I love peonies. (Ryan giggles every time I say that. I swear, he’s a 10-year old.). And being on Pinterest all the time, I’ve run across a lot of paper/fabric peonies tutorials. Some of them are…gross. I’m not a huge silk flower fan, so ones that are made out of shiny fabric make me feel a little icky inside. But some of them are pretty freaking amazing. Like so amazing that you take one look at the directions and are all “yeah, no.” It’s like the awesome macaroni and cheese recipe I have. The recipe starts with “make a roux.” I almost just shut the book the first time I made it. If I have to look up definitions online, I probably shouldn’t be making the recipe. As it is I’m constantly running back and forth to convert measurements. (Side note - did you know that 4 cups = 1 quart? I learned that one yesterday. It will have been forgotten by tomorrow.). But ask anyone and they’ll tell you - that macaroni and cheese recipe is the best.
Anyway, I’ve always shied away from the paper peony tutorials. Maybe it’s because I feel like I already did my best paper flower work with the origami flower ball and it seems like it’s a been there, done that situation. Plus, a lot of the paper ones look like they’re made out of paper. I know, I know…obvious. Origami is one thing as it’s MEANT to be made out of paper. But if you want to replicate REAL flowers, paper doesn’t really do the trick. Tissue paper ones are the worst to me. I tried them in the past and they NEV-ER look like the picture. They look like something I would have made in 1st grade. And I wasn’t a talented art student.
I moved on to fabric and have found some pretty ones. Even better, they include using FIRE (a lighter/candle - nothing too exciting) to achieve a certain look. But even some of those talk about shiny fabrics working the best. Blecht. I’m dead inside. I don’t exude shiny.
Then I re-stumbled upon this tutorial. It was one of the tutorials that I took one look at and immediately clicked back to Google. No thanks. But something in me decided that I HAD to try it. Actually, I decided to try one fabric one as well which I’ll talk about later. This is all about the paper one. Let me show you what the tutorial says it has the capability of making:
Too good to be true, right? Maybe. Let me start by telling you that it’s from Martha Stewart. Hold up! Don’t click back to Google! It’s not her specifically, but her website/show. Now, I know that Martha is straight up perfect when it comes to crafts, so attempting her projects can seem a bit daunting at times. Honestly, I’m glad that she ended up going to jail for “white crimes” as I’d have insisted she were an alien otherwise. How can a person be so perfect? So anyway, this isn’t from her. It’s from a lovely woman who makes these flowers. I think she makes them for a living, but then I seem to remember Martha saying she was an actress. Regardless, she sells them. ANYWAY, let me start with the link to the tutorial. OK. Now that you’ve seen that and think you’d like to attempt it, watch the videos. (Side note - do you think they’re split into three separate videos just to force you to watch the commercials preceding them? I do. And I think it makes them jagweeds.) I’m honestly AMAZED that I saw that link to the videos and clicked on it. You know me, I read every other word. I don’t look carefully. And after watching the videos, I realized that even if I had carefully read (ha ha ha) the directions, I’d have missed some of the steps. They appear to glaze over a few things. Like the directions say to boil the ripped paper and then let it cool. I would have assumed that meant to bring it to a boil and let it cool. No. The video says boil it FOR AN HOUR. See, it pays to be careful.
As I write this, I’m only to the cutting-the-petals-out-of-the-paper stage. This was Ryan yesterday, “Wow! Look! You’ve made lumpy paper out of perfectly good paper! Good job!” Hardy har har. [Rimshot] “I’ll be here all week. Don’t forget to tip your waitress!” Idiot… Tonight I’m on to the second phase - the petal painting. I’ll be honest, though, I think I’m going to have to restart the project as the paper seems a little thick and took more than 24 hours to dry. But these are so pretty that I’m willing to keep trying. I mean, it’s just white paper and water. The only thing I’m really short on is patience. I can’t believe this is a 3 day process. I may have to pull a Cartman and freeze myself. But I don’t have a Butters…
Oh, and in case you want to see some of the other flower tutorials, here’s a little sampling. I know that some are ranunculus, but they look so similar to peonies that I included them.
1. Paper ranunculus. 2. Crepe paper flowers (there is no way mine would turn out like this). 3. Fabric peonies/ranunculus.
4. Thrifted fabric peonies (this is the other one I’m trying - with chiffon, not shininess). 5. DIY fabric peonies.
I promise I’ll show pix of the flowers when they’re done. Even if they look like something out of a horror movie.
