Easter Egg Peony tutorial

Hi everyone,
It is so good to be back and provide you with a Carte Fini tutorial for Easter!!! I hope you enjoy making these beautiful peonies as I did.

But before we get started, let me give you some information about me and my Persian culture. The Spring Equinox is the Persian New Year or Norooz which means new day... A new beginning and hope for prosperity. We set a beautiful table with 7 items that their names start with the letter "S" and each item represents a positive thought and hope for all humanity. For example, wheat grass (Sabzeh) symbolizes rebirth, sweet pudding (Samanoo) symbolizes affluence, dried oleaster (Senjed) represents love, decorative garlic (Seer) is cure against evil, apples (Seeb) for beauty and health, Sumac (Somaq) symbolizes the color of sunrise and Vinegar (Serkeh) represents old age and patience. There are other decorative items on the table that do not start with the letter "S" but they have a deep meaning in the Persian culture. For example, goldfish in a water bowl  represents passage from Pisces to Aries and decorative hard boiled eggs represent life. There are different ways to decorate the eggs for the Norooz festivities; some decorate them with pearls and rhinestones, sometimes you will see miniature Persian calligraphy or drawings, some attach tiny sugar flowers to their eggs, and some people like myself, design their eggs with beautiful paper flowers. The number of eggs are based on the number of each family member. The Norooz is celebrated for 13 days and on the 13th day, the entire family and relatives throw a big festive picnic party in the orchards with all sorts of delicious foods and deserts. It is customary to offer food to your neighbors at the picnic. At the end of the day, each person takes their decorated egg and play a game that has been played for centuries. They break the egg by hitting them on top of one another. If after 13 days the broken eggs still have a fresh smell, it means that the person's entire new year is filled with good omen. Happy Norooz and Happy Easter to all!!!

Now lets get started...
Here is a list of supplies that you need:
* Hard boiled eggs 
* 180 gram Carte Fini crepe paper - There are so many beautiful colors to choose from for Spring
   I chose Orchid #590 - For each egg you need half a roll of Carte Fini crepe paper
* Glue gun 
* Glue sticks 
* Scissors

The first step is to cut 2 different sets of petals.

1st set of peony petals should be cut 2 inches in length and 1 inch in width (the picture shows it after it was cut and then after it was stretched):
The second set of petals should be 3 inches in length and 1inch in width (the picture shows it after it was cut and then after it was stretched):
Use the 1st set of petals and shape them with your fingers to get a closed scoop shape as it is shown in the pictures above. Add a dot of glue to the end of your petal and fix the petal a quarter way up to the tip of the egg just as I've done in the picture :

Now repeat this 4 times until you don't see the top part of the egg:
From this point forward, use the 2nd set of peals. Take 3 petals and glue them in a line, one overlapping the other and glue the three fixed petals to the egg just as shown in the pictures:



Now you need to glue 4 petals together; two petal stems to overlap one another and the third and fourth stems glued to either side of the petal stems as demonstrated in the picture:
Then hot glue the petals to the egg. Repeat this process three times around the egg:
The next step is to take a single petal and shape them by first placing the petal between your thumbs and collapsing your thumbs inward to get a cup shape. Then stretch the bottom of the petal to get a straight neat line and bend the top so you get a curved petal. Add a dot of glue and fix the petals to the egg. Repeat this by going round the egg to get the beautiful effect of a complete full bloom peony:
Congratulations...You have just made your first Easter egg with me!!!
I hope that you will share your Easter egg photos with me.
Happy Easter,
Roya