How to Make Crepe Paper Poppies - Pretty Abstract Makes

These crepe paper poppies were so fun to create and look so pretty! Perfect for beginners or seasoned crafters, this paper flower kit comes with everything you need to create a bright and beautiful bouquet that is sure to spruce up any space in your home!

OTHER: How to Make Geometric Clay Earrings

CREPE PAPER POPPIES

This was my very first time making crepe paper poppies, and I thought they’d be so much harder to make! Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of steps, but none of them were so difficult that I had any major issues or mistakes. YAY!

This paper poppy kit had everything I needed to make 6 full flowers and 6 buds. It came with a range of pink and orange extra fine crepe paper as well as two shades of vivid green for the stamen and stems. It also included floral wire and tape as well as foam balls and paper templates for each cut-out.

The kit was from Lia Griffith – she has a bunch of other ones as well. I’d seen a couple of her YouTube flower tutorials and knew I could trust her to teach me the ropes! The kit came with written instructions, and there’s a YouTube video that I’ve linked at the end of this post!

This post contains affiliate links to products on Felt Paper Scissors but I would never recommend anything I didn’t love or really enjoy:)

Supplies you’ll need to make them:

Option 1

Icelandic Poppy Crepe Paper Flower Kit (Felt Paper Scissors)
Detail Scissors
Low- Temp Hot Glue Gun
Craft Glue
Needle Nose Pliers
Orange Marker

Option 2

Buy your own materials: Here’s a list of links that will take you to products on Amazon that are similar to the supplies I used to make these flowers:

Extra Fine Crepe Paper (colours for the flowers and shades of green for the stem and leaves)
Floral Wire
Floral Tape
Foam Balls (1 inch)
Detail Scissors
Low- Temp Hot Glue Gun
Craft Glue
Needle Nose Pliers
Orange Marker

Doesn’t the cover look so PRETTY?! I’m a sucker for packaging and I could easily picture those beautiful flowers sitting in a vase on my bookshelf. It took almost 0 time to make up my mind about buying it.

The kit came with all the basics including the crepe paper, floral wire, foam balls and floral tape. All I needed to add from my own stash was a pair of detail scissors, an orange marker and some tacky craft glue.

Cutting Your Templates + Organizing Your Pieces

The very first thing I did was cut the shapes for the templates. Once you know the general silhouette and how many of each piece you need you can easily make your own later on or tweak them to be a little smaller! I also love how they included instructions on which way the grain of the paper needed to be in order for it to work properly. If you make these flowers be sure to cut your pieces with the grain pointing the right way otherwise they won’t turn out right. The grain helps the paper to stretch and get bigger, which is important later on. (See photo below for which way the grain should be pointing.)

Here’s a breakdown of each shape and how many you’ll need of each to create 1 flower. The template for the poppy petals is only half a petal. You have to fold the paper in half and place the straight edge of the template on the fold and trace around it. When you open it up, you get the full petal shape! You’ll cut 6 total.

The rest of the pieces were more straight forward. You need 1 dark green oval poppy centre, 2 long light green strips for the stamen and 6 small rectangles.

Making the Bud and Stamen

I found the next few steps to be the most time consuming. There’s a lot of twisting, rolling and detailed cutting, but I promise you it’s all worth it!

Take each of the 6 little rectangles and roll each one between your fingers with the grain pointing lengthwise. You’ll want a tight little spiral. From there, you’ll grab your glue and attach the ends on each so they resemble little green tear drops! I like using quick dry tacky glue. Once you press the ends together, you have a little bit of time to adjust them until it dries completely.

Next, take the two green strips and lightly colour the tip of one side with an orange marker. You only need a thin layer along one of the ends. Take your detail scissors and make even, small cuts along the grain across the whole strip. Leave about half an inch uncut at the top.

Next, you’re going to grab each tiny strip individually and gently roll it back and forth between your fingers. The goal is to get it into a tight twist that extends up to the point where you stopped cutting. Follow the same process for the entire length of the strip and then make a second one. These strips are going to be the stamen surrounding the bud of our poppy. They add such pretty detail and a nice orange contrast in the middle.

This took a bit of time, but honestly, I just zoned out and listened to some music and I was finished before I knew it! I also learned how strong crepe paper is! At first I was super scared I was going to rip it while trying to twist it, but it’s a lot stronger than you think! It can take quite a bit of pressure, and once you realize that, the next few steps become a bit easier!

Now it’s time to grab one of the floral wires and a pair of needle-nose pliers. The wires that came in the kit were about 10 inches long but you can definitely use ones a bit longer or shorter if that’s all you have. Using the pliers, twist one of the ends so it forms a small loop at the top.

Take the bent end of your wire and add some hot glue on top. Push it into one of the styrofoam balls about half way. Now things are starting to take shape! The glue will help keep it from coming off the ball in the next few steps!

Assembling your Crepe Paper Poppies

Remember that deep green oval you cut out earlier? It’s going to cover your styrofoam ball! The trick here is to stretch it out as much as you can. It won’t actually cover the whole ball unless you gently pull it so it opens up even more. Like I said, crepe paper is pretty durable and you can manipulate it quite a bit before it tears.

Once your oval is big enough, add a bit of hot glue to the bottom where the bud meets the stem. Place your paper here and begin to press it down and mold it to the ball. You will have to add some folds and there will be some creases but don’t worry, you can hide some of these later on. Add glue as needed to make sure the paper stays put and you’re left with a cute little green bud.

Now it’s time to add those 6 tiny green tear drops you made at the start. Glue them onto the top of your bud in a flower pattern. Less is more when it comes to how much glue you use. Try to hide it under the tear drops as much as possible.

Add a dab of hot glue to the base of the bud. Grab one of the two long strips you twisted up and press one end on top of the glue. Slowly rotate the flower and the stamen so it wraps around the bottom. Glue as you go so the whole thing is secure. Repeat this step with the second one, layering it over the first. Now the centre of your poppy is complete!!

Finally, it’s time to add the petals! Take one of the pieces and use your fingers to gently fold it accordion style. You don’t have to be perfect here, you’re really just trying to create texture. Once folded, twist the petal and wind it tightly like in the photo below. Once you’ve wound all 6, carefully un-twist them. They’ll have more shape and body now. You might even want to gently stretch them out a bit as well!

To make it a bit easier to glue them onto the bud, take the bottom of each petal and twist once again so it has a little “tail” or “stem.” You’ll use the tails to secure and layer them to create your flower.

Use hot glue to secure each petal onto the base of the bud one at a time. Follow the shape of the bud so it’s surrounded by petals.

The final two steps are fairly simple as well. Once your petals are secured, grab the floral tape. Starting at the base where your “tails” are glued, add tape down the entire length of the wire. Be sure to cover the tails at the start and work your way down. Cut off the excess once you reach the bottom. Then repeat this step with a thin strip of the dark green crepe paper. This thickens the stem and makes it a little more durable. I found it helpful to rotate the wire as you go and hold the tape on an angle for maximum coverage!

You’re done! You’ve made your first poppy!

I know mine aren’t perfect but I think they turned out pretty great! After learning how to make these, and even though it took me the better part of an afternoon to complete them, I’m definitely happy I gave it a try. Having a video to watch was super helpful and now I’m confidant that I could make them again with my own supplies.

They make me so happy whenever I look at them, and add such a nice pop of colour to my living room!

I’m excited to try a few more kits – the Crepe Paper Peony’s and Paper Ranunculus are calling my name!

Here’s the video I watched to help me make my crepe paper poppies!

LOVING THIS LIA GRIFFITH/ FELT PAPER SCISSORS KIT? Check out all of their awesome kits and craft supplies here at feltpaperscissors.com!

These crepe paper poppies were so fun to make and they’re so pretty! This paper flower kit had everything you need to make a beautiful bouquet! Each step is simple and easy to master. Crepe paper poppies are the ultimate DIY craft to keep you busy if you’re bored or just looking to learn a new skill to add to your crafty arsenal.