How to Make Crepe Paper Hachiya Persimmon
Gather materials
Papier-mâché egg form or spun cotton egg form
Creative Paper Clay
Gloria Doublette Crepe Paper 3314 in Orange/Tangerine (90gsm) or similar orange crepe
Gloria Doublette Crepe Paper 3341 in Dark Green/Apple (90gsm) or similar green crepe
Heavyweight 180g Crepe Paper in Saddle or similar brown tone
Golden Acrylic Gloss Medium
Wire, 26 and 20 gauge
Copic marker or your preferred colouring materials
Make the fruit
Tape down three 26 gauge wires to centre of the larger end of the paper-mâché egg form. This will form the stem from the fruit to the branch
Take Creative Paper Clay and mold around the large bottom end of paper-mâché egg form to mimic a hachiya persimmon form. Looking at photos whilst doing this helps get a more accurate shape. Allow to air dry completely (usually takes 2-3 days). Do not worry if there are some small cracks as those will be covered with paper.
Cut thin strips of doublette crepe. Stretch out strips and glue to your hachiya. I like wrapping from north to south poles, but you can also wrap around or in other patterns. Make sure edges are glued down well.
Optional step: Spray or paint hachiya with orange-reds to get more natural color variation. I use the Copic airbrush system to spray layers of colour, but this can also be achieve with paint or pastel.
Use paintbrush to paint thin layer of gloss medium to mimic the shine from the fruit skin.
Make leaf axils
Start by gluing two layers of doublette crepe together so that both sides have the same colour. Cut out leaf axils and shape them. Cut a diamond shaped centre to place on top of leaves. Make sure to cut a line to a centre hole so you can easily glue this around the fruit stem.
Optional step: Spray or paint leaves with brown or sepia tones to mimic real hachiya leaf axils.
Glue leaf axils down.
Make leaf
Glue two triangular pieces of doublette crepe along their longest side so that the pattern of the crepe forms a chevron pattern. Cut out leaf and scrunch to add a wrinkled texture.
Wire leaf and optionally color, add veins, and add small bug bitten holes.
Assemble
Cover centre branch with brown heavyweight crepe. Cover remainder of leaf and fruit stems in brown crepe as well and attach to centre branch.
Cut out thin strips of crepe and glue over centre branch so that the texture of the crepe mimics a real branch.
Enjoy your finished hachiya! This persimmon can be displayed on a table or the branch can be extended to incorporate into a paper flower arrangement.
If you found this tutorial helpful, check out Doublette, my digital magazine with more tutorials and tips for paper art enthusiasts!