Enjoy the beauty of magnolia flowers year-round with this how-to from crafter Morgan Levine.
Tools and Materials
- Crepe paper magnolia template
- Cream or yellow crepe paper
- Dark pink florist (180-gram) crepe paper
- Scissors
- Fringe scissors (optional)
- 18-gauge floral wire
- Brown floral tape
- Bleach
- Glue stick
- Stapler
- Bare magnolia branch
Crepe-Paper Magnolia How-To:
- Print crepe paper magnolia template.
(Tip: To allow crepe paper to stretch, trace shapes along grain as marked by the arrows on the template.)
- Cut stamen shape out of cream or yellow crepe paper. Fringe one long edge (marked on template) with scissors or fringe scissors. Starting with the wider short edge, wrap around a 1 1/2-inch piece of 18-gauge floral wire; secure with brown floral tape. Gently twist top of stamen into a point.
- Mix 3/4 cups water with 1/4 cup bleach in a glass container.
- Cut twelve 2-by 5-inch rectangles out of dark pink crepe paper. One at a time, fold petal in half lengthwise, and with fold facing up, dip top half of petal into bleach solution. Count to 10, and remove; place on paper towels to dry.
- Glue 3 dry bleached rectangles to a strip of white crepe paper with a glue stick; let dry. Repeat to make 4 strips. Fold each strip into an accordion so that each bleached rectangle is on top of the next.
- Place petal template on top of folded strip, staple in place and cut out. Repeat for other 3 strips.
- One by one, use thumb and forefinger to curve top of each petal inward. Halfway down petal, curve crepe paper outward.
- Place four petals around base of stamen and secure with floral tape. Place the remaining 6 petals around base of stamen and secure with floral tape, edges curved away from center.
- Cut 3 to 5 bud petals from unbleached pink paper to make buds. Secure to a small piece of wire with floral tape as you did with the bloom petals.
- Use floral tape to wire blooms and buds to a bare magnolia branch.
Resources
Florist crepe paper available from Castle in the Air.
