How to Make Giant Paper Flowers for a Wedding Backdrop

Fold a length of crepe paper in half and cut a rounded petal shape with the fold running along the bottom. Cutting through the fold gives you two matching petals at once, and stacking a few layers first lets you knock out a whole batch in one go.

You need two sizes. Cut a big pile of large outer petals and a second pile of smaller inner ones. A giant flower eats petals, so cut more than you think you need before you pick up the glue gun.

Take a petal and gently pull it open from the middle, stretching the crepe so it bows into a cupped shape. Work slowly - crepe paper stretches but it also tears if you yank it. You want a soft curve, not a rip.

That cup is the single most important move in the whole flower. It gives each petal a natural bowl and stops the finished bloom from looking flat and papery. Cup every petal before it goes anywhere near the glue.

Run a bead of hot glue along the base of a large petal and press it onto a paper plate, a couple of inches in from the rim. Work all the way around the plate, overlapping each petal slightly over the last so there are no gaps showing the plate underneath.

The plate is doing double duty here. It anchors every petal in one place and it gives you the flat back that later wires or tapes flush to a wall. Keep the glue on the petal base only so the tips stay loose and can flare out.

Keep going with more rings of petals inside the first, reaching for the smaller petals as you move toward the middle. Glue each new ring a little higher and more upright than the one before it so the flower builds up instead of staying flat.

This is where a pile of petals turns into a peony. The overlapping layers give the bloom its depth, and that depth is what makes it read as a real flower from across a room. Stagger the petals so no two seams line up.

Grab a contrasting color for the center. Fold a long strip of crepe paper over on itself a few times, then snip thin cuts about two-thirds of the way through one edge to make a fringe. Keep the cuts close together so the fringe reads full.

Unfold the strip and roll it up tight into a fluffy plug. Rough up the fringe ends with your fingers, then hot glue the bundle into the middle of the flower. That fringed pom is what sells the whole thing as a peony.

Go around the outside and stretch the petal edges to ruffle them, evening out the shape and hiding any glue lines. The finished bloom lands around 18 inches across with a flat plate back that sits close to the wall.

To hang it, run floral wire through the plate or press mounting tape onto the back. One flower makes a photo-corner statement. Build six or eight in a few colors and cluster them tight for a full wedding or party backdrop.