How to Make Paper Flowers _ DIY Giant Crepe Paper Roses

# DIY Paper Flowers: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Beautiful, Long-Lasting Blooms

Welcome back to HGTV Handmade with me, Maryann! If you're like me, you probably fantasize about having fresh flowers in every room of your house—because why not? But let’s be honest, real flowers can be expensive and fleeting. That’s where these incredibly beautiful, cheaper flowers come in—they last forever and will make you just as happy (if not more) than the real thing! So, today, I’m going to walk you through how to create these stunning paper roses from scratch. Let’s get started!

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## Materials You’ll Need

Before we dive into the fun part, let’s make sure you have everything you need:

- Printer paper (for templates)

- Stapler

- Pen or pencil

- Craft glue (for paper)

- Floral stems (4 pieces per flower)

- Scissors

- Floral tape

- Two sheets of extra fine crepe paper

Got it? Great! Let’s move on to the first step.

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## Step 1: Making Petal Templates

The key to creating realistic-looking flowers is starting with the right templates for your petals. We’re going to make two petal shapes: one heart-shaped and one elongated teardrop shape.

### Heart-Shaped Petals

1. Fold a piece of paper in half.

2. Draw one half of your heart shape on the folded edge.

3. Cut it out—voilà, you’ve got your heart-shaped petal template!

### Elongated Teardrop Petals

For these:

1. Fold another sheet of paper in half.

2. Draw one half of an elongated teardrop shape on the folded edge.

3. Cut it out—now you have your teardrop-shaped petal template.

You’ll need roughly 15 heart-shaped petals and five teardrop-shaped petals per flower.

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## Step 2: Cutting Out the Petals

Now that we’ve got our templates, let’s get cutting!

### For Heart-Shaped Petals

1. Fold your crepe paper accordion style (about eight layers).

2. Place your heart-shaped template on top and trace around it with a pen or pencil.

3. Carefully cut out the shape along the lines—this will give you multiple petals in one go!

### For Teardrop-Shaped Petals

Repeat the same process using your teardrop-shaped template.

Pro tip: Before cutting, staple the corners of the crepe paper to prevent it from shifting while you cut. This ensures clean, even cuts every time.

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## Step 3: Shaping the Petals

This is where the magic happens—shaping the petals so they look like real rose petals.

### For Heart-Shaped Petals

1. Take a heart-shaped petal and gently pull it to make it more organic-looking (remember, flowers are natural, not perfect!).

2. Use your pen or pencil to roll the outer edges for added texture.

### For Teardrop-Shaped Petals

1. Manipulate the center of each teardrop petal to create a slight cup shape.

2. Roll the outer edges with your pen or pencil to mimic the look of real petals.

Don’t worry if they’re not perfect—imperfections are what make these flowers look so lifelike!

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## Step 4: Creating the Stem

Now it’s time to bring everything together with a stem.

1. Take three of your four floral stems and tightly wrap them into a bundle using floral tape. (Pro tip: Floral tape only sticks to itself, so be sure to press firmly as you wrap.)

2. Set this aside—this will become the base of your flower’s stem.

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## Step 5: Assembling the Flower

Let’s start building our beautiful creation!

1. Lay a teardrop-shaped petal along the top of your wrapped stem (this will form the center of your flower).

2. Wrap additional petals around it, layering them one by one until you’ve created a full, round shape.

Pro tip: Add three to five heart-shaped petals around the center for a fuller look.

Once you’re happy with how it looks, secure everything in place using floral tape.

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## Step 6: Adding Leaves (Optional but Highly Recommended)

Leaves add that extra touch of realism and beauty to your flower. Here’s how:

1. Take your fourth floral stem and a thin bead of craft glue.

2. Apply the glue along the center of your leaf, then lay the stem on top.

3. Gently pinch and shape the leaf to make it look more organic.

Once you’re done shaping, trim the bottom of the leaf so it’s even with the flower stems and secure it in place using floral tape.

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## Step 7: Finishing Touches

To give your stem a finished look that matches your leaves, wrap it in a long strip of green crepe paper.

1. Start at the top of your stem and apply a small dot of craft glue.

2. Wrap the crepe paper around the stem, securing it as you go.

Take your time here—crepe paper is delicate, so gentle handling is key. Once you’re done, open up your leaf slightly for that final touch.

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## You’re Done!

And there you have it—a stunning, long-lasting paper rose! How do you feel about these flowers? Would you fill your house with them or create a bridal bouquet? Let me know in the comments below—I’d love to hear from you!

Until next time, happy crafting—and don’t forget, these flowers smell like paper!

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Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this detailed guide to making your own DIY paper flowers. Until next time—stay creative!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey guys welcome back to HGTV handmade with me Maryann so it's no secret that I love flowers if I could I would have fresh flowers in every room of my house at all times that's what I picture being a princess like but it bums me out half-assed they die that can be expensive so today I am making these incredibly beautiful cheaper flowers that last forever and just make me really happy they're pretty easy to make here's what you'll need printer paper a stapler a pen craft glue for paper floral stems scissors floral tape and two sheets of extra fine crepe paper okay our first step is to make a template for our petals we have two petal shapes one is heart-shaped and one is an elongated teardrop shape easiest way to make a heart to fold a piece of paper in half draw one half of your heart shape go ahead and cut it up alright our other petal shape is an elongated teardrop for this I'm also going fold a piece of paper again we have a symmetrical shape so these are the main shapes for the petals of our flower alright now it's time to grab your roll of crepe paper these sheets are really long so I folded them accordion style so that they are eight layers six we need roughly 15 total of our heart-shaped petals so we're going to cut out two sets so now grab your pedal we only need about five of the pedals we're just going to trace one of them and if you can make your pedal so it's going with the direction of the crate now before we start cutting to ensure that our layers don't shift around run staple corners or crepe paper now we're ready to start cutting okay once all of your petal shapes are cut out now we're going to shape them now this is why crepe paper is amazing for this project because you can pull it and manipulate it and that's what makes it really look like a real rose petals going to kind of shape the inside of our heart-shaped petal then grab a pen or pencil and roll the outer edges now this is not an exact science you know flowers themselves or organic every petal a little bit different you just want to give it some texture and movement I'm same with the teardrop petals manipulate the center to make it cup shape grab your pen or pencil and roll the outside edge down I'm not going to look like a rose they just want to repeat that with all of your petals all right so all of our petals are ready to go now we're going to make our stem so grab three of your four paper floral stems and your floral tape we're just going to tightly wrap these into a bundle now floral tape only sticks to itself so keep that in mind as you're wrapping all right so we have our stem all wrapped graph our teardrop-shaped pedals and it's time to start assembling our flowers okay so the center of our flower is actually going to be top part of the stem so lay your first teardrop petal along it just like that and now we're just going to kind of wrap these around themselves this is going to be the very center of our paper rose all right once you have those arranged grab your floral tape again and just wrap back in place it is easiest to turn them wrap the paper around them now we're going to layer on our heart-shaped petals around them so I like to lay on three to five of them at a time before taking a break to wrap into why it so our flower is done now it's time to make the leaf now adding a leaf is optional but I really think it makes your flower look beautiful and finished and just like our petals you can kind of bend and manipulate it to make it look more real now grab your fourth paper floral stem and a little bit of craft glue put a thin bead of craft glue down the center of the leaf and lay the floral stem right on top and you can kind of pinch it around and open up now kind of send the leaf so it will stick away from your flower and lay it along side your flower you can go ahead and trim the bottom so it's even with the flower stems grab your floral tape again and wrap that to secure okay now we've spend one last step okay so I went ahead and cut a long strip of our green crepe paper and we're just going to use that to wrap the whole stem to give it a finished look so it will match our leaf so start at the top of your stem put a dot of craft glue at one end of your crepe paper place at the top and wrap securely so go slow and try not to tug on the crepe paper too much it is a little bit delicate okay once you get to end trim off the excess another little dot of glue and wrap securely smooth it down into place open up your leaf a little bit and you're done so how much are you loving these flowers will you accept my breasts sorry guys I couldn't resist I personally love these I would like to see a vase filled with them or even a bride carry one down the aisle what do you think what kind of paper flower would you make do you have princess fantasies like me and want to fill every room of your house with them let me know in the comments down below and I'll see you next time smells like paper\n"