For several years now, we have been offering you, alongside Japanese paper and origami, a whole creative universe around paper flowers!

In order to continue to support you in making crepe paper flowers and foliage and thus make this creative hobby even more accessible to you, I am back today with a new article to show you two techniques for decorating paper flower stems: one with floratape and the other with crepe paper.

If you would like to discover other tips and tricks for making paper flowers, I invite you to discover our blog article: “ Tips & Tricks for Making Paper Flowers ”

METAL ROD DRESSING WITH FLORATAPE

1. Prepare a stem, a piece of floratape the length of your stem (and optionally, a bundle of flower pistils.
2. If you want to put your pistils in place, position your bundle about 1cm from your stem (as shown in the photo).
3. Wrap your stem with floratape , starting from the base of the pistils and moving down the stem. Roll the stem and floratape under your fingers all the way down the stem.

NB: Don't be surprised! Floratape is an adhesive tape that, at first glance, appears to be non-sticky. It is under the effect of the heat of the fingers and the stretching movement of the tape that the floratape releases the paraffin it contains and can then be worked to dress metal rods.

This technique is a little more complicated to understand than that with crepe paper because the use of floratape , which does not seem to stick at first glance, can be destabilizing when you start to make your own paper flowers.

WRAP A METAL ROD WITH CREPE PAPER

1. Cut out a square of crepe paper about 10cm on each side. Fold it in half once, then in half again. This is what you get.
   > This first step of folding into a "sandwich" is useful if you want to make long lengths of crepe ribbon. Otherwise, you can cut your crepe square directly, without folding it into a "sandwich" first.
2. Then cut strips of about 1cm.
3. Stretch each strip.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Take a rod and place glue all along the unfolded strip, as shown in the photo. This is when you can place your bundle of pistils to hold it on the stem with your strip of crepe paper. If not, you can always do it later!
5. Start wrapping the strip around itself several times, around the stem...
6. ...to start the dressing, like this.
   
   
   
   
   
7. Continue wrapping the strip, this time at an angle...
8. ...and all the way to the end. Tear off the excess, if necessary.
9. You've finished dressing your metal rod!

NB: Don't be surprised if you get glue on your hands! Clean them as you dress your stems, using a damp cloth.

This technique is my favorite! During our creative workshops, it's the one our participants find easiest to integrate. I also find that crepe paper is easier to work with than floratape when it comes to working on small surfaces.