How to Make Paper Tropical Flowers

Paper flowers are fun and easy to create. Depending on how much detail you add, they can look quite realistic! From simple origami-like flowers to elaborate crepe paper flowers, the possibilities are endless. Best of all, you don't have to worry about the flowers fading or drying out like real ones. As long as you don't get them wet, they can last for many years!

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Crafting a Crepe Paper Plumeria

1
Cut a petal from paper that looks like an oval with a short stem. Draw an oval with a short, skinny stem on the bottom on a sheet of plain paper, then cut it out. You only need to make 1 petal like this since this will be your template.
- Make the stem about ¹⁄₂ in (1.3 cm) long and about ¹⁄₈ to ¹⁄₄ in (0.32 to 0.64 cm) wide.
- The size of the petals is up to you, but they must all be the same. Anything between 1 and 3 in (2.5 and 7.6 cm) would be good, though.
- To make the template symmetrical, fold your plain paper in half first, then draw a semi-oval on it. Cut the oval out, then unfold it.
2
Use the template to trace and cut 5 petals out of white crepe paper. Trace the petal onto your crepe paper first, making sure that the wrinkles on the paper run along the length of the petal. Cut the petal out, then trace and cut 4 more.^{[1]XResearch source}
- If you don’t have white crepe paper, use ivory or off-white instead.
- Save time by stacking 2 to 3 sheets of paper at a time. It’s not recommended that you cut more than this at once, or you won’t get clean, crisp edges.
- Using crepe paper is key for this, as it will allow you to stretch and shape the petals. Don’t use plain tissue paper.
3
Tint the top and bottom of each petal with pink and yellow chalk pastels. Use a soft brush to apply yellow chalk pastel from the bottom of the petal to about halfway up. Use a clean brush to apply dark pink or magenta chalk pastel to the top edge of the petal.^{[2]XResearch source}
- The yellow part of the petal shouldn’t touch the side edges.
- If you can, use high-quality chalk pastels. If the pastels are too hard, scrape some off with a craft blade, then use the brush to apply the powder.
- Do not use oil pastels or paint as this will cause the paper to stretch and expand. If you can’t find chalk pastels, try blush or eyeshadow.
4
Stretch each petal apart at the middle. Pick up a petal and hold it by the side edges between your fingers. Give it a gentle pull in the middle so that it takes on a bowl shape. Don't stretch the top or bottom ends.^{[3]XResearch source}
- Do this for all of the petals, but don't worry about making them perfect or even. A little irregularity is common in nature!
- Be careful of the colored parts of the petal. If the dust keeps coming off on your fingers, lightly mist the petals with spray fixative or hairspray first.
5
Glue the stems together so that the petals create a fan shape. Set the petals down on a flat surface so that the colored side is facing up. Overlap the stems and spread the petals out into a semicircular fan shape. Use a glue stick, a tiny amount of liquid glue, or an adhesive roller to stick the stems together.^{[4]XResearch source}
- An adhesive roller is essentially a very narrow double-sided tape. You can find it in the tape or scrapbooking section of a craft store.
6
Wrap the petals around a floral stem, then wrap floral tape around them. Coat the bottom, stem part of your fanned petals with glue or roll-on adhesive, then wrap them around the tip of a 16-gauge wire floral stem. Tightly wrap a strip of green floral tape around the stem part of the petals to wide them.^{[5]XResearch source}
- Insert the wire just far enough so that it’s inside the stem part of the petals. You should not see it sticking out of the front of the flower.
7
Wrap the rest of the wire with floral tape, then cut it to your desired length. Begin wrapping at the base of the flower, where you already covered it with tape. Continue wrapping the tape around the wire until you’ve covered as much as you’d like. Cut the rest of the wire off with wire cutters.^{[6]XResearch source}
- Pull the tape tightly so that it stretches. This will help it stick to itself and the wire.
- Overlap the tape slightly for each round. You don’t want any wire showing.
8
Open the flower, then curl the edge of each petal with a thin stick. Because you overlapped the petals when you stacked and fanned them out, only 1 side edge will be visible on each petal. Wrap these edges, 1 at a time, around a thin dowel, skewer, or paintbrush handle to curl them inward.^{[7]XResearch source}
- Open the flower by pulling the petals down. You still want to maintain a slight trumpet or cone shape, so don’t open them too much.
- You are only curling the inside/front of the flower, where the color is. Don’t curl the back/underside of the flower that’s facing the stem.
- Only curl the visible side edges. Don’t curl the top edges or the side edges that are under the petals.
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Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Creating a Realistic Paper Hibiscus

1
Cover the first 5 in (13 cm) of a wire floral stem with pink crepe paper. Cut a ¹⁄₄ by 3 in (0.64 by 7.62 cm) strip out of pink crepe paper. Glue 1 of the long edges to the first 5 inches (13 cm) a wire floral stem, with the short end sticking over the tip by about ¹⁄₂ in (1.3 cm). Wrap the paper around the wire, then glue the other end down.^{[8]XResearch source}
- You're wrapping the entire length of the paper around the wire stem. Don’t start wrapping with the short end like a candy cane.
- If you don’t want a pink hibiscus flower, use a red or orange crepe paper instead. This will work for red, orange, or yellow hibiscus flowers.
- You need the crepe paper sticking out over the top of the wire by about ¹⁄₂ in (1.3 cm) or so because you'll be adding a fringe. You can’t do that if it’s flush with the wire.
2
Add 4 slits into the tip of the paper, then spread them apart. Remember the ¹⁄₂ in (1.3 cm) you left sticking out over the tip of the wire? Use a pair of skinny scissors to cut 4 slits into it, making sure that you go all the way down to the wire. Spread the resulting fringe apart so that you have 5 “fingers” at the tip of the wire.^{[9]XResearch source}
- This completes the base of your flower’s stamen.
- If you ended up with more than 5 fingers, cut the extra ones off.
- For a more realistic touch, paint the tips of the stamen a darker shade of pink (or orange/red, depending on the base color) with acrylic paint.
3
Cut a fringed rectangle from the paper, going against the grain. Make this rectangle about ¹⁄₂ in (1.3 cm) wide and 3 in (7.6 cm) long. This time, make sure that the long edge runs against the grain (wrinkles). Cut a ¹⁄₂ in (1.3 cm) deep fringe into the top, long edge of the rectangle.^{[10]XResearch source}
- Use the same color for this as you did for the stamen.
- For a more realistic touch, paint the very tips of the fringe with yellow acrylic paint. Be sure to do both sides, and to let the paint dry.
4
Cut the rectangle into 5 segments, then wrap and glue them around the stamen. Cut the rectangle into 5, equal-sized segments first. Wrap and glue the first segment around the pink stamen, just below the tip. Place the next segment under it, so that the fringed part covers the solid part of the previous segment. Keep going until you reach the bottom of the stamen or run out of segments.^{[11]XResearch source}
- You’re overlapping the segments by about ¹⁄₂ in (1.3 cm). This really depends on how deep the fringe ended up being.
- For a more realistic touch, pull the fringes down so that they stick out. Don’t worry if they don’t look perfect or get smooshed.
5
Cut 5 petal shapes out of magenta colored crepe paper. Create a template using plain paper first, then use it to trace and cut 5 identical petal shapes out of magenta crepe paper. Make sure that the length of each petal runs parallel to the creases on the paper.^{[12]XResearch source}
- The petal should look a little like a teardrop, but the rounded part should be flatter. Look at picture of real hibiscus petals for reference.
- To make your petal symmetrical: fold your plain paper in half first, then cut a half-petal shape out of it. Unfold the half-petal shape and use that as your template.
- You can use a different color of crepe paper for the petals. Red, orange, and yellow are other common hibiscus colors.
6
Glue the end of each petal to the base of the stamen. Draw a thin line of hot glue along the bottom edge of your first petal, then wrap it around the bottom edge of the stamen. Add the second petal directly across from the first one, then the third and fourth petal between them. Fill the gap with the remaining petals.^{[13]XResearch source}
- The edges of the petals should be overlapping slightly.
7
Open the petals, then glue them together to create a trumpet shape. Pull the petals down one at a time so that you can see the stamen. Next, overlap and hot glue the side edges of the petals together. You only need to do the bottom fourth of each petal.^{[14]XResearch source}
- Use this moment to stretch, scrunch, and shape the petals as you go.
- Start applying the glue right at the base of each petal, where the stamen is. Finish applying about a quarter of the way up.
8
Ruffle and curve the top edge of each petal. Grab the top-left-corner of your first petal between your fingers and gently pull it apart. Move your fingers over a little bit, and give the next section a tug. Work your way across the petal to the top-right corner. Finally, curl the edge of the petal downward using a pen, pencil, or paintbrush handle as a guide.^{[15]XResearch source}
- Repeat this step for the remaining 4 petals.
- Don't just grab the left and right top corners of the petal and tug them apart. Instead, make little tugs across the top edge of the petal.
9
Cut a jagged rectangle from green crepe paper, going across the grain. Cut a rectangle that's about 2 by 1 in (5.1 by 2.5 cm) long from a sheet of green crepe paper. This time make sure that the shorter edge of the rectangle runs parallel to the wrinkles. When you're done, cut 2 upside down triangles from the top, long edge of the rectangle.^{[16]XResearch source}
- The triangles need to be wide enough so that they touch the corners of the rectangle and meet in the center--like a W.
- The long edge of the rectangle must run across the wrinkles in the paper, or it won't stretch properly.
10
Wrap and glue the rectangle around the base of the flower. Coat the bottom straight edge of the rectangle and wrap it around the bottom edge of the flower. Position the rectangle so that the pointy ends created by the W are overlapping the actual flower, and the straight, bottom edge is touching the wire.^{[17]XResearch source}
- If you want to, you can cut another jagged rectangle, just like the first one, and glue it under the first jagged rectangle.
- If you're adding a second jagged rectangle make sure that it overlaps the first one by about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way.
11
Cover the stem with floral tape, then cut it to your desired length. Begin wrapping the floral tape at the bottom edge of the green part of your flower, and finish wrapping about halfway down. Use a pair of wire cutters to cut the stem down to your desired length.^{[18]XResearch source}
- Hibiscus flowers grow on short stems that are attached to longer branches. If you want a realistic flower, cut your stem down to about 3 in (7.6 cm).
- Wrap the tape tightly and overlap each round. This will help the tape stick to the wire and to itself.
- There's no specific amount that you have to overlap the tape by. About half of each width would be good, though.
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Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Making a Kid's Lily Flower

1
Trace your hand onto a sheet of paper, then cut it out. Place your hand onto a sheet of paper. Spread your fingers apart, then trace around your entire hand with a pencil. Cut the handprint out and erase any pencil marks.^{[19]XResearch source}
- Trace the base of your palm. Don't trace your wrist.
- White and yellow are great lily colors, but you can use any color you want!
2
Decorate the handprint to look like a lily. Look at pictures of real lilies, then decorate the fingers on the handprint to look like lily petals. Most lilies will have stripes and freckles on the petals. Markers work great for this, but you can use crayons or paint as well.
- Alternatively, cut a smaller handprint out of patterned paper, then glue it on top of the first handprint.^{[20]XResearch source}
3
Overlap and glue the side edges together to make a cone. Bring the outside edges of the palm together so that the parts below the pinkie and thumb overlap. Make sure that the designs are on the inside of the cone, then glue the edges together.^{[21]XResearch source}
- A glue stick or white school glue will work the best for this. You can also use a strip of clear tape.
- If you're using glue, use a paper clip or clothespin to hold the flower together until it dries.
4
Wrap the fingers on your lily 1 at a time around a pencil. Make sure that you're wrapping away from the center of the flower, so that they curl downward. You don't need to curl them by a whole lot either; just the tips would be fine.^{[22]XResearch source}
- You don't have to do this step, but it will make your lily look more real.
- You can also use a paintbrush handle, a pen, or even a thick marker.
5
Cut a pipe cleaner into thirds, then add a pony bead onto each end. Cut a yellow pipe cleaner into 3 equal-sized pieces first. Slide an orange pony bead onto the end of a mini pipe cleaner. Wrap the end around the rest of the pipe cleaner to hold the bead on.^{[23]XResearch source}
- Do this for the other 2 mini pipe cleaners.
- You can use other colors for the pipe cleaners and pony beads, but yellow and orange will look more real.
- Pony beads are large, plastic beads. You can find them in the kids crafting section of a craft store. Perler beads are a good substitute.
6
Twist the mini pipe cleaners onto a green pipe cleaner. Gather all 3 mini pipe cleaners with the beads on the same side. Take a green pipe cleaner, and twist the end around the bottom (non-beaded) side of the mini pipe cleaner bundle.^{[24]XResearch source}
- Fold the ends of the mini pipe cleaners up so that they hook around the green pipe cleaner and don't fall off.
7
Poke the stem down through the flower and secure it with hot glue. Apply some hot glue around the base of the yellow pipe cleaners, right where they meet the green stem. Slide the end of the stem down through the middle of the flower. Pull it down so that the hot glue touches the paper.
- Use a low-temp hot glue gun. It is safer and less-likely to cause blisters.
- You may be able to do this without a hot glue gun, but the flower may slide down the stem.
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Community Q&A

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Question
How can I hang up the flowers?
Community Answer
It depends on where you want to display them. Just sticking them on the wall with double-sided tape will work, but for a garland you can poke small holes in them with a needle or small pen, then put string through the holes and tie them up.
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Tips

If desired, add detail with chalks, watercolor paints, or markers.
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Don't worry about making your flowers perfect. Imperfect flowers will actually look more realistic.
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Bright pink, orange, yellow, and red are the most common colors, but you can also use other bright colors, such as blue and purple.
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