How to Make Mexican Tissue Paper Flowers

Did you know that Cinco De Mayo is this week? Living in Texas means that Cinco De Mayo is celebrated and celebrated well.  Learning how to make Mexican tissue paper flowers is a great way to add festive decor to any celebration.  Growing up in Texas meant that many summer days were spent at Six Flags Amusement Park in Arlington, TX. That park had a huge sombrero ride that would spin round and round while going up and down. It was my absolute favorite ride and I would stand in line to go on it until my siblings begged me to go ride something else. Next to that ride was always a store selling gigantic tissue paper flowers but my mom would always talk me out of buying one because we would have to carry it around the rest of the day and because we could make them ourselves at home. Finally after a trip to the amusement park, she made good on her promise to teach me how to make these Mexican tissue paper flowers. And because I love you guys almost as much as I loved that huge sombrero ride (oh I hope it’s still there), I’m going to show you how to make tissue paper flowers. All you need for this project is tissue paper in assorted colors and pipe cleaners or wire. You don’t need the fancy pipe cleaners, I just used these I had left over from the cute easter bunnies I made.  To start layer the tissue paper colors you want to use. The top layer will be the middle color and the bottom layer will be the bottom of of the flower. Use 7-8 sheets of tissue paper for the flowers unless you want it to be really full, then you can increase it to 11 sheets of tissue paper. While the paper is folded up in an accordion fold, use sharp scissors to round the edges of the paper like this – Lay them all on top of each other with the edges all lining up.  Then you’re going to accordion fold them along the shorter edge.  Once you have it accordion folded, find the middle and secure it with a pipe cleaner.  Fan out the accordion fold to resemble a butterfly as pictured above. Next you’re going to gently grab the top piece of tissue paper and pull it up to form the middle of the flower. Both sides should come together and meet in the middle. Keep going, pulling up the layers and working to shape them to look like a flower.  Finally you’ll have a colorful festive flower that was simple and fast to make. But what if you want to make it a little fancier?  You can use different cuts on the edges of the tissue paper to achieve different looks. If  you fringe the edges of the paper for the middle of the flower and give the petal sheets of paper a deeper petal edge than it will really transform the flower to a different look. It also helps to use more sheets of tissue paper such as 11 or 12 to create a really full flower.  These are fun and easy to make. Even older children can make them to help you decorate for a party or a special celebration.