Is your craft space full of scraps of crepe paper that you just have no idea what to do with?
It can be so frustrating being left with so much waste from your crepe paper flowers. But don’t worry, today I’m going to share with you 5 ways to use up the offcuts and scraps that come from making crepe paper flowers.
Watch the video below, or keep reading to find out more.
There tends to be quite a bit of waste from cutting out petals, which can be frustrating as crepe paper isn’t always that cheap. Every single flower that you make just creates more and more scraps! So how do you use them up?
1. STORE SCRAPS BY COLOUR SO YOU CAN EASILY SEE WHAT YOU HAVE
Firstly, I highly recommend you get organized! Store your scraps by colour, and by brand. I like to use food bags, and I whenever I have more scraps from each roll of crepe, I’ll add them into the relevant bag. I have bags for every colour of crepe that I own. You don’t need anything fancy, just plain old sandwich bags and a sharpie will do.
2. CHECK YOUR BAGS WHENEVER YOU MAKE A NEW FLOWER
The easiest way to use your scraps, is to check your bags every time you make a new paper flower. Most flowers will have at least a couple of smaller petals or details, so you can use the larger scraps for those. That’s why it helps to label the bags with the specific colour, so you know it’s going to match!
If by any chance your petals are quite a bit smaller than the scraps, I suggest you leave the bigger pieces till another time, when they might be more useful. And don’t forget that scraps of green paper can be perfect for calyxes and bud coverings too.
3. WRAP YOUR STEMS
If you have strips of crepe left over, in any colour, you can stretch them all the way out, cover them in tacky glue, and then use them to wrap your stems to add thickness. You can use any colour, and then just do the final layer in the actual colour.
I use this technique quite a bit, and it makes such a difference to your finished stem, it looks so much more realistic. My sunflower tutorial is a great example of this, so I’ll link it here for you. You can also use some of your random sized and shaped pieces to do this, it’s just a bit fiddly and time consuming.
4. BALLS, BERRIES AND FLOWER CENTRES
For those very small pieces of crepe, you can use them to make berries, balls, and flower centres. Just cover them in tacky glue, and then scrunch them together, or roll in the palm of your hand. Then you can cover them with a final layer in the finished colour, or you can even paint them with acrylic paints. I do recommend you use a lighter colour than the final colour though, otherwise they can sometimes show through the paper.
Have a look at my paper berry tutorial for a great example of how to use small squares of scrap crepe paper.
5. ALL IN THE DETAILS
Don’t forget about the small details that make the flower. I’m talking about the tiny spike on a berry stem, or a bud covering that’s only just visible beneath the calyx. Those tiny details all start with crepe paper, so that’s a great way to use up the smallest of scraps too.
Of course whatever you do, there will always be some crepe paper left over, but hopefully you’ve found these tips useful to really reduce how much waste you have. Do you have any other suggestions how to use up scraps? If so please leave me a comment below.
I’ll be back with more paper flower making tips and tutorials soon, so make sure you’re subscribed to my YouTube channel to get notified when the next video goes live. Don’t forget to also subscribe to my email list so you’ll be the first to get notified when I launch new templates and videos, plus special discounts that I don’t offer anywhere else.
Until next time, happy flower making.
Michelle x