Another Halloween Flower- Crafting a Few Minutes at a Time

Black Crepe Paper Dahlia

Last blog post I blogged about making about making black flowers that looked like roses.  I had plenty of crepe paper, floral wire, and floral tape left over so I decided to make another type of flower.  This flower is a black Dahlia. If that name sounds familiar you are correct.  That title was used in newspapers, movies and books about a high profile, unsolved, Los Angeles murder.  So if you are thinking about doing really dark, scary, macabre Halloween decorations, you might want to include this one. You can find out more about the story by looking up The Black Dahlia on Wikipedia. (Note: the story is for adults only.)
 

A stack of accordion pleated crepe papers.

 I remembered that as a teenager my friends and I used to make tissue carnations.  I decided to try something similar with the crepe paper.  For this project you will need the supplies mentioned above plus a pair of wire cutters or heavy kitchen shears to cut the wire.

Begin by cutting 12 four-inch long strips of crepe paper.  Fold each strip by using an accordion pleat.  Due to the small size, I found it easier to fold the strip in half length-wise then fold up each open end up toward the center fold.   Do this for all twelve strips.

Example of opening up the strip to a fan on each side of the wire.

Stack the twelve strips on top of each other.  They can be loosely stacked, but it is fairly important that the ends are even.

Cut two eighteen inch (or there about) strands of wire.  Wrap the strands of wire around the center of the stack of crepe paper strips and twist to secure the strips.  Wrap the strands with floral tape to create a stem.  I started experimenting using only one wire, but the stem was too flimsy on its own and the flower drooped.  Two wires and tape took care of the problem.  The picture only shows one wire, but trust me you will want to use two wires in order to hold the flower up. 

Once the crepe paper strips are secured with wire, open up the top strip of crepe paper into a fan shape.  Gently tear down each fold line on both sides of the wire.  Repeat with each remaining strip.  When you have all of the strips torn, your flower is complete.