Crepe Paper Bouquet!

Almost 15 years ago I walked down the aisle holding a bouquet of crepe paper flowers. I was recently cleaning out my studio and found the bouquet along along with my stash of vintage crepe paper. It looks (almost) as fresh as it did on my wedding day...well....maybe a tiny bit squished! 

Though I started it months before, I finished my bouquet in a rush a few nights before my wedding with the help of a few of a few dear bridesmaid-friends. Our wedding was paper-themed thanks to my obsession with paper, specifically crepe paper. At the time, it was hard to buy crepe paper in pretty colors, if at all so I used mostly vintage crepe paper. Here it is (above) looking a bit more fluffed up on the cover of Martha Stewart Weddings. You can see some more details of our wedding over on their website here.

My crepe paper obsession started many years before my wedding, when I found a vintage copy of the Dennison book, "How to Make Flowers" at a tag sale. This was before eBay, but when eBay did come along, I bought every Dennison’s craft book I could find. I also bought beautiful vintage crepe paper, heavier weight than new crepe paper and in gorgeous, deep colors. I also discovered two-toned  "duplex" crepe.

Back when I worked at Martha Stewart Living, my co-worker, Lisa, gave me a box full of vintage crepe paper along with hand-cut petals, leaves, and templates that she got at a flea market (including the scraps above).

The cardboard petal and leaf templates were lovingly cut and labeled. I wish I could have seen some of the flowers made with these.

I love these templates they made out of recycled crepe paper packaging.

Here are the some of the leaves from the vintage collection.

I love the vintage crepe paper packaging. I'm so happy, though, that over the years the crepe paper world has improved and now gorgeous, heavyweight crepe paper and even two-toned duplex is more widely available...like over here in Oh Happy Day's gorgeous new shop!

To see a how-to's for the flowers in my bouquet, you can watch this video or click here for how-to photos.

I would encourage anyone thinking of making their own bouquet out of crepe paper to do it! Mine reminds me of the sweet friends that helped me make those last few flowers on a warm summer night, just before our wedding.