We used both the extra fine and heavy crepe paper to craft these paper holly leaves. The papers have different looks, but both are equally beautiful. In the heavy we used Pistachio and in the extra fine we used Juniper. To make the corresponding holly berries, we used 12mm cotton spun paper balls, and shimmery red tissue paper from our Holiday Cheer tissue pack. You can also use the extra fine in Ruby for the berries. If you have any scrap bits laying around, this is the perfect opportunity to use them!
Tools
- Craft Scissors
- Cricut Maker or Silhouette Cameo 4 (optional)
- Low-Temp Hot Glue Gun
Materials
- Lia Griffith Extra Fine Crepe Paper – Juniper
- Lia Griffith Heavy Crepe Paper Winter Garden Collection – Pistachio
- Lia Griffith Tissue Paper – Holiday Cheer
- 12mm Cotton Spun Paper Balls
- 18-Gauge Green Paper Covered Wire (optional)
- Acrylic Craft Paint – Light Green (optional)
Steps
- Print the PDF template for the paper holly leaves and cut out each piece as a guide for cutting your crepe. The template indicates the grain line, and there are three sizes of leaves.
- After cutting your leaf pieces, layer the two pieces with a slight overlap, and use a low-temp hot glue gun to attach them together. You are welcome to use floral wire here, but it is not necessary.
- To add some detailing, we used light green acrylic craft paint to color in the center veins of the leaves.
- To make the holly berries, cut a piece of tissue paper in a circle about 1.5″ wide. Place tissue paper over cotton spun ball, then gather on the bottom, twist, and trim ends if needed. Glue in place. Another option is to paint the cotton spun balls with red acrylic paint, and add a light layer of Mod Podge for shine!
- Gather 3 berries together and arrange on top of crepe holly leaves; glue in place.
Another option for your berries is to use bind wire! Follow our video tutorial from this Frosted Paper Leaf & Berry Wreath (watch Lia make berries at the 1 minute mark). You can add color with spray paint, or use tissue paper as described above.
As we mentioned, these crepe paper holly leaves make for beautiful gift toppers, but we also love the idea of DIY-ing a cute mini wreath, like our pine needle wreath. For a felt version of holly leaves, find our template here. Browse our floristic crepe projects, or take a look at our paper collections in our online shop! Cheers ~ Lia & team
Are you having trouble? Feel free to contact us and we will be happy to help you out.
17 Comments
How do I make the red berries? I have the paper and the balls, but in the picture they look slightly shiny – are they decoupaged? I don’t seem to find detailed instructions anywhere?
Hi Cathy! Great timing, I just updated this post to include a link to a video to a new wreath we made with berries. These berries are shiny because of the frosted tissue paper, but you could certainly add mod podge. I added some detail to the instructions in the post so I hope that helps!
Thank you so much!!!
No problem– thank you for your feedback!!
I have some wired red berries , how would I attached them to the holly ? I have been sitting all night to figure it out and can’t think how to do it ! Thank you so much
Could you clip the ends and glue them to secure?
I love all your designs! I have the Cricut Maker and it cuts the light weight crepe paper like butter on the “crepe” setting but having a little trouble cutting the heavy weight crepe. Do you have any recomendations for another setting that would work better? Thank you!
We use the cotton or denim settings for the heavy, and a very sticky mat!
Where did you find the 1/2” foam balls? I’m having a hard time finding them.
Hi Kassie! We normally carry them in our shop, but we’re currently out of stock due to them selling faster than anticipated! We’re going to be sourcing more as soon as possible, but as of right now we’re not sure when we’ll have them in stock again.
In the meantime you might be able to find them on Amazon or in your local crafting store? We’re sorry we don’t have a clear answer for you!
Lia,
I purchased a Cricut Maker. Will you be converting your print and cut projects into SVG projects so we can cut crepe paper on the Maker?
Hi! Yes, we are adding SVG files to our projects as we get requests– so send them in! 🙂 I have added an SVG to this project.
Just to be sure, the holly leaves are cut on folded crepe paper? Or cut twice and glued together?
Hi Judith! Cut the leaves in a single layer (following the shape of the template), then overlap the straight edges slightly and glue in place. We show this method in the parrot tulip video (https://liagriffith.com/crepe-paper-parrot-tulip-video/) around the 7:20 mark. You don’t have to add wire as shown in the video, but you can if you want to be able to bend the leaves a bit!
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Lia, what kind of paper do you use for the flowers? Thanks. Virginia Calvert
Hi Virginia! What flowers are you referring to? I used crepe paper for the holly leaves, and tissue paper for the berries in this project.