DIY: Tissue Paper Flowers

My mom is starting back to school (first grade!) in a couple weeks, and is having a garden theme in her classroom. I learned how to make these tissue paper flowers at work and offered to make her some for her bulletin boards and activity tables. I thought I'd share how to make them since they're easy and you can use them to decorate for basically anything.

Start with tissue paper, whatever colors you'd like. I got a multi-pack so I could make a lot of different color combos.

Cut the paper into squares and sort by color.

Choose three colors for a standard size flower (my squares were about 8x8"). You can do four or two if you're doing a larger or smaller flowers (I also made some that were 5x5 but still used 3 layers...it's really up to however you want them to look).

Stack the sheets and start accordion folding. My folds were about 3/4", you can fold smaller if you'd like more/tighter petals or larger folds for a bigger, less defined shape.

Keep going until you reach the end of the sheet.

Fold the paper in half.

Cut a rounded edge along the open side.

Wrap a piece of yarn around the fold and tie in a knot. You could also use garbage bag ties or wire if you plan on attaching a stem and making a bouquet.

Fan the flower out

Fluff the three tissue layers apart from each other until they start to make a flower shape. Decide which layer you'd like as the bottom color, and hold the flower there, where the yarn is. Pinch the center and form the layers away from where your fingers are. You almost want to make a "nub" at the center base of the flower so you have something to attach the flowers with.

Keep arranging and fluffing the layers until you fill in the gaps. Repeat as you'd like!