First, use my free SVG, DXF, or PDF files (Design #103) from my resource library to cut out your crepe paper. You will need to cut the stamen from one sheet of yellow crepe paper, two sheets of peony-colored crepe paper for the petals, and one sheet of green crepe paper for the leaves. There is no need for layer grouping or ungrouping or scoring.
A KEY CUTTING MACHINE NOTE: Only the Cricut Maker’s rotary blade may be used to cut crepe paper; no other cutting device will work (including the Cricut Explore). Please watch my free training series, SVGs Made Simple, if you’re unsure how to upload an SVG file to Cricut Design Space or if you’re experiencing problems (such as receiving a notice that states “unsupported file”). You’ll benefit from it SO MUCH! Check see my post on How to Upload SVG Files to Cricut Design Space on iPhone & iPad if you have an iPhone or iPad.
Important Information: Starting in the summer of 2019, Cricut Design Space will automatically resize all SVG cut files to 11.5 inches. This means that if you upload the crepe paper peony design, it will be drastically shrunk in size. So I made a new ZIP file for the double peony, uploaded it, and added it to my resource library. Two additional folders are segregated and stacked inside the revised zip file. To prevent the design resizing issue, use the files in one of those two directories rather than the usual SVG.
Just be careful to cut your crepe paper with the grain running vertically rather than horizontally.
Try to maintain the petals’ original sequence when removing the cut crepe paper pieces from your mat.
Note: Use the accompanying PDF template, which contains simpler pattern shapes in the order you’ll want to use them, if you wish to cut your crepe paper by hand.
One sheet of your leftover crepe paper should be crumpled into a ball. I used the sheet I printed the first set of petals on.
The core of this crepe paper ball should then have a piece of floral wire that is 12 long glued into it.
In the center of the circle you cut out of crepe paper, place the ball and wire. Put a line of glue all the way around the circle’s edge.
Put pressure on the adhesive edges as you wrap the circle around the crepe paper ball. Your crepe paper peony bud, which we will shape the flower around, is created in this way.
To neatly tuck everything in, cut a few-inch-long piece of floral tape, and wrap it around the bottom edge of the crepe paper circle.
Let’s focus on the petals at this point. For each of the two “blooms of the double peony,” there are two sets of petals. The simpler petals that resemble the illustration below are the initial set that we wish to attach to our peony bud. (Note: You will use the inner petal set, which consists of 30 petals in the same form, if you are manually cutting your crepe paper.)
The margins of each petal must be carefully pulled to “cup” the petal. Take hold of the middle of each petal’s edge and slowly pull to accomplish this. As the crepe paper stretches, a depression will develop. It’s really cool!
Here is how the petals made of crepe paper seem once they have all been cupped. Don’t you think these resemble actual flower petals?
Additionally, it’s a good idea to ruffle the petals’ upper sides to mimic real peony petals. I use my fingers and fingernails for this.
It’s time to start gluing the petals to the bud once all of your petals have been cupped and ruffled. You will glue EVERY single piece of the first set, as seen above. Make sure to glue them so that the bud’s curve and the petal’s cup match (you want the petals curving inward toward the bud, not outward). To make the petals adhere to the side of the bud like a real blossom, I like to glue the first four or five petals there.
Around the base of the bud, keep adhering the bottom of the first set of petals with glue. Up until you run out of the initial set of petals, continue going around the flower. This is how your crepe paper peony flower should appear.
But hold on, there are still more petals to add! The stamen must first be adhered using adhesive. There are two sets of stamen on a double peony. You can’t see it in this flower since one set is hidden inside the bud. The other, though, would be apparent.
To make the stamen more lifelike, prepare them by twisting the lengthy strands of your yellow, cut stamen between your fingers.
Glue the base of the stamen around the base of your crepe paper peony once they have been molded and cease to resemble paper strips and more resemble something natural.
The remaining petals should now be adhered to the crepe paper peony. Start with the second set’s smaller petals. If at all possible, arrange them from top left to bottom right, like I did when I removed the petals from the genuine peony. (Note: You will use the outer petal set, which consists of 60 petals in three different sizes, if you manually cut your crepe paper from the PDF. Start with the smallest and work your way up.)
By putting adhesive at the peony’s base and gluing the bottom of each petal to the glue, I glued each petal to the peony. This mimics the base-to-base attachment of peony petals in nature.
Just keep adhering the petals to the base of your peony in a circular motion for the time being. You want to increase the size of the petals to produce a large, gorgeous flower.
The biggest petals should be adhered by the time you reach the end. When all the petals are attached, your crepe paper peony should resemble the image below.
Any leaves you like can now be adhered with glue. A peony typically has a leaf directly below its blossom, followed by other leaves further down the stem.
A strip of floral wire can be adhered to the bottom of your leaves to give them more structure and make them appear more lifelike.
That’s all, then! Here is a comparison of my crepe paper peony with a genuine peony that I just plucked from my garden:
And the best part is that your crepe paper flower will endure for a very long time. And yet, as you can see in the image below, it appears to be very real. Less than 24 hours after I collected it, the actual peony blossom is already fading.
Is it possible to make flowers from crepe paper?
The single-petal method is used to create flowers petal by petal, as the name suggests. Before being affixed to the stem, each petal is uniquely fashioned and pleated. Create the proper stamen from crepe paper and floral wire before cutting the required number of petals and leaves from crepe paper to assemble one of these flowers. Next, give the petals some form and use floral tape to secure them to the stamen.