This Christmas, I decided to make practically every gift for the people on my list. Mediums include paper, fiber, music, bathing accoutrement, PowerPoint, and alcohol. Today's post, will cover the paper flowers I've been making.
Last Christmas (eh, or the one before), the B's gave me a lovely kit from their trip to Japan - a little sleeve with tissue paper & instructions on how to make paper roses. I finally felt the urge to make some as I'm looking for holiday gifts to make. I have a drawer filled with old buttons. Some belonged to my Grandma, while others are vintage glass from the Czech Republic. And, due to my famous scavenging, I had a baggie of stamens too!
So, tra la la, I started making poppies. And lovely they are! A vase of these on your desk and *poof*, "Happiness in a glass!" I also decided to make Mock Orange flowers. These were even easier - white tissue & yellow stamens. No buttons required.
So, how does one make these Poppies? Quite simple, really.
Materials
- Floral wire ( I liked the brown papery stuff, because it gave me a thicker base to work with)
- Floral tape
- Vintage buttons (best if they have a shank, but not required)
- Stamens of choice (preferable black)
- Tissue paper (for realistic, choose, red, orange, blue, or pink)
You'll also need:
- Scissors
Instructions
Before beginning, find a poppy image you like and look at the petal shape. Use this petal as your template. You can get away with only 1 petal shape when making poppies.
Center and Stem
1. Cut two 4" - 6: lengths of floral wire
2. Using center of one length of wire, take a small bunch of stamens and wire together in center (across bundle as though you're saving them to store). Twist wire to secure and leave ends for future use.
3. Fold stamens at the wired point so that each side pokes up
4. Using center of second wire, run second wire through button hole (do not twist)
5. Lay button over top of stamen wiring and twist to secure button to stamens.
--- at this point you'll have stamens sticking out either side of the buttons, not yet in a circle round the button ---
6. Place floral wire (flower's stem) under button/stamens and twist both button and stamen wires round the floral wire to secure center of flower. Once secured, you can begin adding petals.
Petals
7. Take a sheet of tissue and fold until you end up with a 3"x3" or 2"x2" square. Folding arrangements are of no particular interest. This just helps you cut once rather than many times.
8. Using your petal shape, trace the image on the folded tissue. Make sure to leave a tail at the base of the petal to allow for attaching the petal to the stem.
9. Use either scissors, a rotary cutter, or an exacto knife to cut out the shape. The thicker the paper, the more likely your petals will turn out different.
10. Tear off a piece of floral tape about 6" - 8" long
11. Take 3-5 petals at a time and place in a circle around the stem. Make sure you do not cover the stamens. It helps for securing (step 11) if you fold the petals up as though the flower hasn't bloomed.
11. Using the floral tape, carefully wrap it around the petals to secure them to the stem. Wrap diagonally down about 1" - 2" and back up again. Make this tight and overlap the tape significantly. I prefer to wrap the entire stem as it gives the impression of continuity and a green stem.
12. If need be, take a second length of floral tape and secure petals by going over top the first floral tape.
13. Carefully peel the petals out and place to give the impression of real poppies. As you research poppies, you'll see that some petals curl around the flower, while others practically fold back toward the stem.
I hope you enjoy!
