DIY Wednesday – Paper Flowers Galore!

If you’ve got a little extra time on your hands (or if you have eager bridesmaids or friends!), these adorable tissue paper flowers are an easy and fun way to bring in a little extra color in a multitude of places at your wedding or event.

Materials (for one paper flower)

5-8 Sheets of Tissue Paper (we like to use tissue paper that florists use to pack bouquets – it’s somewhat waxy on one side and makes for easier separating later)

1 Pipe Cleaner

Good, Sharp Scissors

Directions

• Stack the tissue nice and straight.

• Start making 1inch or 1.5inch accordion pleats from one end (fold up and over, fold down and under, fold up and over, etc) and continue until the whole sheet is pleated.

• Find the center of the folded tissue paper, and fold the pipe cleaner in half right in the center of the paper, then twist to secure.

• Carefully cut the two ends of the tissue paper to create the “petal” shape.

(NOTE: Get creative! You can cut a half circle to make a softer Peony-looking flower, or a sharp triangle to make a Dhalia-looking flower, or you can cut tiny slits down the edge to shred the end a bit and make a Carnation-looking flower)

• Pull both ends of the tissue paper toward each other so that you have what looks like a pleated circle.

• Now begin pulling each layer of tissue paper apart and up toward the center to make your creation really start to look like a flower.  We suggest pulling one layer from one side, then one from the other side, so that you can shape each sheet as you go – otherwise you could end up with a fluffy two-sided pom pom looking thing.

Practice makes perfect, and remember to mix it up a bit! If you want to make different sized flowers, just cut the tissue paper in half, and continue on with the rest of the steps with your smaller stack of tissue paper sheets. Different sized flowers can be used for different things, so have fun with it!

Till next Wednesday…

XOXO

The 36th Street Team