Tissue Flower Tutorial

If you have been following along, then chances are you already had a peek at the tissue flowers that I made last week. They turned out better than I imagined and making them reminded me of my childhood bedroom. I used to make these flowers and hang them all around my room. Pink ones.

Here is the tutorial as promised.

Supplies:

tissue paper - for flowers and stem
wire - I used 19 gauge because that is what I had on hand.
pipe cleaner
scissors
ruler

Step one:
To make the large flowers (approx. 20") which are good for hanging, stack eight sheets of 20x30" tissue paper. To make the smaller flowers (approx. 10") which are good in an arrangement, stack eight sheets of 10x15 tissue paper.

Step two:
Begin to accordion fold the sheets 1 1/2" for the large flowers and about an 1" for the smaller flowers. Be sure to fold from the shorter end. Continue until you reach the end.

Step three:
This step is what makes the biggest difference. Decide whether you want your petals to have pointed or rounded edges and make the cuts accordingly. I could only cut a couple of layers at a time.

Step four:
Once the edges are cut, fold the strip of folded tissue in half to find the center point. Secure by twisting a pipe cleaner around the tissue.

Step five:
Separate the tissue one layer at a time beginning with the center petals. Do this until every layer is separated. If you plan to hang your flowers, then you are finished. If you plan to use your flowers in an arrangement, go to step six.

Step six:
I wanted my stems to look more realistic and to scale, so I built them up a bit. To do this I connected another pipe cleaner to the end of the one that I used to secure the center. Next I twisted the pipe cleaners with wire to make the stem more secure. Once that was done I wrapped each stem with green tissue paper. I didn't glue mine on.