Flower Making Supply Comparison: What to Use and When
Key Takeaways
If you've ever stood in a craft store aisle completely overwhelmed by the options — crepe paper, EVA foam, fabric, tissue paper, silk — you are not alone. A solid flower making supply comparison is honestly one of the most-requested things I get asked about, and I totally get why. The wrong material can mean hours of wasted work and a finished piece that just doesn't hold up.
I've been making giant flowers for years. I've tested pretty much everything. And I'm going to save you the trial-and-error phase by breaking down exactly what each material does well, where it falls short, and when you should reach for it.
Whether you're planning a wedding backdrop, a kid's birthday party, a brand activation, or just a fun weekend project, this guide is going to help you make smarter choices before you spend a single dollar.
I've seen it happen so many times — someone spends an entire weekend building a gorgeous flower wall, only to have it wilt, tear, or fade before the event even starts. The design was perfect. The effort was there. The material just wasn't right for the job.
Giant flowers aren't like their smaller craft counterparts. When you're working at scale — think 18 inches, 3 feet, even 5 feet across — every material weakness gets amplified. A slight lack of stiffness becomes a drooping petal. A minor moisture sensitivity becomes a collapsed centerpiece.
That's why I always say: your supply decision is your most important design decision. Everything else flows from it.
The Three Questions to Ask Before You Buy
- Where will the flower live? Indoors in a climate-controlled space, or outdoors where wind, humidity, and UV rays are factors?
- How big does it need to be? Flowers under 18 inches have different structural needs than flowers over 2 feet.
- How long does it need to last? A one-day party backdrop has different requirements than a retail display used for months.
Keep those three questions in your head as we walk through each material. The right answer will become obvious pretty quickly.
I'll be upfront: EVA foam is my go-to material, and it's what we use in all of our kits at Amazing Giant Flowers. That's not a sales pitch — it's the result of years of testing every alternative and coming back to EVA foam every single time.
EVA stands for ethylene-vinyl acetate. It's a closed-cell foam, which means the air pockets inside it are sealed. That's what gives it its flexibility, its water resistance, and its ability to hold a shape after heat forming.
EVA foam requires a heat gun and a bit of practice to shape well. Your first few petals might not look perfect — and that's completely normal. The learning curve is real, but it's short. Most people feel confident after their first flower.
If you want to skip the learning curve entirely, our pre-cut flower kits come with every petal already cut to shape, plus step-by-step video tutorials that walk you through the heat-shaping process in real time.
High-quality crepe paper — specifically 160gsm Italian crepe — is genuinely stunning for smaller flowers. The texture is soft and organic, the way it stretches allows for incredibly realistic petal shaping, and the color range available from specialty suppliers is extraordinary.
I love crepe paper. I just want you to use it in the right situations.
When Crepe Paper Works Beautifully
- Flowers under 18 inches: At this scale, crepe paper has enough structural integrity to hold its shape without extra support.
- Indoor-only displays: Crepe paper is not moisture-resistant. A single humid evening can cause colors to bleed and petals to go limp.
- Botanical realism: The fine texture of 160gsm crepe is genuinely the closest thing to real petals you can achieve with any craft material.
- Bouquets and centerpieces: For hand-tied bouquets and table arrangements, crepe paper flowers are lightweight and elegant.
Where Crepe Paper Falls Short
At diameters over 18–20 inches, crepe paper petals start to lose their rigidity and droop under their own weight. You can add wire supports inside individual petals, but this significantly increases your build time and complexity.
Standard crepe paper (the kind you find at party supply stores) is typically 60gsm or less — it's essentially tissue paper with a slight texture. Always look for 160gsm Italian crepe from a specialty supplier. The difference in quality is night and day.
These materials come up constantly in flower making supply comparison conversations, so let me give you my honest take on each one.
Fabric — particularly satin, organza, and dupioni silk — can produce absolutely gorgeous flowers. The challenge is that fabric requires more advanced techniques: you typically need to stiffen it with a fabric stiffener spray, cut petals with heated tools to prevent fraying, and layer carefully to build dimension.
For a full walkthrough of the process, our large fabric flower tutorial covers everything step by step with photos. It's a rewarding project, but I'd put it in the intermediate-to-advanced category.
Tissue paper is the most accessible material on this list — you can find it at any dollar store, and the accordion-fold technique requires no special tools. For a quick party backdrop or a kids' craft afternoon, it absolutely does the job.
But tissue paper has almost no structural integrity, no moisture resistance, and a very short lifespan. I wouldn't use it for anything you want to keep or reuse. It's a one-event material at best.
Silk Flowers
Pre-made silk flowers are a different category — you're buying a finished product rather than making one. Quality varies enormously by price point. Budget silk flowers look obviously artificial. High-end silk flowers can be quite convincing, but they're also expensive and come in fixed sizes and styles.
If you want something custom-sized, custom-colored, or truly giant, silk flowers simply can't compete with what you can build yourself from EVA foam.
I know some of you are visual learners who want to see everything in one place. Here's the complete flower making supply comparison laid out clearly, including typical costs and best use cases.
This is the question I get asked almost as often as the material question itself. And the honest answer is: it depends on what you value most — your time or your budget.
Using raw EVA foam sheets, a single 3-foot flower might cost $15–$30 in materials if you're cutting everything yourself. But that doesn't account for the time spent sourcing materials, printing or drafting petal templates, cutting each piece by hand, and troubleshooting your technique from scratch.
A pre-cut kit from Amazing Giant Flowers runs $80–$180 and includes all materials plus video tutorials — a worthwhile investment when you factor in the time savings and consistent results. For events where you need multiple flowers quickly, kits are almost always the smarter choice.
Compare That to Fresh Flowers
According to The Knot, couples spend an average of $1,500–$2,500 on wedding flowers that last only one day. A set of giant foam flowers at a fraction of that cost can be kept, stored, and used again — for anniversaries, styled shoots, or resold to another couple entirely.
When you think about cost-per-use, giant handmade flowers are genuinely one of the best value investments in event décor.
The material is only half the equation. Having the right tools makes the difference between a frustrating experience and a genuinely enjoyable one.
Not exactly. Dollar store craft foam is typically very thin (1–2mm) and a lower density EVA blend. The EVA foam we use for giant flowers is usually 2mm–6mm thick with a higher density that gives it better structure and heat-shaping response. Thinner craft foam can work for small accent details, but it won't hold up for large petals.
For a deeper dive into foam types, check out our complete guide to every type of foam for giant flowers — it covers all the options with honest pros and cons.
Technically yes, but I wouldn't recommend it. Upholstery foam is open-cell, meaning it absorbs moisture, tears more easily, and doesn't respond well to heat shaping. EVA foam is closed-cell, which is what gives it its flexibility, durability, and weather resistance.
The two foams look similar but behave completely differently when you try to work with them. Stick with EVA — you'll save yourself a lot of frustration.
Is tissue paper or crepe paper better for flower making?
Crepe paper (160gsm) is significantly better than tissue paper in almost every way — it stretches, holds shape, and looks far more realistic. The only advantage tissue paper has is cost and availability. If you're making flowers for a quick party backdrop on a very tight budget, tissue paper works.
For anything that needs to look polished, go crepe. The price difference between tissue paper and quality crepe is small enough that it's almost never worth compromising on.
For beginners using EVA foam, dahlias and sunflowers are the most forgiving — their petal shapes are simple and repetitive, which makes assembly intuitive. With crepe paper, ranunculus and peonies are great starter projects because the ruffled petals hide minor imperfections beautifully.
If you want a full beginner walkthrough, our large fabric flower tutorial walks through the process step by step with photos. You can also browse our beginner-friendly kits — the Star of Bethlehem, Gladiolus, Calla Lily, and Lily are all excellent starting points.
EVA foam is naturally water-resistant, which is a huge advantage over paper and fabric. For extra protection outdoors, you can apply a light coat of outdoor-rated acrylic sealer over any painted surfaces. Avoid direct, prolonged sun exposure for painted flowers, as UV rays can fade color over time.
Wind is the bigger concern for outdoor giant flowers — make sure your stems are properly anchored. Our bendable pipe stems are designed to be weighted and staked for outdoor stability, and I always recommend testing your setup the day before the event rather than on the day itself.
How long do giant foam flowers actually last?
With proper storage, EVA foam flowers can last 2–5 years or longer. The keys are keeping them out of direct sunlight when not in use and storing them in a cool, dry space. Many of our customers use their flowers for multiple events, styled shoots, and even rent them out to other hosts to offset the initial cost.
Compare that to fresh flowers, which begin wilting within hours of being cut. For anything beyond a single-day event, foam flowers are simply the more practical choice by a wide margin.
At the end of the day, the best flower making supply is the one that fits your project, your timeline, and your skill level. There's no single right answer — but I hope this comparison has made the decision a whole lot clearer.
If you're ready to jump in, I'd love for you to explore what we have at Amazing Giant Flowers. Our kits are designed to make the whole process genuinely enjoyable — even if you've never made a flower in your life. Have questions about which kit is right for your event? Drop them in the comments or reach out directly. I read every single one.
Shop the supplies
Everything You Need for This Project
Real Touch Calla Lily Foam Flower Kit — Realistic DIY with 3D Molds & Pre-Cut Petals (Makes 6)
Heat Gun (Dual-Temp) — Thermoshaping Tool for Foam Flowers
Real Touch Stargazer Lily Foam Flower Kit — Tropical DIY Lilies with Painted Center, Reusable Mold & Pre-Cut Petals
Make Craft Flower Giant Lily Kit – Pre-Cut Easy
Written by
Adriana WellsFounder & CEO of Amazing Giant Flowers
Adriana Wells is the founder and creative force behind Amazing Giant Flowers, a Texas-based company specializing in handcrafted giant foam flowers, luxury floral installations, and DIY flower-making supplies.
More about Adriana →Ready to Create Something Amazing?
Browse our collection of giant flower kits and start your next project today.
