pliers to prevent the end from slipping back through the hole (figure G). The paper covered wire (available in the floral-wire section of craft stores) looks like a thick variation on twist-tie.
- Gather the paper cutouts together, grasping from the bottom (figure H) to form the flower.
- Tape the base of the flower to the paper stem using floral tape (figure I). Using a single piece of tape, start taping on the paper where it forms a point at the bottom, wrap the tape around tightly and continue wrapping down onto the stem.
- Continue winding the floral tape all the way down to the bottom of the stem (figure J).
- Cut out some leaves from green tissue paper, and add them to the stem using the floral tape, just as you did with the flower base (figure K).
- Finally, add an artificial flower-stamen to the center of the flower (figure L). (The artificial stamens are available from the floral section of crafts shops.)
- Consider making a number of flowers to create a colorful arrangement. You may want to create a number of flowers in uniform color combinations, or you may want to vary them to create a multicolored display (figure M).
RESOURCES :
Complete Guide to Flower Arranging
Model: 078943752X
Author: Jane Packer
(1999)
DK Publishing - Main Office
New York, NY 10016
Phone: 212-213-4800
Fax: 212-213-5240
Tissue Paper Flowers
Model: 1570544972
Author: Editors of Klutz Press
(2000)
To order this title from Amazon.com, click here.
Klutz Press/Nelvana Communications, Inc.
Los Angeles, CA 90010
Phone: 323-549-4222
Fax: 323-549-4232
Fast Flower Arranging
Model: 0789423944
Author: Jane Packer
(June, 1998)
DK Publishing - Main Office
New York, NY 10016
Phone: 212-213-4800
Fax: 212-213-5240
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