Tissue Paper Flower

You know what I love to do?  I love to shop around on blogs for tutorials.  It can be a severe time waster.  Seriously though how creative can people get?  I love it.  So, today I will attempt this blog's first tutorial (and likely it's last).

Our young women at church will be attending a worldwide broadcast followed by a special dinner for them, their moms, and their leaders (that would be me).  I was asked to be in charge of the centerpieces for the dinner.  I was given a somewhat flexible but pretty thrifty budget, especially considering that we would need 38 centerpieces!  Today with the help of my good pal Kathleen I finished the last of the centerpieces.  I have to say, they are pretty darn cute especially considering that they only cost about $1.20 a piece.  I came out significantly under budget!

So, let us begin the tutorial!

Step #1 

Gather your supplies!

Here's what you'll need:

tissue paper (WARNING!  The cheaper the tissue paper the more likely it will rip.  I would know I used the very cheapest!) 

12 inch wooden dowel  (I used 1/4 width)

floral wire

wire cutter

floral tape

scissors

dry floral foam

jiffy pots or peat pots (you know you can plant seeds in them and then just plant them into the ground)

ribbon (I used a lot of gross grain but satin ties so much nicer for smaller bows)

paper Easter grass

PS  I bought everything that I needed at Wal-Mart with my 2 and 3 year olds in tow!  They were TONS of help...but not really!

Step #2

You'll need at least 5 sheets of tissue paper.  Cut a full size of tissue paper in half and then in half again in order to make smaller pom poms.  Then fold the tissue paper accordion style about 1 inch width.  Cut off excess if needed.

Step #3

Use the wire cutters to cut an 18" piece of floral wire.  Wrap the wire around the tissue paper and twist at the bottom to secure it.

Step #4

Twist the wire around the top of a dowel to secure the tissue paper to the top.  Hey it doesn't need to be pretty only fairly secure.

Step #5

Cover the wire and dowel by twisting floral tape all the way down.

Step #6

Cut a curve shape at each end of tissue paper.

Step #7

Carefully and slowly separate each piece of tissue from the center outward.  The waxy feeling left on your fingers from the floral tape will help separate the pieces.  You might tear some but don't fret!  Just try to hide it if you can.  I tore plenty today!

If my instructions for the pom poms are a little confusing you can refer to Martha Stewart's pom poms. 

Step #8

Take 2 jiffy pots and cut about 1/2 inch off of the bottom of one of them.  

Step #9

Take the pot that you just cut and turn it upside down.  Place the other pot inside.  The purpose of this step is to make it more secure so it won't tip over.  Plus it's so cute!

Step #10

Cut a piece of Styrofoam and cut it to fit snugly inside the pot.

Step #11

Push the dowel through the center of the Styrofoam so that it is nice and secure.  If the Styrofoam seems to be to loose or doesn't fit right cut a wedge of Styrofoam to make it tighter.

Step #12

Tie a ribbon over the middle of the jiffy pots to hide the split and then add some of the Easter grass to hide the Styrofoam.

Now repeat 38 times until you start dreaming of tissue paper and floral tape.

If you are only going to make one or two it would make more sense to buy a small tin bucket or basket rather than using the jiffy pots since they come in packs of 22 for about $3.

{UPDATE} My inner Martha is asking to be heard so I am starting a new blog for crafty stuff HERE.