DIY and Freebies: DIY Crepe Paper Anemones

DIY Crepe Paper Anemones

After mixing and adapting a few techniques and ideas + new ones we picked up along the way and lots of trial and error, we made these crepe paper anemones just how we had envisioned: detailed but achievable. The leaves – cardstock folded in half and cut in the shape of a leaf and hand stamped with white ink – can double as escort cards, beautifully hanging from a moss covered frame. Thank you Ashley for helping me with these!

DIY paper anemones — DIY paper anemone flowers

Supplies you’ll need:

floral wire

floral tape

crepe paper/streamers

cotton balls

fringe scissors

scissors and fringe scissors

petal template

For the leaves you’ll need:

cardstock

stamp set (we used this one)

ink

scissors

We’re going to start by preparing an assembly line. Once you have all of your bits and bobs prepped and cut, you can assemble your paper anemones in a snap:

1. Stem — Cut the wire at desired length. For these flowers, the length of the wire was about 4 inches, but you can cut a longer length to make a bouquet or shorter to make bouts!

2. Stamens — Using a piece of cardboard as a template, wrap the streamer in one length a few times. Cut the ends. Repeat the process, this time wrapping the streamer in the other length. Cut both ends. You will then have strips of paper in two different lengths. The shorter pieces will be the button stamens and the longer pieces will be the fringed stamens. With the long pieces, fold them in half and make a fringe using fringe scissors.

3. Petals — Cut sheets of crepe paper into strips at desired width of your flower. In my case, our flower template is about 3 inches, so I eyeballed about 4 inch strips of paper (4″ by 19″ which is the width of the roll). With the help of a paper cutter, I stacked several layers of paper strips and started cut them into squares. This stack of paper will soon be your petals.

I stacked a few square sheets and placed the template on top. Start cutting the sheets along the edge of the template. Once the petals are cut, fold them in half and make a cut with the tips of your scissors at the center. Fold them in half again in the opposite direction (so you have a ‘+’fold) and cut again in the middle. You will use this center cut to thread your petals through the stem.

How to make crepe paper anemones:

1. Using small pieces of cotton, wrap it around the wire, like a q-tip. Add on a short piece of crepe paper streamer on top and twist the ends with your fingers around the wire.

2. With the fringed stamen still folded in half, wrap around the button stamen and twist the bottom part around the wire with your fingers.

3. Gently pull the petals before you thread them. Crepe paper has a bit of a give, so it’s easy to shape the petals. Thread two layers of petals (or more if you prefer) through the stem.

4. Wrap the stem with floral tape and you’re done!