How to Make Paper Flowers – Hyacinths, Rose Buds, Giant Sweet Peas and More

Flower making is a great craft to get into. There are so many stunning variations you can make, especially with all the material available on the market today.

A lot of people are making their own wedding flowers and corsages, as well as using their own hand made flowers for parties and special events.

Make your own flowers to put on gifts instead of bows, it will add a special personal touch.

Decorate around the house with your handmade flowers to add a splash of everlasting color, or make seasonal bouquets to change the mood.

Children love art that is colorful and fun. Making flowers is a great way to spend a lazy rainy afternoon.

The flowers here are very easy to make and versatile in color, shapes and styles.

Once you get the hang of it, lots of blooms can be made in very little time, adding color to almost any occasion.

Handy Items to Have When Making Flowers

• Glue
• Scissors
• Pliers
• Wire
• Math compass
• Ruler
• Florist’s tape
• Variety of materials to work with (tissue paper, crepe paper, tin foil)

These paper flowers are quick and inexpensive to make.

They are also so simple, that children tackle them with ease.

Crepe paper or tissue paper is the best paper to use when making paper flowers.

Each type of paper has its own particular advantages, and both come in a wide variety of beautiful rainbow colors.

Crepe paper is particularly useful for flowers which have large petals. It can be gently stretched between thumbs and forefingers to give petals that characteristic curl.

If you wish to stretch crepe paper, make sure that when you are cutting it the grain of the paper is running in the opposite direction to the way you want the paper to stretch.

Tissue paper is more suitable for making delicate, fragile looking flowers. Depending upon the number of tissue layers used, the petals can be made to appear more or less transparent.

Make Single Colored Blooms:

• Fold the chosen colored tissue paper over until you have seven layers of tissue.

• From the folded tissue, cut out two 4 inch diameter circles. (You will now have fourteen circles of tissue paper.)

• Holding seven layers of tissue together, fold them in half once, and then again so that you finish with a fan-shaped layer of tissue.

• Fix the layers together with a staple at the bottom tip of the fan shape (if you have no stapler available, you can use two or three stitches instead).

• Make the other seven layers of tissue into a fan shape in the same way.

• Staple (or stitch) the two fan shapes together.

• Take a 12 inch length of wire and form a small hook at the top.

• Loop this over the join between the two fan-shaped tissue layers and press the loop round into a circle to fix it securely.

• Cut a length of green tissue paper approximately 18 inches long by ½ inch wide.

• Using clear adhesive, stick one end securely around the top of the wire stem and then gradually bind the rest of the stem until it is completely covered.

• Secure at the base of the stem with a spot of clear glue.

• Carefully open out the layers of tissue forming the bloom until they form a complete ‘ball’ at the top of the stem. (Take care at this stage not to tear the tissue.)

Make Multi-Colored Blooms:

• Cut out seven circles of one colored tissue and seven circles of another and layer them alternately for each fan shape.
• Follow the rest of the directions for the single colored bloom.

Experiment with different types of scissors and cutting techniques. Scallop the edges or create other edge designs to change the blooms around a bit.

Leaves add authenticity to your blooms. These simple instructions can be used for all types of flowers listed on this page.

• Start with some shiny green paper.
• Cut out two identical leaf shapes measuring approximately 5 inches long by 2½ inches at their widest part.
• Ensure that each leaf shape has a short length of stem to wind around the stem of the flower.
• Stick the two leaf shapes together, right sides out, when the adhesive is dry, mark the leaf veins by ‘drawing’ them in with a knitting needle or similar blunt-ended object.
• Wind the stem of the leaf around the stem of the flower a short way below the actual boom.
• Fix with clear adhesive.
• When the adhesive is completely dry, you can curl the leaf slightly by gently stroking it between your thumb and the blunt edge of a knife.

The picture on the right shows a variety of different leaf shapes you can copy.

You don’t necessarily have to be governed by the sort of leaf a flower has in nature, but you can use a variety of different shapes and sizes in your arrangement.

Some leaves can be attached to the flower stems, as described for the giant daisies, and other can be placed separately in the vase with the paper flowers to give your arrangement more fullness and balance.

These cute little flowers look wonderful tucked in with larger paper flowers.

• With a package of crepe paper still in it’s folded state, cut a 3″ strip off one of the shorter ends.
• Cut the top of this folded strip in the manner shown in the picture to the right.
• Unwind the strip, and as you go, gently stretch the top curved part of the paper between thumb and forefinger to form a petal shape as shown below, with the petal curving inwards.
• Gradually wind the strip of petals round and round three or four times until it resembles the center of a rosebud.
• Now continue stretching the strip into petal shapes, but make them curve outward.
• Continue winding the strip round and round again until you have achieved the required size rosebud.
• Cut off any remaining paper and secure the base of the rosebud by winding wire around it.

To have two hand free for this, you may find it easier to secure the base of the flower with a very large paper clip first.

• Take another piece of wire, 4″ in length, and wind it first around the base of the flower and then take it down to form the stem.
• Cut a strip of green tissue paper about 12″ long by 1/4″ wide and wind it round the base of the flower, securing with clear adhesive.
• Continue winding the green tissue paper around the wire stem to cover it completely, and secure at the base with glue.

If you wish to make a bloom with different colored petals, for example pink and white, just wind round two or three circles of petals in one color as described above. Then continue with another two or three circles of petals in a contrasting color.

Rosebud Leaves – These are a little smaller than the ones described above, 3 inches x 1¼ inch at their widest part.

These are really easy to make too.

• Take a sheet of tissue paper and fold it over until you have five layers of tissue.
• On this folded tissue, draw four circles in pencil. When I make these, I use a compass for drawing my circles and use a diameter of 8 inches.
• Cut out the circles of tissue and place them, one on top of the other, to form a cross, with the circles overlapping each other by ¼ inch in center of the cross.
• Pass a pin through the center of the flower to form a small hole through the layers of tissue.
• Take a piece of wire measuring 6 inches in length and form a small hook at the top.
• Holding the layers of tissue firmly between thumb and forefinger, pass the straight end of the wire through the hole and push the layers of tissue along the wire until until they come to rest against the hook.
• Using a small coin as a guide, draw and cut out a small circle of black paper to form the poppy center.
• Fix with clear adhesive.
• Finish off by binding the wire stem of the poppy with a strip of green tissue paper measuring 12 inches x ½ inch.
• Secure just under the bloom, and at the base of the stem with clear adhesive.

I have used both crepe paper and tissue paper in making these blooms.

Crepe paper is very versatile, it also has the ability to be gently stretched, this is how you achieve the realistic looking large petals like the ones in the ‘giant sweet peas’.

Tissue paper is particularly useful for more delicate blooms like the pink and blue ‘hyacinths’.

Make Giant Paper Daisies

• Take a piece of wire 6 inches in length and form a small hook at the top.
• To form the daisy center, take a piece of yellow tissue paper and roll it up into a small ball about ½ inch across.
• Slip this onto the hook at the top of the wire, using a little adhesive to hold it secure.
• Take another small piece of yellow tissue and, using a little clear adhesive, cover the ball to give it a smooth surface.
• Take two strips of tissue paper, each 6 inches long by 2 inches deep, one in yellow and one in green.
• Fold in half lengthwise and along the folded edge cut a fringe of lines each ½ deep. Make these cuts at intervals of ¼ inch.
• Open these strips out flat and then bend each one over lengthwise against the original fold like shown in Figure 1 and stick the lower edges of the tissue paper together.
• Stick the yellow fringed strip on the top of the green strip and allow the adhesive to dry.
• Wind these strips three times around the center of the daisy and secure with adhesive.

Make White Daisy Petals:

• Cut two strips of white crepe paper 9 inches long by 2 inches wide, with the grain running width-wise.
• Make 2 inch deep cuts along the length of these strips, making the cuts at ½ inch intervals. The fringe made from this will form the petals of the daisy.
• Snip off the top two corners of each petal to make it pointed.
• Take the two strips of fringed crepe paper and stick them together along the base, starting with the first petal on the top strip of paper falling between the first two petals of the lower strip, so that the petals are staggered.
• When the adhesive is dry, carefully wind the strips around the base of the daisy center, making sure that the petals are equally spaced around.
• Secure the strips in place with adhesive.

Cover Stem of the Daisy:

• Cut a strip of green tissue paper measuring 12 inches long by ½ inch wide.
• Wind one end around the base of the flower, securing it into place with adhesive.
• Carry on binding the green tissue around the wire stem until it is completely covered.
• Secure at the base with adhesive.

Make Leaves for the Daisy:

• From shiny green paper, cut out two identical slightly curled, long leaf shapes, measuring approximately 5 inches long by ½ inch at the widest part.
• Ensure the leaf shapes have a short length of stem to wind around the daisy stem.
• Stick the two leaf shapes together, right sides out, with clear adhesive and then draw in the leaf veins with a knitting needle or toothpick.
• Wind the stem of the leaf around the daisy stem near its base and secure with adhesive.
• Give the leaf a realistic curl by stroking it gently between your thumb and the blunt edge of a knife.

Although these paper flowers are not made up of lots of tiny individual flowers, as is the natural hyacinth, they have the delicate look of that beautiful flower.

They can be displayed individually, with a few leaves to make an attractive arrangement, or you can make several of the flowers in bright, complementary colors and arrange them together in a vase to make a colorful addition to any room.

• Take some tissue paper in your chosen color and cut a piece measuring 30 inches long by 5 inches deep.
• Fold this in half lengthwise and then fold it three times the other way. Your tissue paper will now measure 3¾ inches long by 2½ inches deep.
• Hold the folded edges together and make cuts up from this edge at ¼ inch intervals, making each cut about 1¾ inches long.
• When this is done, unfold the strip of tissue paper lengthwise and cut it into four equal lengths.
• Taking each length in turn, unfold it and place it flat on your work surface.
• Gently bend it back against the original fold and stick the two lower edges together like shown in the picture to the right.
• When you have done this with all four pieces, stick the four together along the base edges, making sure you keep the edges level.
• Take a piece of wire measuring 8 inches long and carefully fold the four strips of petals around the top of the wire.
• As you do this, gradually work a little lower down the wire stem with each circle you make to give the characteristic length of the hyacinth flower.
• Secure with adhesive as you work around.
• Cut a strip of green tissue paper measuring 16 inches long by ½ inch wide and with clear adhesive stick one end around the top of the wire stem just below the bloom.
• Gradually wind the green tissue around the stem to cover it completely and secure at the base with adhesive.

Flower that are made from either silver kitchen foil or brightly colored foil can make a beautiful display.

Most of us have silver kitchen foil in the house already, so this is a great way to start your journey in flower making right away.

If you are going to start with ordinary kitchen foil, you will first need a wire frame to attach the foil to.

Florist wire is suitable, but you could also use medium gauge galvanized wire, plastic covered garden wire, or pipe cleaners.

• Using some pliers, cut off several lengths of wire, each measuring about 12 inches.
• These will form the petals of your flowers and you will need four lengths for each flower.
• Then cut off the required number of wire stems, each stem to be about 18 inches long.

Make the Petals

• Take four 12 inch lengths of wire and bend each in half, bunching the cut ends together (Figure A).
• Using the pliers, twist the ends of the wires firmly together (Figure B).
• Open out each doubled over piece of wire to form a petal shape (Figure C).
• From the foil, cut out four petal shapes, each about 1 inch larger than the wire shape.
• Cover each wire petal with a piece of foil, smoothing the edges over to the underside of the petal.

Make the Stems

• Take an 18 inch length of wire and bend about 2 inches over the center of the flower, twisting the wire around the cut ends of the petals to secure it firmly.
• Cut a piece of foil and wrap it around the twisted wires at the back of the flower.

To vary the flowers, make wire petals into heart shapes, triangles or wavy shapes, pressing foil around as before.

When you have made several flowers in this way, you can display them in a vase or pretty bottle.

Fill with sand or small stones to keep the wire stems in the desired position.

Colored foil is normally backed with a fairly stiff white paper. This makes it easy to cut and handle and, as a bonus, you only need to use wire for the flower stem. The petals can be formed quite easily.

Note: Remember, if the foil you are using has a white backing, fold it in half, right side out, before cutting the shape out to keep the white from showing.

I hope you have enjoyed the different types of flowers that can be made from crepe paper, tissue paper and tinfoil.

Now that you have the basis for these flowers, use your imagination to create many more.

Thanks for stopping by & Happy Crafting!