Paper Flower Magic: Techniques & Projects to Sculpt Your Own Garden of Realistic Blooms

Artist Jansson (Hidden Winter) offers a dazzling guide to creating crepe paper flowers. In 15 projects, Jansson demonstrates the twists and folds that differentiate anemones from peonies, or poppies from bluebells, resulting in paper flowers that are not just an imitation of the real thing but beautiful objects themselves. Her goal, she writes, isn’t to fashion thoroughly realistic flowers but to create work that “captures the feeling of the living and organic in the natural kingdom that sometimes actually surpasses reality.” Jansson instructs crafters to prepare the different parts of the flower before beginning assembly—cutting pieces of crepe paper in the shape of leaves and petals, giving them realistic structure by shaping them with a dowel, and covering wire with a strip of green paper to create a stem. Crafters can add depth to the petals and leaves with markers and dyes. Paper flowers are constructed from the inside out, Jansson explains, beginning with a stem and a pistil, followed by petals and leaves. The volume is beginner-friendly, but those who have made paper flowers before will especially appreciate the breadth of templates, from water lilies and sweet peas, to geraniums and irises. Crafters will be inspired. Photos. (Feb.)