DIY CREPE PAPER FLOWERS

When you're stuck at home sick there's only one rational thing to do: craft day! I found a couple of DIY's on Pinterest (by Craftberry Bush and Martha Stewart) on how to make crepe paper flowers. I find often times fake flowers can look pretty chunky and... you know... fake 'n' stuff. God I'm eloquent. But these crepe flowers looked really beautiful and delicate. So I thought “hey, hey big guy, let's do this.” I mostly followed Craftberry Bush's tutorial as I thought hers had a little je ne sais quoi. Actually I do know what the what was – the watercolour effect. If you're going to follow a tutorial it really should be that one, not mine, but I thought I'd take you along for the ride nonetheless.

Step 1. Cut a hole in the box... no just kidding... Actual Step 1. Cut some petals out of crepe paper (I actually used party streamers, but you'll need larger sheets of paper if you want to make bigger flowers). I used about 5 or 6 petals per flower. You can of course use more if you want a fuller flower.

Step 2. Place the petal over a microwavable bowl and wet it with your paintbrush. Now is a good time to push the edges around and create some texture. It looks a bit more interesting if things don't look too perfect.

Step 3. Paint the petals, focusing attention on the edges to create an ombre effect. You can use watercolour or acrylic paint, just not oil.

Step 4. After that you want to put the bowl, with the petal on it, in the microwave for about 10 – 20 seconds. When the petal is totally dry peel it off. Repeat this process with the rest of your petals.

Step 5. You're going to need to find a base for your flowers. I just found some old fake flowers that I had lying around and ripped the petals off. Place a bit of glue along the bottom of your petal and start wrapping it around the flower base. Keep on at it until you've used up all of your petals.

Step 6. Finally to make sure things are completely secure, take a tiny strip of tape (you can probably find a better colour than what I have here) and wrapped it around the base.

And that's about it. Pretty easy. I popped mine into some small vases and filled them up a bit with either salt or fish tank pebbles. Pouring something solid like that into the base will help hold your flower in whatever position tickles your fancy.