Birthday
HydrangeasA handmade bouquet is a touching gift that keeps its warmth for a long time — and if you hide sweets inside the buds, it becomes a treat too. Here is how to make spring snowdrops from crepe paper with a chocolate inside each one. This bouquet makes a lovely gift for a mother, grandmother, friend or teacher on 8 March or a birthday.
What you need
- small wrapped chocolates (one per flower);
- crepe paper in three colours: white, green and light green;
- green floral tape;
- medium-gauge floral wire;
- thread, a glue gun or thin double-sided tape;
- scissors, a ruler and ribbon for the bouquet.
Other techniques — ribbons, fabric, foam sheets, beads — also work for handmade flowers, and if you'd like to fold flowers without glue, try origami flowers.
Paper snowdrop bouquet: step by step
- Cut the paper. For 5 flowers you need 5 white strips 2 cm wide and 50–55 cm long, 5 light green rectangles 5×4 cm and 2 green strips 2 cm wide and 50–60 cm long. The grain of the crepe paper should run along the height of the petal.
- Attach the chocolates. Put a drop of glue on the twisted end of the wrapper, push the tip of the wire into it and wrap the paper around it. The wire mustn't pierce the chocolate.
- Make the centre. Stretch the light green rectangle from the middle outwards to form a hollow for the chocolate, leaving the top edge slightly wavy.
- Prepare the petals. Cut each white strip into 3 pieces — 3 petals per flower. Twist each piece 360° in the middle, fold it in half and stretch it from the centre outwards to cup the petal.
- Assemble the bud. Wrap the light green centre around the chocolate and secure it with thread, then overlap three white petals on top and tie again. Trim excess paper at the base for a smooth transition to the stem.
- Make the leaves. Cut each green strip into 4 — that gives 8 leaves. Stretch them the same way as the petals.
- Finish the stem. Wrap the wire with floral tape from top to bottom, adding leaves as you go and fixing each with a drop of glue.
- Make the bouquet. Gather the flowers, tie them with ribbon and add beads if you like.
Tips
- Choose round or teardrop-shaped chocolates — they look more like buds.
- Keep the sweet bouquet away from radiators and sun, or the chocolate will melt.
- Wild snowdrops are protected in Ukraine, so a paper bouquet is a lovely, nature-friendly alternative.
FAQ
What paper is best for paper flowers?
Crepe paper — it stretches and holds the curved shape of the petals.
Who can I give a sweet bouquet to?
A mother, grandmother, teacher, friend or colleague — for 8 March, a birthday or just because.
No time for crafts? Order a spring bouquet — tulips, for example — with UFL delivery in Kyiv.
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Author: Maria Svitlovir
Graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Institute of Biology and Medicine (2001). BSc in Biology, MSc in Horticulture. Writes about plants, works at a garden centre selecting and repotting plants, and contributes to plant reference guides.
