Dried Florals:Make crepe flowers

May 19th, 2008 at 9:53pm |

BRIEF HISTORY OF CREPE FLOWERS-

The delicate art of making crepe flowers is started way back to the early 1900’s. Families used to make these flowers to put on the graves of their near and dear ones on Memorial Day or Decoration Day as it was also called. They were used as a substitute for fresh flowers, which were scarce during the occasion. Women and girls started making these flowers many months before Memorial Day so that they could make plenty to cover the graves of all their relatives. Some flowers were stuck on the ground beside the graves while others were placed on top. Flowers such as sweet peas were usually placed on the graves of children while the bigger flowers were placed on the graves of elders

MATERIALS:

Crepe Paper (red and Golden yellow)

Black cloth
Cotton
Stem Wire
Green Tape
Thread

PROCEDURE:

Cut red crepe paper into round shapes for petals (4 or 5pieces for each flower). Cut the edges slightly into zigzag shapes or leave them as it is.
Make the center of the flower by wrapping a ball of cotton with black cloth and tying it with a thread. Attach a stem wire by twisting the wire at the bottom of the center.
Take a strip of golden yellow crepe paper and cut its edges 1/4 ” to the center of the strip. Wind the strip around the flower center and tie it with a thread.
Fix each petal to the center using thread. You can also attach two petals in such a way that they overlap. Secure them with glue and then fix them with glue to the flower center
If you want a layered flower skip the second and the third step. Take a florist wire and insert the crepe paper roundels stacked together.
With a gentle hand twist each petal slightly and pull then very gently towards the wire. Your lovely flowers will be in front of your eyes
Wrap the stem with green tape.