I’ve recently started work at a set of local care homes doing arts & crafts sessions for the residents (more crafts than art to be honest)
Last month we started with felt, making a series of different brooches either bows or flowers. It was the first time many of them had used felt,so this month I decided to try them with paper flowers.
The felt work can be reproduced in paper quite effectively, but this month I went for different techniques to provide variation.
The first can be done with either crepe or tissue paper, crepe paper is that bit more robust and is good for people starting off.
You start with 6 sheets of paper stacked on to of each other
Then fold them as if you were making a fan. The tighter the folds the better
Next tie securely in the middle, and cut off loose ends
Trim each end to make a petal shape, can be curved, pointed, even fringed.
Open the fanned sheets
Then gently pull each sheet up in turn, I find it easier to do alternate sides rather than all of one, then one of the other.
And voila – a paper chrysanthemum (kind of)
By varying colour mixes and petal cuts you can vary the results
As I said earlier, the same process can be used with tissue paper, it’s slightly trickier than the crepe but a crisp, firmer end result
