Remember when I showed you how to make realistic paper roses & ranunculus flowers (HERE and HERE)?

Well, today is what I consider part three in the series: How to make realistic buds, leaves, and stems for your paper creations.

First, to make your own buds, tightly roll some crepe paper into a ball. If it’s not staying in shape, you can always get it slightly damp.

Next, wrap some colored crepe paper petals over the ball. I made some in green specifically for this sourpuss. To see my method for making the petals look so realistic, visit my tutorial HERE.

Add as many layers of petals around your ball as you like. Curl some of the outer layers out, making them look like they are slowly opening up.

I made some of my flower buds in green tones, and others in the same pink tones as my flowers.

Next, glue some green petals onto dry sticks from real plants. Make sure the branches aren’t flimsy, or really wet. I like using aged branches. It looks so much cooler than using a plastic stem. Once your leaves are in place, hot glue gun your flower buds onto the stem.

I even placed some of my buds in the middle of my flowers. I think it makes the combination of full flowers & buds flow really nicely.

Alternate in color, size, and shape. You can’t really go wrong.

These flowers were set in spring time, which is why I also added small little leaves peaking out here and there.

So there you have it!