Tissue Paper Pom Poms

Next up are how to make Pom Poms.  You take 10-12 pieces of tissue paper.  In any combo of colors you want.  Please note that you need rectangle sheets of paper to make these work. I tried with perfect squares and it didn't fluff up correctly.  The 99cent store sold perfect squares, so I had to cut some in half to add on to the squares to make them rectangle.  Seems complicated but it worked.  If you get them already rectangle then bonus, no extra work.​

Here's how I made mine:

Lay 10 - 12 sheets out.  Need a rectangle.  Notice I had one square and added 1/2 a sheet to complete my rectangle.  Nice to have them line up evening, if you have a long tissue just trim to match the shape.​

My color choice for this one was orange, marigold, soft pink, hot pink and burgundy.​

Just like we did with the tissue paper flowers you start folding the paper accordian style about 1 inch wide.  Goal is to end up with same color on both sides (i.e. first fold has the orange top, last fold should have the orange on top)

In order to have these hang down you'll need to tie them in the middle.  I use colorful curling ribbon, but if you want to have them look like their floating use fishing line or jewelry line.​

Next up, cut both ends in desired shape, I'm partial to the rounded corners.​

Start pulling apart the tissue carefully, alternating sides.​

Here's half the Pom Pom done.  Finish up the other side and you get what's at the top of the page.​

Here is my coral reef of Pom Poms.  In April you'll see some images of them hanging in their environment.​  Use your creativity and enjoy the process, it's fun and messy, but the outcome is always nice.

Tissue Papers Flowers

I never thought I'd get this crafty. But I've done a few small parties and wanted to not have to buy premade decorations, so I had my friend Mia come over and show me how to make the Hanging Pom Poms.  Then I got inspired by this Pinterest post, which led me to this blog post at Rust & Sunshine.  I pretty much followed her directions, but modified the colors to match a baby shower invitation.  Here are a few of my steps, but please check out Michelle DuPuis blog post above on Rust & Sunshine for all the lovely flower shapes and color choices. 

The great thing about tissue paper is it's cheap, try the 99cents store. I was able to afford a nice bundle from there along with the pipe cleaners, so much cheaper then the craft stores and tissue paper and pipe cleaners are all the same.  I cut the stems off my flowers as I glued them to a foam core board above to use as a backdrop.  Seriously I love this these flowers and all the colors.​

Supplies: Tissue paper.  Fuzzy pipe cleaners and scissors.

Cut Medium size flowers into 10x10 squares.  Generally 6 tissue papers work fine.  Use any combination of colors.  I found that I liked 4 lighter color tissues on the bottom and 2 dark colors on top to be my favorite.  I also made smaller flowers so I cut the paper down to 5x5 squares and only used 5 pieces of tissue paper and this worked out well.​

Once you've stacked up your piles start folding the paper accordion style.  About 1 inch for each fold.​

Next take your piping and wrap it around the middle of the folded paper, as shown above.​

Next comes the cutting of the edges.  This is where you decide what kind of flower you want.  Rose, Dahlia, Daisy, Chrysathemum, etc... cut the edges accordingly.  I like rounded edges best, but it was fun to play with a few different cuts.  ​

Fan out the paper and then start slowing pulling it towards the middle.  Remember it's tissue paper so be gentle, it tears easily.​ I have to say this is my favorite part.

Final Flower.  It's up to you how you want to display them.  Some people put them in vases and display them like real flowers. I chose to lop of the piping as I was gluing all the flowers to a foam core board for a special project above.​  My color inspiration was based on a baby shower invitation, which has lots of coral reef colors in it.  Also the Madewell board below spurred on this whole idea.

What to do with all the scraps, I saved them and glued them to the foam core to fill in the holes where I didn't have enough flowers.  Whatever you do, enjoy the process and the creativity.