This template to make a gumpaste or paper poppy can be downloaded and printed to use as a pattern.
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How to make the poppy.
I used my template for the petals, and I cut out the larger set.
Cut out the petals.
I used crepe paper to make these, since the texture on the paper mimics the look of a real poppy petal.
You’ll need to decide for yourself if you want your flowers to be really realistic, or just the fantasy flower version of the real thing.
Most flowers have one defining characteristic that makes people think of the flower when they see it, and if you have that on your flower you’ll be okay.
For poppies, it’s either the red color, or the black centers with black stamens. There are different types of poppies with different colored petals, but they all have the black stamens in the center.
For this flower I left the petals white, but I used the black stamens.
Color the petals.
If you didn’t start out with colored paper or gumpaste, you’ll need to color the petals unless you want to do everything in white.
I left these petals white because I’m planning on doing a mostly-white arrangement of flowers on a cake when I get done with these.
You can color the paper or gumpaste before or after you wire the petals.
If you’re using paper and you want to use these on cakes, you’ll want to avoid non-edible ink, so I used airbrush food coloring to color these.
Shape the petals.
You should do some shaping of the petals to thin out the edges and give them some movement.
If you’re using gumpaste you’ll need to let them dry after shaping them, so you should probably wire them first to make the process easier.
You can color them before or after shaping them.
Wire the petals.
You can wire the petals before or after you color them, or if you don’t want to wire them at all you can attach the petals to the center with glue or edible glue.
Use my fast petal wiring method if you’re using gumpaste, or just glue the wires onto the paper petals if you’re using paper.
Make the flower center.
You can make the poppy centers with more crepe paper and artificial black flower stamens, or use gumpaste.
For these flowers I found some artificial centers that had a little pearl in the center with black stamens surrounding it, so I went with those.
You can get a lot of different types of artificial stamens if you look for millinery supplies online, there are a lot that aren’t available for cake decorating.
Attach the petals to the center.
Using floral wire, attach the petals to the center, overlapping them so that they’re not lined up evenly.
Tape the petal wires onto the center wire.
These clearly aren’t botanically-correct, considering I used millinery stamens, but they give the impression of a poppy and they’ll look good in the arrangement on the cake!
