I used to teach crafts at a children’s camp when I was in college, and one of my favorite crafts that we made was paper flowers. These were so inexpensive, fun to make, and actually made for some cute gifts or decorations. When I would brainstorm the kind of crafts we wanted to make, my aim was to always choose something that the children would enjoy at home.
Even now, I find reasons to pull out some of the DIY crafts from my art teaching days. Last week, I was preparing for some dear friends who were staying with us, and I really wanted to decorate their room some for the stay. A few months ago, I surrendered the guest room to my oldest son to have his own room. I really wanted to make the room look a little more grown-up for my company, so I decided to hang some lights and put a decorative basket on the desk next to the bed. The main colors I was working with were pink and purple, so I wanted to have some matching flowers to decorate with. I decided to make pink and purple paper flowers.
How to Make a DIY Paper Flower
The things you will need to make your own paper flower is:
6-8 sheets of tissue paper total (The size of the tissue paper will depend on how large of a flower you are trying to create)
1 pipe cleaner
Just these two items are needed to make a craft flower. Start out by cutting your pieces of tissue paper all the same size approximately. You will either want to cut the tissue paper in half or in fourths, depending on if you would like a larger flower or smaller flower. For the flowers that I made, I cute my tissue paper in half. This time, I didn’t measure the tissue paper exactly, and it made for a flower that wasn’t quite as clean looking. I think they turned out very pretty though.
After you put the stack of tissue papers together, you will begin folding them in 1 inch folds back and forth like you are creating a fan. I alternated my colors between pink and purple. It is hard to notice in this picture the different colors that I chose.
Once your papers have been folded back and forth in 1 inch folds, then you will pinch the papers in the center of the fan.
You will take your pipe cleaner and wrap it around the center of the paper and twist it. Try to flatten out both sides of the tissue paper in preparation for the next step.
Once you have the pipe cleaner secure, you will start pulling up each layer of the tissue paper one at a time into the center of the flower. Pull the layers gently because it is easy to rip the papers. Continue to gently pull the layers of paper to the center of the flower until all the layers are gathered to the center.
Here is what a finished flower looks like. Make a few of them and stick them in a bouquet for a well rounded effect.
These paper flowers are simple to make and can be used in a variety of ways for decorating. Perfect for a simple idea at a birthday party or even reception. You can also clip the edges of the paper to make them look more rounded. Hopefully you will find a use for these DIY paper flowers crafts.
