Ronghua Tutorial: How to Make Golden Chrysanthemum Penjing

This Gold Chrysanthemum Penjing is meant for makers who enjoy a challenge. It’s detailed, time-consuming, and wonderfully rewarding. With every trimmed petal and every shaped branch, the little chrysanthemum tree becomes more alive — a miniature scene full of charm and golden light.

Preparation: What You’ll Need

If you’ve purchased our Ronghua Toolkit, you already have everything required!
If not, prepare the following tools:

1. Bristle brush (Medium to soft hardness)
2. Flat iron (the one you use to straighten your hair)
3. Tweezers
4. At least 2 pairs of Scissors
5. wooden sticks / pencils / chopsticks
6. Hair spray or diluted white glue (1:1.15–1:1.2 ratio)
7. Big clips (around 15cm)
8. Twisting boards and wooden blocks (for even tension)
9. Anti-slip powder (optional but helpful)

Since this is quite a challenging project, we highly recommend you to watch the full video tutorial first to get an idea of what you will encounter in the process. When there are steps that you do not understand here, you should also go to the video tutorial for a more detailed explanation.

Full Tutorial Video

Step 1. Align and Arrange the Silk Threads

Start by untying your silk threads. Locate the knot at one end of each bundle and cut it open carefully. This project uses multiple colors to create 9 silk rows.  Refer to the colour diagram below for thread combination details. It is a bit complicated so do be careful.

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Step 2. Group and Prepare the Threads

Each silk bundle consists of tiny strand-like structures — these are your individual strands. 

Align all strands neatly and tie them around a thin stick, keeping the ends even. Avoid uneven lengths — this ensures consistent texture later on.

Step 3. Make Silk Rows

Repeat the above process to create nine silk rows in total. Remember to refer back to the data provided in the diagram for the following rows, as each will differ slightly. Below are the finished silk rows we made. 

Step 4. Brush the Silk Rows

Fix one silk row onto your stand using big metal clips - if you don't have the wooden ronghua stand, that's totally fine! You can refer to our video about alternative solutions to the stand.

Hold the ends of the threads with one hand and brush gently but firmly from top to bottom. Don’t lift the brush midway. A light mist of water will prevent static. You can apply some pressure — silk threads are stronger than they look! Make sure to brush both the front and back sides until the row looks smooth and fluffy. 

Everyone uses a different brush and hand speed, so the time it takes to complete this step is also different. Taking my situation as a reference, it took me about 10 minutes to brush this silk row. When you feel the hair is soft and fluffy, you can stop and check. When there is no complete linear distinction between the threads and start to stick to each other, as you can see in here, it's ready:) 

Step 5. Attach Copper Wires

When you feel that the silk is brushed enough, secure its tail with another big clip to your table or anything that can help stretch it taut. Take out one copper wire from the folded end of the row and straighten it. Twist the folded part into a spiral of about 3 cm. Clamp the silk threads between two copper wires and twist the opposite side tightly. Pull both wires taut and continue twisting until they merge into one. Remember, the twisting direction for the left and right end are opposite. 

The spacing should be as shown in step 1. 

If you have anti-slip powder, it will be much easier to dip your fingers in it and twist it. 

We highly recommend you watch the video tutorial for this step:)

Once done, remove the silk row from the stand and lay it flat.

Step 6. Cut the Silk Strips

Trim the row’s end neatly, then cut between each pair of copper wires to create even silk strips. When cutting, the scissors must be placed in the middle of two copper wires, otherwise the width of the silk strips will be inconsistent. If threads stick to your scissors, clean them — it’s usually caused by static or residue. Cut quickly and cleanly for smooth edges. Don't touch the wire or it may get displaced.

Step 7. Center and Twist the Strips

Align the copper wire to the middle of each strip using a flat surface or wooden block.
Once centered, twist both hands in opposite directions to tighten.

Next, place the copper part between the twisting boards and continue twisting in the same direction. Stop when the wire feels firm — twisting too far may cause it to break. How do you know if it is tightened enough? If tightened properly, the copper wire should only faintly show. If the copper wire is very visible, it’s not tight enough.

Step 8. Taper the Strips

We begin by tapering the ends of the thin silk strips. First, trim the edges neatly, keeping the scissors level with the strip. Once the surface is smooth, tilt the scissors slightly—this angle helps shape the strip into a pointed form. Point-shaping takes time, so take it slowly. Prolonged trimming can make your hands tired, so remember to take short breaks. Trim the strip so one end is wide and the other narrow; a well-shaped strip should look like this. That completes the basic thin-strip shape.

This is the before/after of the red/orange strips:

One green strip has a slightly different form. This one needs to be trimmed wide in the middle and narrow at both ends. Shape it the way shown and set it aside—you’ll need around 20 of these (prepare extra in case).

Additionally, trim 6–7 shorter strips following the same shape but at a reduced length.

Use the same silk strips, simply cut off the excess portion. Make 6–7 of these shorter pieces; in total, I prepared over 30 strips.

This is the size difference of normal and shorter green strips:

Step 9. Assemble the Buds

Now let’s assemble these strips into a small bud. Align the bases of the strips neatly. Each layer requires about 10 strips, wrapped tightly into a circle. You’ll need two layers in total.

Cut a piece of aluminum wire about 15 cm long to serve as the flower stem, also to support it better. Wrap it with silk thread—using two or even four strands makes wrapping easier. Wrap all the way to the bottom, then cut off the copper wires on the other end.

Begin shaping the bud by folding the outer layer of strips outward so they don’t bunch together. Use tweezers to curve the strips: the inner petals should have a deeper curve, and the outer petals a gentler one, bending only from the second half. The second layer should wrap around the first. This completes one flower bud.

Next, make a smaller bud using only one layer of petals. Combine the two buds and wrap them together with doubled or four-strand thread. Wrap only enough to cover the small bud’s copper wire—you don’t need to wrap to the base.

Then take a folded silk thread, place it at the wrapped area, continue wrapping forward, thread the silk through the loop, pull the folded thread out, and trim the excess to finish. This is to finish invisibly. You can watch our video tutorial for this step:)

Step 10. Flatten the Strips for Leaves

Next, take out the strips for leaves. If you have a fine comb, use it to fluff the silk strips; otherwise, stroke back and forth with tweezers. This step helps the strips become fuller. Trim off any fuzzy edges to make the strip smooth and clean.

Cut off the copper wire at the yellow end, then flatten the strip by pressing from bottom to top.

Because the strip is wide, don’t soak it directly in setting spray or it will shrink—lay it flat and brush it with setting liquid instead. I use hairspray, but diluted white glue (1:1.15 or 1:1.2) also works. Make sure the strip is fully saturated, then stand it upright to dry.

Step 11. Make the Petals

Next, assemble the petals. Align two strips of the same color top and bottom, and secure them lightly with silk thread—just enough to keep them from separating. Then dip a bit of white glue using a copper wire and apply it to the center of the strip. Don’t use too much glue; a thin layer is enough to bond the pieces.

Secure the other end with thread. This completes one petal.

Repeat the same process for the remaining colors.

Once the glued strips are fully dry, cut off the copper wire on the wider end—specifically the part marked in the reference. 

Select 4–5 strips of the two shown colors. Add a piece of copper wire to the base of each petal and wrap about 2–3 cm with silk thread. The remaining strips are prepared in the same way.

Step 12. Make the Leaves

When the leaves are dry, flatten them with a flat iron and trim the edges neatly.

Apply white glue to the edges—note that for adjacent leaves, the glue placement should be on opposite sides. Glue three leaves together to form a large leaf; 

You’ll need four of these. Be sure to use sharp scissors, and keep separate scissors for copper wire and petals to avoid dulling the blade. The leaf shapes are now complete. The large leaves need to have serrated edges; in total, make four large and six small leaves.

The remaining small leaves don’t need edge-gluing. Now trim the single leaves into shape, giving them a serrated edge as well. 

Use a flat iron to give the leaves a natural curve. Ensure even heating; uneven heat can cause creasing on the back.

Now we can assemble the leaf stems. When assembling, add two pieces of 4 mm copper wire for support because annealed wire is too soft. Just create a mix of leaf sizes and assembled a total of four leaf stems: the leafy stems do not need to be exactly the same.

Step 13. Make the Flowers

Next, we assemble the chrysanthemum. The inner layer uses the shortest petals and the fewest pieces. As you move outward, the petals become longer and more numerous. Place petals of each color one by one in a complete circle. For the final outer layer, extend the strips outward slightly rather than attaching them tightly at the base.

Because there are many copper wires, trim them diagonally before inserting an aluminum wire (longer than the bud’s stem) into the center. Wrap the aluminum wire together with the copper wires using silk thread for better support.

Step 14. Assemble the Piece

Now assemble the leaves. Add them at intervals—not all aligned at the same height. Wrap all the way to the bottom and tie a knot to secure.

Cut off excess silk and finish the end with a touch of white glue to prevent unraveling. 

Gently flare the petals outward so they don’t stack too tightly.

Use tweezers to curve the petals: the inner petals have a deeper bend, while the second layer sits slightly higher and wraps around the first.

Avoid touching the petals too much with your hands. Once the curvature is shaped, adjust the overall form.

The chrysanthemum in the other color is made the same way.

Finally, place the flowers in a vase and adjust the arrangement according to the vase’s shape.

And that's it. Your Golden Chrysanthemum Penjing is complete!