Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

By Kid’s Craft Contributor, Gillian from the blog “Dried Figs and Wooden Spools”.

The beginning of June, in our house, signals, not just the start of Summer Vacation, but also the kick off to our families birthday season. All four of us, plus the dog, have summer birthdays. And, thankfully, the one who requires the most over the top birthday (that would be my little princess) comes first, so I have almost a years worth of birthday energy stored up to deal with all the pink and fluff and dresses and glitz that my own little Fancy Nancy deems necessary.

This year we are planning a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, which opens things up for all sorts of fun, including these puff balls. The perfect thing to hang from the ceiling or scatter over the table to add a little Wonderland to the scene, I like them so much, I might just recycle them into a decorations for my office.

Here’s what you need

8-12 sheets of tissue paper per flower
Floral wire or a heavy duty stapler
Scissors 

How full your puff looks depends on how many sheets of tissue you use. Eight full sheets makes a looser, flower looking puff with a slightly open center, 12 sheets creates a more solid, dense puff. You can also scale these down to make different sizes for a more varied look.

Layer all your tissue into one, even pile. From the narrow end, begin folding in an accordion  fold, 1 1/2 inch wide folds for full size sheets, 1/2 inch for quarter sized sheets.

Once you have folded all the way up, wrap a length of floral wire or punch a few staples into the center of the strip and cut the ends to a point (rounded or straight ends would look cute as well.

Fan out the sides and carefully (the tissue is very easily torn) pull up one layer at a time until you are almost halfway through the layers. Flip over and repeat, doing the last few center layers at the end to ensure an even look.