How to Make Crepe Paper Poppies

These crepe paper poppies are absolutely beautiful and surprisingly realistic! This flower craft project is fun and easy, the perfect choice for beginners to paper crafts or flower making.

Active Time15

Total Time15

Yield: paper poppy

Author: Debbie Chapman

Cost: $1

Equipment

Materials

Crepe paper (sage green, sand, and red)
Wooden ball (3/4 inch)
12 gauge Wire
Floral tape

Instructions

Step 1: Find what you need

Gather your supplies and materials.

Step 2: Make the center of the poppy

Cut a 2 by 2 inch piece of sage green crepe paper.
Stretch out the paper to its full size.
Place the wooden ball in the center of the paper and add a generous amount of hot glue to the top of it.
Fold the paper around the ball, pulling and adjusting it to create a bundle that's flat and smooth on one side.
Cut off the excess paper close to the ball. Make sure the paper stays in place nicely, and add more glue if necessary.

Step 3: Make the frilly stamens

Cut a 1 by 7 inch piece of sand coloured crepe paper.
Make sure the long part of the paper goes against the grain. (The lines in the paper should be vertical for the 1 inch section.)
Stretch the paper out along the 7 inch edge, as far as it will go.
The strip of paper should now be between 15 and 20 inches long.
Fold the paper in half along the long edge, and then in half again.
Cut along the longer edge of the paper, creating a thin fringe where each piece is about 1/8 inch wide.
Continue cutting up the whole length of paper, making cuts as evenly as you can.
Unfold the fringed paper and add a couple inches of hot glue along the uncut edge.
A low temperature glue gun is preferred, as glue that's too hot can warp the paper.
Place the wrapped wooden ball into the glue with the good (smooth) side facing the fringed edge.
Begin wrapping the ball in the fringed paper.
Continue wrapping, adding glue a couple inches at a time, creating the center of the flower.

Step 4: Make the poppy petals

Cut a 3 by 3 inch piece of crepe paper in red, or whatever colour you'd like for the flower petals.
Cut a petal shape from the square paper. It should be rounded on one side and flat on the other.
Make sure you cut the petal with the grain of the paper, so the lines go from the top to the bottom of the petal.
Stretch out the rounded side of the paper, making a wider petal top.
Fold the flat bottom of the petal in on each side and twist it together at the bottom.
Repeat step 4 seven more times, creating a total of 8 petals.

Step 5: Connect the petals

Add hot glue along the bottom of one of the petals.
Set the center of the flower onto the petal, holding it in place until it stays on its own.
Add glue to the second petal, placing it so it overlaps the first slightly.
Repeat until 4 of the petals surround the center evenly.
Glue the next 4 petals as a second row, placing them in-between petals from the first row.
You can untwist the bottoms of these petals before gluing them, to create a flat back for the flower, but make sure they keep their shape.

Step 6: Make and attach the stem

Cut a 10 inch piece of floral wire. Use needle nose pliers to bend the top into a hook/loop.
Wrap the wire in green floral tape.
Add hot glue to the wide end of the stem.
Place the stem onto the center back of the flower, pushing it down and holding it in place until it stays on its own.
Your crepe paper poppy is complete!

Video

Notes

Looking for more flower crafts? Here's a few of our favourites:

Coffee Filter Hydrangeas

Pressed Flower Rocks

DIY Flower Tealight