How to Make Tissue Paper and Crepe Paper Flowers | Irrational Season Follow-up

So you want to make some paper flowers? 
The great thing about these flowers is that you should only have to buy a few very cheap things.
You will need some sort of stem.  You can use wire or paper stems that you have on hand or purchase some cheap floral wire.

You'll also need to purchase floral tape and you can use whatever tissue paper or crepe paper you already have or purchase new.
I also use little plastic pacifiers for the buds, but it is only because I had them and they save a step.  You don't need them.

There are three different basic types:  a pom-pom, a rose-type and a daisy-type.

 The pom pom is on the right in this photo and is the easiest to make. 

You simply cut little slits in tissue paper and wrap it around and around your stem.

The only trick to mastering this type is to keep your layers alternating and random as you wrap so it looks more natural.
The smaller you make your slits the more they will curl like these white ones.
I also used a smaller crepe paper center for the white flowers as opposed to tissue paper in the blue.
Both flowers used basic tissue paper for the outer layers.

The daisy and the rose both have center buds.

How do I make a bud??

Make sure your wire is inside the floral tape and wrap the base as tightly as you can.

Once you have a bud made, you need to cut the petals out of tissue paper.  

Take a big stack of tissue and cut several petals at once. 

You can use a template if you want, but they are easy enough to freehand.  Nature isn't always perfect in its' lines, you know :)

Put a few petals on the outside of your bud and attach a piece of floral tape.

Here is what it looks like after one layer of petals.

Keep rolling on layer after layer.  I use one long strip of tape and keep adding petal rows.

See how the petals are layered from left to right and by height.  This is the trick to the natural look.

After each layer, roll the tape around tightly to secure the petals.

...after a few layers...

After wrapping layers of petals, pull them out to fluff them up a bit.

Keep adding layers until the rose is the size you want it to be...here's the finished product:

If you want to make a daisy-like flower, you cut the sqaures into 3-4 long petals with a large slit between them.
The rest of the process is the same.

Questions?   

Was that clear as mud?

If you didn't read my irrational season post about paper flowers, you can CLICK HERE!