How to Make an Offray Tulip

Ribbon flowers offer a way to create a colorful, allergy-free bouquet as a centerpiece or as a gift for a loved one. These flowers last for the life of the ribbon, so you can reuse or display them almost endlessly. Offray ribbon is a delicate wire-edged ribbon that comes in dozens of different colors, providing the perfect medium for making realistic-looking flowers. Tulips are among the easiest flowers to make for beginners and look lovely clustered in a bouquet.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You’ll Need

• Floral wire
• Wire nips
• Scissors
• Yellow offray ribbon
• Offray ribbon: red, purple, pink, white, orange
• Green floral tape

1. Nip a piece of floral ribbon about 10 inches long. Bend the top 3 inches down into a U-shape and twist the U to create a loop. This is the center of your flower.
2. Cut about 4 inches of yellow offray ribbon. Roll it into a tight cylinder and bend 1/16 inch of the end into the lower arm of an L. Slip this small arm into your floral wire loop and twist the loop so it tightens around the ribbon. The ribbon cylinder should stick straight up; this is the flower’s stamen.
3. Cut as many 6-inch pieces of ribbon as desired for your petals; no less than 8 and no more than 12 should do it. Fold each piece of ribbon in half width-wise, crease sharply and open it back up. Fold the right side of the ribbon in and down so the inner edge of the fold is about 1/2 inch from the center crease. Repeat on the left side. Fold each of your petals this way. They should look like triangles with very blunt points.
4. Place your first petal on the flower with the blunt point pointing upward and the folded parts facing in toward the stamen. Gather the excess ribbon on the bottom of your petal around the floral wire just below the stamen. Add three more petals this way, spacing them evenly around the stamen. Wrap the bases of the petals with floral wire to hold them in place. Add one to two more layers of petals this way.
5. Cut away excess ribbon below the wires holding the petals in place. Stick the end of your floral tape to one of the petals just above this wire and wrap it closely and tightly down the length of the floral wire or stem. Create as many flowers as you like.