Simple, Pretty Tissue Paper Flower Project

Need a simple, pretty, and inexpensive way to decorate for your next party, get-together, bridal or baby shower? Look no further! These simple and very pretty tissue paper flowers are easy to make, cost almost nothing, and can serve as a darling centerpieces, favors, or gift embellishments. This is as simple as a craft project can get!

What you'll need:

Tissue paper in a variety of colors

Green pipe cleaners or ribbon

Scissors

How to make the flowers:

First, pick the colors that you would like to have in the flower, and layer them accordingly. Shades of pinks and reds look nice together, as do varying shades of blues and purples. You can also try outer layers of one color with a yellow center. You will want 5 layers of tissue paper to make a flower.

Next, once you have selected the sheets of paper you want to make the flower from, trim the sheets down to a 8 ½" by 11" rectangle (the size of a standard sheet of paper). This will make a medium to large-sized flower.

Now that you have trimmed the sheets to the correct size, make accordion-folds of approximately 1" wide. Make the folds going in the direction of the longer side of the sheets. (See photo below).

After this, secure the folded sheets by twisting a pipe cleaner around the sheets at the center. Three or four twists should do it. Alternatively, you can tie the center with a length of ribbon if you want to use the flower as a gift adornment or napkin ring.

Next, use your scissors to form the shape of the petals by trimming off the ends of the folded sheets to your liking. Deep curved ends will make petals much like that of a peony, while spiky ends can create a fun, wild look.

Now you are ready to spread the accordion folds apart and gently pull the top sheets away from the others up towards what will be the center of the flower. Work gradually and gently, as it is easy to tear the tissue paper during this step. Repeat this step with each subsequent layer of tissue paper until you have done this for all of them.

An optional step is to create leaves by attaching green tissue paper in the shape of a leaf to a short length of pipe cleaner that you twist onto the main stem.

Variations:

First of all, you can obviously try different sizes and petal shapes. You can also make flowers that look like daffodils by only pulling two layers of tissue paper up to the center of the flower and leaving the rest as they are.

You can change up the look of the flowers by trying metallic tissue paper or tissue paper with glitter in it. Check out your local craft store to see what sorts of unique tissue papers they supply-you never know what you might find!

Try newspaper print flowers for a mod, edgy variation. These would make very sharp decorative napkin rings when secured around rolled napkins with a length of red or black satin ribbon, rather than a pipe cleaner.

Multiple Uses:

Try groups of these flowers in assorted glass vases as centerpieces, secured to wrapped boxes as gift embellishments, tied into small bunches as favors for a little girl's birthday party, a bride's bouquet at a shower, bachelorette party or rehearsal, or tied up with a satin ribbons rather than pipe cleaners as decorative napkin rings.