For a fun bouquet or just something to add a little pizazz to gift wrapping, these tissue paper carnations are a unique way to give flowers. The project is incredibly easy and inexpensive: my daughter made these in under half an hour and it was great fun for her.
I am here to share with you all the steps that you have to follow if you want to make your own Carnation Flower Bouquets at home using tissue papers and regular materials. It’s extremely easy and we have some images in this article to get your creative juices flowing!
The materials for our Carnation Bouquets are:
– Colored tissue paper
– Decorative pencils
– Pencil Eraser Caps
– Small elastics
You can use any color of tissue paper, even white – or layer different colors for a rainbow effect. Lay out your tissue paper in layers of 4 – 6 sheets. 4 makes a loosely petaled flower, 6 is a bit tight and harder to work with. We found 5 sheets were about right. Then measure a rectangle of about 5 – 6 inches wide and about 10 – 12 inches long. This will determine the size of your flower, but the great thing is that it doesn’t really matter if you are exact or if you eyeball it. The edges don’t even have to be particularly straight as when you fan out the paper, these inconsistencies will only make it look more real. This makes it a great project for kids who may not be as meticulous about measurements and straight edges.
Once you have your rectangle, start an accordion fold at one of the ends. Fold on the short side, not the long. Fold over and over as if you were making a fan. Each fold should be about 1 inch width. When you are done, fold it over to find the middle, then unfold and place an elastic around the middle of your now 1 inch wide folded fan.
Take a pencil and wind the elastic on the pencil end, just under the metal band that holds the eraser on. Placing it here keeps it from slipping off easily. To ensure it doesn’t slip off, place a colored eraser cap over the eraser. This also makes the pencil more useful as the owner will be able to erase with it without removing the flower.
Now fan out both sides and grasping the edge of the innermost tissue paper layer, start pulling it up towards the middle. Once you have done that, do the next layer and the next and so forth. Pull each layer on both sides towards the middle until your carnation is formed. Here are some of the ones we came up with, plus extra ones for even more ideas:
You can make several of these and give them like a bouquet of flowers. Alone, these tissue paper carnations can be attached to gifts instead of bows for a unique decoration.