Tissue Paper Flower Gift Topper

I haven't made tissue flowers in a long time (click here for another post) - I didn't have a good bow or ribbon for the big box I wrapped my sissy's gift in yesterday so I quickly made 3 small flowers to tie on top.

Cut a few squares of tissue paper, for these small flowers I cut them approximately 5" square and used 9 squares. Stack on top of each other, accordion fold them, twist a short piece of thin wire around the center, trim the edges either round or pointed, then carefully separate the layers and shape like a flower. I made 3 of them, twisted them together so they looked like a bouquet, and attached to a ribbon that I wrapped around the box. Look how pretty it looks! Very inexpensive, easy, and quick to do - and it's different than a regular ol' bow.

rounding the edges...

...or cutting them into a point gives the flowers a different look.

gently pull up the layers to separate

here I've separated the layers on the left side of the wire, continue with the right side and shape.

twist the flowers together into a bouquet

one year ago: make a personalized shopping bag
two years ago: quebec chicken

Heart Suncatcher

I saw this idea on Pinterest (click here for the original post), you could make any shapes and colors of course but I love this for an easy last minute kid friendly Valentine craft project. Simple - cut out 1" squares from colored tissue paper, decoupage them to a plastic page protector, let it dry completely. Gently fold the paper in half (don't crease) and cut out a heart shape, then peal off the page protector. Hang in the window to capture the light thru the "stained glass" looking pieces of tissue paper.


To decoupage: spread a thin layer of mod podge on the page protector using a foam brush, lay down a single layer of tissue squares and spread more glue on top of them, continue to lay down squares and brush with glue between layers making sure all of the tissue paper has glue both underneath and on top of the squares.

Note: I didn't have mod podge so made my own by combining 2 parts white craft glue with 1 part water.

to easily cut the squares I stacked a few pieces of tissue paper on top of each other,
cut a strip off the end of the bundle, then cut the stack into 1" squares. 

use mod podge or glue mixed with water as your decoupage medium

brush the glue onto a plastic page protector and put down a layer of tissue squares

I did a quick time lapse video to show you how simple this is - just keep layering on squares and glue!

my completed mosaic, just waiting for it to completely dry

Organizing Wrapping and Tissue Papers

I really like to wrap presents (I think you know this by now?), but if all my paper and supplies were buried in the closet or under the bed I might be less inclined to wrap a gift - so we've come up with a way to display everything and have it close at hand so it's easy to wrap when I need to. There was a small empty wall in my "office" (I call it my office but really its the spare bedroom that holds my desk, a fold out couch, my piano keyboard, books, wrapping paper, and all my miscellaneous stuff that doesn't have a home anywhere else!) that is now a wrapping paper station. My friend Mark made me this cool  holder from 2 long pieces of wood that are 1.5" wide with dowels attached every 6" - the dowels are angled slightly upward so the rolls of paper sit on them without rolling off. Laying across the bottom 2 dowels I have a small metal rod with some ribbon rolls threaded onto it.

I  hang all my tissue paper on plastic skirt hangers (on the left bottom dowel) - I save all the good tissue paper I get, smooth it out and clip it on these hangers...I can easily see what colors I have and by hanging it up the paper stays nice and flat, and is easy to get to. I would do this even if I didn't have a dowel on the wall to hang them from - it's such a nice way to organize tissue paper, otherwise it would be stuffed in a drawer somewhere and I'd just buy more not knowing what I already have; find a closet or somewhere you can hang them so you can see what you have and you'll save yourself some hassle when you need tissue paper!

Hanging on the right bottom dowel is a pretty canvas tote bag  that holds gift bags, wine bags, little fabric bags, etc...

I have bows, tags, markers, etc. displayed on a tray nearby so all of that stuff is also handy. I have no excuse to not wrap pretty presents - everything is easy to see and use.