5 Paper Curler Techniques for Paper Flowers

This is a tutorial for how to curl paper flower petals with both dedicated paper curling tools and regular things you have around the house.

There are lots of different techniques and tools for curling paper flower petals. From simple scissors to dedicated tools, you can use multiple things to get similar effects.

I used my peony paper flower templates to demonstrate the different ways you can curler paper flower petals. If you’d like to follow along, just sign up for my newsletter to get free access to this template and much more!

Lets first go into some of the dedicated tools that you might find helpful in your paper flower crafting. By no means do you need all of these tools. I used a credit card to curl my paper petals for the longest time before I invested in some dedicated tools:

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Paper flower curling tool

Bone folder tool– This tool is for creasing in origami but in the context of paper flower crafts, you can use it as a scraper against the petals.

Fondant Shaping Tools– these ball pens are meant to be used in conjunction with either a foam pad or resin mold.

Resin mold – They make these half domes for fondant as well but I find the fondant molds tend to have a smaller size range and I use the sizes for resin more often.

Foam pad– In all honesty, I find a mouse pad works just as well. If you have some styrofoam sheets left over from packaging, that works as well.

How to curl paper flower petals

Using a bone paper folder

This one is quite straightforward. All you need to do is scrap the petal along the edge of the bone folder. If the base of the petal is really narrow, I suggest holding the base of the petal with one hand and doing the scrapping against a thumb with your other hand to minimize the chances of pulling the petal off.

For a softer curl, consider a variation on the bone folder, the transfer paper scraper that is covered on one side with velvet. This allows for a smoother glide and less tension on the petal making a softer curl.

How to curl paper with scissors

Curling a petal with scissors is exactly the same as using the scraper or bone folder. However, I highly recommend holding the base of the petal so as to not pull off the petal.

If you don’t want to buy dedicated tools just yet, I recommend using a credit card or gift card instead of scissors. Cards are much less sharp and are less likely to tear the paper.

How to curl paper flower petals using fondant tools

Using fondant and resin mold to curl petals is quite straightforward. For a more cupped curl, position the petal in a dome mold that is slightly bigger than the petal.

Start with the bigger ball stylus and push the petal into the mold in a circular manner. If you want a more angular curl, finish by using the smaller ball stylus with the petal in the mold.

If you are using a layer paper flower template, you can also create a curvature to the overall layer of petals by using the same ball stylus against a foam sheet.

The foam sheet creates a flatter curvature to the paper overall.

You can also just use the handle of the ball stylus as a curling mold.

In this case, just roll the petal against the handle using your thumb and fingers. This creates a more vertical sharp angular curl in the petal. Any pen or pencil works as well for this type of curl.

You don’t need to limit your petal curling techniques to just one per flower. In this peony example, I used the handle of the stylus to create a tubular curl with the inner rolled stamen and then a more cupped petal for the other layers.