How To Make A Crepe Paper Tropical Leaf Plant For A Wall Vase

Inside: An easy tutorial for a DIY crepe paper tropical leaf plant and an idea for an upcycled wall vase to display it in.

The other day, I broke another one of my favourite Anthropologie mugs. It was a lucky break, as it broke in half. Instead of binning the mug, I upcycled it into a DIY wall vase.

Even though I could repurpose the mug into a wall vase, it was only really suited for faux plants and flowers. As the mug had a Boho vibe, I decided a tropical leaf plant would look the best in the vase.

I’ve made faux felt succulents and crepe paper flower wall displays before. I thought crepe paper would be the best way to make the DIY tropical leaf plant this time.

You can make pretty realistic-looking faux flowers and plants with crepe paper. It can be moulded and shaped mainly using thick Italian crepe paper.

I designed this tropical leaf plant myself, and I’m not sure what plant it is, but I think the leaves look very similar to banana leaves.

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What You Need

• Italian heavy crepe paper (180 g) in sage green
• Floristry wire stems 14 gauge 12- 16 inches long
• White craft glue
• Yellow sharpie pen
• A small piece of flower oasis or a scrap piece of foam

How to make a Crepe Paper Tropical Leaf Plant

These tropical leaves resemble those of Bird’s Nest ferns, as shown in this fern drawing tutorial.

Step 1: To make the first leaf, cut a piece of crepe paper into a rectangle approximately 7cm by 12cm (3″ by 5″). Then another strip is 1 cm by 12 cm (1/2″ by 5″).

Top Tip: Make sure that the grain of the crepe paper runs in the right direction. Follow the picture above. The crepe paper folds should lie where the paper would get longer when pulled.

Step 2: Next, stretch out the long thin piece of crepe paper. Glue one end to the top of the wire stem. Then tightly wrap the crepe paper around the wire stem. Use another glue dollop to secure the paper strip’s end to the wire.

Step 3: Place glue down the centre of the large crepe paper rectangle. Then, stick the wrapped wire stem to it.

Step 4: Then, half the crepe paper around the stem. Cut out a leaf shape whilst the crepe paper is folded around the stem.

Step 5: Fold out the crepe paper to reveal the leaf shape. Then, use the sharpie to add tinting to the edge of the tropical leaf.

Step 6: Next, cut out random small nicks and cut them into the leaf’s edge.

Step 7: The best bit about using this heavy crepe paper is that it can be bent and shaped. Manipulate the crepe paper on the leaf to bend and shape it into a more realistic tropical leaf shape.

Step 8: Repeat steps one to seven to make at least 5 DIY tropical leaves. I suggest slightly varying the leaves’ sizes to create a more natural plant.

Step 9: Finally, to finish the DIY tropical plant, place the foam in the mug Boho wall vase and arrange the leaves. The wire stem and the flexibility of the crepe paper enable you to shape the plant to look more realistic.

Other Related Posts

Check out these other teacup craft ideas.

There is a tutorial on felt tropical leaves with this DIY felt lampshade.

If you, like me, love the Boho look in home interiors, check out these excellent vintage tropical palm tree prints and this fabulous DIY Boho Crafts and Decor collection

I’ve also made an upcycled leather Boho vase with giant crepe paper flowers and Boho jeans pillows that complement this craft. These DIY tropical leaf plants look great in recycled hanging planters or other upcycled vases.

You can find more fun papercrafts here.