Let’s start with some holiday decorations that ruffled crepe paper works great with! We have several holidays to choose from and not enough space for every holiday so let’s look at the “big” ones. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Valentines Day.

Halloween

 Make a pumpkin using orange ruffled paper simply find a round container and cover it with the crepe paper. The ruffles will give it a very unique look. You can decorate the face with magic markers or different colored crepe paper. You can also make ghosts, goblins and skeletons all you need is a cardboard cut out in the shape you want and choose your color(s) and attach the paper using glue, tape or small staples. Then give it a face or decorate it any way you like. Don’t forget to put a hole in the top (with a hole puncher) and thread a piece of yarn through to hang it up.

Thanksgiving

Make a turkey using a brown colored paper you can use an oblong container for the body and make the head out of crepe paper. The best part of making a turkey is the ruffles in the paper will give it an authentic feathered “turkey” look. You can also make balloon turkeys too just be careful not to pop your turkey while you put the crepe paper on it!

Christmas

There are so many things you can make with crepe paper for Christmas. How about an angel tree topper or an angel to set on your mantel. All you need is a cone shaped piece of Styrofoam and a circle Styrofoam ball for the head and the crepe paper you can use any color you like. Just glue the head to the cone and attach the crepe paper. You can use an extra piece of paper to make the wings. Be sure to give your Angel a face and maybe some yarn hair. This is a quick and easy project to make with the kids! You may also want to pick up some plastic clear ornament bulbs and decorate them as well they look beautiful when the lights from the tree hit the crepe paper, if you add a little glitter to each one it gives it an added touch of beauty. 

Valentines Day

Make you own heart shaped candy filled gift for your loved one this year. You will need a heart shaped box and red or pink or any color ruffled crepe paper and their favorite candy. Just fill the box with the candy and attach the crepe paper with glue that dries clear. The ruffles give the box an almost 3-D look. It is very unique looking and of course being made by you for your special valentine will make it all the more special of a gift!

You can make so many beautiful and unique gifts using ruffled crepe paper. Don’t limit yourself to just the holidays above. The paper also makes a great Easter decorations and awesome looking Easter eggs! Experiment with the paper and have fun see what amazing things you can come up with on your own.

Well, it’s that time of year again. Holidays are a coming and time to start thinking about making your paper flower decorations for the upcoming seasons, your home decorations, and for the different parties and other occasions that you are going to have.

1.   I guess the first one that comes to mind is Halloween you can make a costume that looks like a flower out of crepe paper and make a bouquet of paper flowers to carry or make your treat bag to look like a paper flower. To make the costume get a flower pattern in the costume patterns part of the pattern book in most fabric stores and make the stem out of green or brown crepe paper which would be the body part, and then make flower petals to frame around the face any color of flower that you want. You can paint or color the face the color that is the center of the flower.

You can make paper flowers to decorate your home in Halloween colors for a Halloween bash or just for the fall season. You can also use crepe paper for many of the other decorations for your party. What about making a paper jack-o-lantern only don’t use a real candle use the flameless flickering lights inside it.

2.   Then comes Thanksgiving, that’s when we all start thinking about food, but we also want our home to look nice for our guests and this is the time that everyone starts thinking of visiting family and friends. You can make all types of paper flowers for the fall to decorate your home there are asters, mums, hydrangeas, hyacinth, dahlias, cornflowers, lilies, anemones, and roses just to name some. There are several different books and articles on the Internet on how to make paper flowers.

How about taking a pretty bouquet of fall paper flowers to someone’s home for a nice centerpiece for the dinner table when invited to a holiday meal or as just a nice gift for someone special.

3.   Well, now comes Christmas and there are a lot of ways to use paper flowers for decorating your home or using them for decorating packages and even for gifts for family and friends.

You can make paper roses to decorate the Christmas tree and also make poinsettias for the tree or even a pot of them to set along side the fireplace or as a centerpiece for your table. A pretty bouquet of amaryllis will make a nice bouquet also.

Making paper flowers for a wintertime wedding is a great idea since this is the time of year that family and friends really enjoy getting together. It would be a nice time to gather a few of them together and make it a party to make paper flowers for your wedding day.

You can make about any type of flower that you want for your wedding since they are made of paper, but if you want to be traditional then you might want to use roses, poinsettias, or amaryllis since these are more common winter time flowers.

Decorating your Christmas packages with paper flowers is also a novel idea it is something you have made to add to the contents of the package for someone to keep to remind them of who gave them such a nice gift.

These paper flowers can be given as a gift for someone also; they can be made as a bouquet for a dining table, used to decorate the wine glasses, used as place setting cards, you can make garlands of flowers to decorate around the doorways, or as far as that goes for anything that you can come up with just let your imagination go, the ideas can be endless.

http://www.ourpaperflowers.com

http://www.paperflowerweddings.com

The summer is fading fast and our flowers are too. But it doesn’t have to be that way we can make our own pretty paper flowers so that it looks like our flower gardens are still in full bloom.

You can make fall crepe paper flowers for your home décor and it will look like flowers are still blooming everywhere. There are several fall flowers that you can make out of crepe paper. These include mums, asters, fall roses, lilies, anemones, dahlias, hydrangea, and hyacinths for a few choices. And using crepe paper makes them easier to make since it can be stretched and molded to almost any shape.

Making paper flowers is an old craft that is really starting to show up everywhere and if you make your own flowers it will give you a sense of pride in your decorations. There have been designers using them for shows and a lot of brides are starting to use them for their wedding decorations.

You may want to just decorate your home, or maybe you are having a party you could make your own decorations and fall flower centerpieces, or maybe you are getting married how about making your own flowers for your fall wedding.

You can make your beautiful flowers in any color that you prefer, but for the fall season the colors are beautiful reds, oranges, yellows, browns, and greens. These make very pretty colors when made and blended together. A bouquet using the reds, oranges, and yellows for the flowers and having different shades of greens and browns for the foliage will make a unique fall paper flower arrangement.

With Halloween just around the corner you could start making paper flowers to decorate for a Halloween party or just to decorate your home using black, orange, or gold flowers. Make a scene where you have a casket and put your black and gold colored flowers all around as in a mortuary you might even have a dummy as the dead body.

Or how about making a paper flower costume for a Halloween costume. There are different ways to use paper flowers for Halloween if you use your imagination and crafting abilities.

 
Lets make a fall centerpiece for the dining table you will need:

Round or oval shaped tray (size you want your centerpiece to be)
Hurricane lamp style candleholder
Crepe paper flowers and leaf garland
Small gourds (artificial or real)

1. Place your tray on a level surface and put your candleholder in the center of it. Adding a fall colored candle in it.
2. Make your fall paper flowers and leaves with short stems to intertwine them if desired. You will need approximately 6 – 12 flowers. Add them to your tray placing them in intervals around the candleholder.
3. Place your gourds in between the flowers using different colors of them.
4. Make a paper leaf garland to fill in around the flowers and gourds. All you need for this is craft wire, brown floral tape, and brown, gold, and green crepe paper. Take a length of wire 18” – 24” long and wrap with the floral tape. Add the leaves that you have made out of crepe paper to the wire at about 2” intervals then rewrap the wire so the leaves look as if they belong to a vine.
5. You may even want to make a few larger leaves to distribute around the outside of the tray this will make a very festive fall centerpiece for your home décor.

I know that you can come up with a lot more fun ideas for this fall season so go to it.

http://www.ourpaperflowers.com

http://www.paperflowerweddings.com

A paper rose is just as pretty as a real one and if made for the one you love you are showing them just how much you care by making one yourself and giving it to them.

The rose traditionally is a symbol of love, but the different colors impart a little different meaning for each one such as:

•  Red rose: Is well known for love and romance and a great way to say “I Love You.”
•  Pink rose: These beauties are a symbol of grace and elegance. This is a way of expressing your admiration of someone you care for.
•  Yellow rose: A yellow rose sends a feeling of warmth and happiness also sends a feeling of friendship toward someone.
•  White rose: This beautiful rose represents innocence and purity and this is why it is aligned with marriages and new beginnings.
•  Orange rose: Orange roses can have a meaning of passion and excitement with an expression of a fiery romance.
•  Lavender rose: This beautiful rose is a perfect sign of enchantment. Traditionally used to express feelings of love at first sight.

Maybe these different colors of paper roses and their meanings will help you decide which rose to make and give to that special person you care for. And by making paper roses for that special person it will mean that much more to them.

So make some paper roses and show how talented you are and also show how you feel about the person you are giving them to. So why not try your luck at making some beautiful paper roses.

We thought you might like a brief rundown on the various types of beads and crystals available to embellish your flower. There are lots of beads for your crepe paper flowers.

Some beads are made of stone, which are cheap but they are usually to heavy for adding to crepe paper flowers so we are not going to go into details about them.

The beads that work best for your crepe paper flowers are plastic, glass, and crystals. The latter two are best if you are looking for sparkle. But the plastic beads are not expensive and they are very lightweight which is good to add to paper flowers, but they don’t sparkle so they would be a good choice if you don’t need the sparkle. If you want sparkle or light to pass through these flowers then you will need glass or crystal.

Beads are usually sized by their number, and the higher the number the smaller the beads are. Beads used to decorate crepe paper flowers can be opaque so the light doesn’t pass through, or transparent so the light does pass through. The cut beads are faceted there are two-cut and tri-cut beads, which are more expensive than plain seed beads, but they glimmer and shine beautifully.

Some beads are strung on thread and sold by weight. The more expensive beads are mostly sold in small vials. Crystals made by Swarovsky can be pretty pricey, but they are faceted and are probably the best, but many of the Austrian or Czech crystals also have a good reputation for fine quality too.

You can also use beads such as pony beads to embellish the centers of your crepe paper flowers. These are a little bit heavier but will make paper flowers a bit dressier for some of your fancier projects when you are making paper flowers.

You can add these beads to any crepe paper flower that you want by gluing them on. This can add just a sparkle for your flower center, make the paper flowers look like they have dewdrops on them, or just to embellish them for a bit of sparkle. You could also make a few beaded wires to add to the paper flower bouquets.

The beads can be bought at hobby shops, specialty bead shops, Wal Marts, and there are also stores on the Internet. You will probably want to look at some of the beads before you buy any to get a sense of what they should look like before you order on the Internet or any place else.

Make your crepe paper flowers so that they have a special look and everyone will wonder where you got your ideas to make these beautiful paper flower bouquets.

We do not know when garlands became part of the home décor. Maybe we should look at the early days of humans. A Neanderthal burial included a covering of flowers for the deceased. It does not take much to imagine Mrs. Caveman hanging a flower garland to brighten the mouth of the cave.

Paper flower garlands are easy to make and can be used as swags over doorways and windows to give the home a fresh floral sense. You could also use these paper garlands of flowers to decorate your staircases, too. Making a paper flower garland is an easy way to change the look of a room for holidays through out the year, or to dress up your all your entertainment space when it’s party time.

You need not limit yourself to paper flowers as you make garlands. Add ribbons, lace, and lots of foliage for a full, elegant look.

Whatever colors and types of paper flowers you may use for your garland, give some thought to how the paper flower garland will be looked at. Wisteria is a natural for a garland. We used the wisteria in one of the projects of the month so if you get our newsletter you should have the pattern and instructions. 

The easiest way to make a paper flower garland is to buy an artificial leaf type garland and wrap the wire stem of your paper flowers onto the stem of the purchased garland in a pretty arrangement of flowers.

When making paper flower garlands you can use a small rope or clothesline rope as the main stay for your garland. Cover the rope or whatever you use for the base with green crepe paper and wrap the same as you would a flower stem. Now you will need to make your paper flowers and leaves add them along with some other foliage and other things you may want to add to your garland such ribbon or lace and secure them to the covered base with wire. 

This will make a great looking floral decoration for your home decor. Make paper flowers for any flower decoration that you might wish to use for your home to give your home some life.

Wow! Since we made the paper flowers for the wrist corsages we thought we would try to make the guys boutonnieres these turned out great as you can see by our pictures, You will need crepe paper, wire, wire cutters, glue, scissors, spray glue, spray gloss for paper, glitter, ribbon (if desired), baby’s breath, floral tape, and a pattern (I again used a pattern from our new book “Create Paper Flowers for Your Wedding”). All you need to do is make a couple of small flowers or one that is slightly larger by itself add some baby’s breath to the back of the flowers and wrap them together with green floral tape, spray with a little spray glue and sprinkle them with glitter and let them dry. Then spray them with a spray gloss for paper this will give them a silky look. If you would like to add a ribbon to it I suggest you use the small ribbon so as not to overwhelm the simple flowers. Cut the stem, you do not want a long stem, and give the stem a small curl, add a corsage pin and there it’s done. These are great for proms, weddings, and anniversaries, or any other event you may need a boutonniere.

Prom Flowers

Hey paper flower crafters we just finished making a prom wristlet for each of our granddaughters and I thought you might be interested in how I did this since you can also use wrist corsages for wedding too. All you will need is a wristlet that you can get from any craft store or you can also use some types of stretch bracelets that you can find in department stores, you will need crepe paper, wire, wire cutters, glue, scissors, floral tape, spray glue, spray gloss for paper, ribbon, glitter, and a pattern (I used one from our new wedding book we have just put out “Create Paper Flowers for Your Wedding”). You will need to make some flowers any type you would like, but you might want to shrink the patterns to make the flowers a little smaller so that the flowers do not overwhelm the arm. Add some type of baby’s breath or another type of filler, use floral tape and tape them together, spray with the spray glue add some sparkles let dry, spray with a spray gloss for paper let this dry. Then take a ribbon make a small bow add this to your flowers and place them on the wristlet or bracelet and glue and wire in place and wah lah. There you have it. Check back for part 2 on boutonnieres

Mother’s Day is a day to celebrate mom and all that she means to you. In the month of May your mom gets that one special day to do her favorite things with her favorite person, you.

A special gift for mom is one that comes from the heart and lets mom know that you care. Mother’s Day flowers are a good idea for this once a year celebration. On this day all types of flower arrangements can be used. Just remember that they are for your mom so the flowers that you pick should be her favorites.

Carnations have long been the choice for Mother’s Day flowers. They are beautiful and can be customized to fit your mom to a tee. These types of flowers come in all sorts of colors. What color does your mom like. You may consider getting a floral arrangement that combines your moms favorite colors. Carnations look pretty in pinks, purples and reds with a ribbon of baby’s breath.

Other types of flowers can be used for your own Mother’s Day flowers. Your mom may want a lily or rose bouquet or a combination of certain flowers. You must keep your mom’s likes in focus when choosing a floral arrangement. The colors as well as the type of flower are important for this special present for mom.

Consider getting your mom a single flower rather than a large bouquet. This simple gesture seems innocent and sweet. You can attach the flower to a photo from the year’s past or a hand written poem. This makes the flower personal and the other gifts let your mom know that you spent time and effort in making the perfect gift.

Mother’s Day flowers speak of love and thank you’s. Not all moms are created equal and their flower arrangements are not either. Bouquets, after a bit, die and then you are left with dried leaves and petals that can be added to a photo book. If you or your mom is interested in a gift that will be around longer try doing paper flowers. All you need is construction paper, crepe paper or any other paper that says “mom”. Doing this type of gift can allow you to add glitter, many colors and you can add this bouquet to whatever mom would like.

Another unique Mother’s Day flowers idea is buying plastic or velvet flowers. These last a lifetime and they do not require water. Flowers of this caliber show just as much love as those flowers that are alive. These types of flowers can be broken apart and used in a collage with photos and words of affection.

Mother’s Day is a day that should be celebrated all throughout the year. Take time to do what your mom loves. Do a nice homemade dinner or take her to her out to her favorite restaurant. The time spent together will be just what mom wanted. Then the flowers given will be icing on the cake. It will be the best day mom ever had.