Getting crafty, when my art supplies have dwindled to St Patrick’s Day napkins and party horns, is nearly impossible. Nearly. I suppose I could do something “artsy” with these items, but would I like the result? Probably not. While St. Patrick’s Day, for me, signals the onset of spring, so do flowers. Nate is kind enough to bring real flowers home for our dining room table. However, I’ve always wanted to learn to make festive paper flowers. Today, that’s exactly what I’ll do—and I’m more than happy to share the steps and results:
1) Buy some tissue paper. I figured I’d need “lots,” since I’m not really that good with my hands. I find several “value” packs of 40 rainbow colored sheets, so I buy two packs. When I flip the packages over, I realize that the steps for making “papier de soie pompom” (tissue paper pompoms) are right on the back! However, the steps are so simplified that I don’t think I can follow them. One illustrated step looks like I could snip the edges of a piece of tissue paper and the flowers would miraculously “grow” from the middle. The drawing is so strange that I don’t know if I’m buying tissue paper or sea monkeys! So, I continue with step 2 below.
2) Randomly search the Internet for another blog that could show me how to make tissue paper flowers. This method lands me on the “Hey Let’s Make Stuff” site by Cori. Her article, “How to Make Tissue Paper Flowers Four Ways,” is exactly what I need! The featured picture on this page shows an elegant wedding table decorated with all kinds of colorful paper flowers. Cori explains that she made 500 of them for her own wedding, which really helped her stay within budget. I am just hoping to make one. There isn’t a budget for my blog, either. (Maybe there should be. Nate and I should probably make a budget for my blog. I think I smell another project brewing!)
3) Follow Cori’s first step. Unlike the back of the tissue paper package I bought, Cori lists the supplies I’ll need: Tissue paper, scissors or rotary scissors, and a stapler. (I don’t know what rotary scissors are. I do know what a stapler is.)
4) Next, Cori says I’ll need two sheets of tissue paper placed together—one on top of the other. The back of the tissue paper package does not indicate how many sheets of tissue paper are needed at one time. Crafters are left to wonder: Should I stack all 40 sheets together? Should I just use one sheet?
5) Cori says to fold the tissue paper in half lengthwise and then again to make a square.
6) Next, I’m supposed to find all of the “loose corners” of the pieces of tissue paper. In other words, when I fold the paper over to make a square, all of the edges are joined with a crease—except for one. The one that is not joined, but all loose and free, is the one I should find. I can take this corner and fold it to the opposite edge to make a triangle. The triangle luckily, should not be perfect. There should be an extra rectangular piece that sticks out over the triangle.
7) According to the blog, I’m to snip the extra rectangle off with the scissors.
8) Then, I can open the triangle to make a square. After making the square, I’m supposed to slip the scissors into the last remaining fold and cut. In this way, I can end up with eight different pieces of tissue paper, stacked one on top of the other.
9) The next step is fun. I get to fold the stacked square of eight sheets “accordion style.” Cori says she gets 7 or 8 folds. Sometimes I only get 6.
10) Next, I can keep the “accordion” in one skinny strip and staple the middle.
11) The scissors can be used to snip rounded “petals” on each edge of the skinny strip. Or, this blog demonstrates other methods for making petals. I only experiment with the first method shown, since I’m just hoping to get anything right.
12) Finally, I can start separating the tissue paper petals at both ends of the skinny strip until the flower takes shape. The petals actually do “grow,” but not in the same way sea monkeys do.
I’m so proud of my creation that I teach Alex how to make the flowers as well. We end up with a nice bunch of three for our hallway table. So much better than whatever I could have done with a hot glue gun, St. Patrick’s Day napkins, and party horns! Cheers!
Your Turn: What’s your favorite easy craft to make? What are the steps? Share and discuss.
Fixin' Leaks and Leeks 