Metallic Crepe Paper Flowers: Fabulous Anytime!

These metallic crepe paper flowers are simple to make and yet look great, singly or in a bouquet. Use them in your Succah, on your fall table or to brighten up your home this winter!
You'll Need: 

• Metallic Crepe Paper
• Floral Wire (or any medium weight wire you have on hand)
• Beaded trim (optional)

Note: You can use just about any crepe or tissue paper for this project, though heavy crepe paper (made for paper flower making) works the best as it holds its shape! In Israel this paper is widely available in silver, gold, bronze and creme and is called "niyar l'prachim." A friend of mine did locate some in Brooklyn, but it's not as widely available in the United States for some strange reason. (Especially given the vast quantity of art supplies that are available!)

Directions:

1. Cut two long rectangular pieces of  crepe paper, and lay one on top of the other.
2. Working with the two sheets together, accordion fold the rectangle, so that there are at least 8 folds, measuring roughly 3/4" width each. (More folds than 8 may result in a flower that is too tight, unless it is very large.) Make sure metallic side of paper is on the outside!
3. Wrap the floral wire around the center of the accordion fold and twist the wire on itself.
4. Trim both ends of the accordion on the red dotted lines, in diagram below.
5. Carefully open flower, pulling folds apart gently, and separating the upper layer from the lower. Continue to shape flower until it looks open and beautiful.
6. You can make flowers in a variety of sizes and use two different colors for top and bottom layer of paper.
7. Using hot glue, glue a small piece of beaded trim, shaped in a spiral, over the exposed wire at the center. Alternately, one can glue on a small piece of curled paper, a few sequins or a collection of beads. (I did not do this in the photo above, as you can see!)

Other uses for crepe paper flowers:

• Instead of a bow as an elegant topper on a wrapped present
• Wrapped around a napkin as a napkin ring
• Twisted around chandeliers and sconces where possible
• As a pin, bracelet or hair ornament for a flower girl
• Try making some from stiffened fabric, they might be great!