Paper Flowers for your Valentines

I love homemade gifts - they seem to appeal to me so much more than something store bought. I also love wearing things in my hair. So today, I set out to make a very easy gift for her for Valentine's Day- paper flowers! These can be made and given as a bouquet, but I thought I'd rather add to my vast collection of flowers, ribbons, and butterflies that frequent these tresses.

Now normally I would have made these flowers using simpler means - like a hair clip, barrette, claw, or a little elastic hair tie. But I didn't have any of those things. I improvised with what I had in the house. Please use a hair clip and hair tie if you have them - it'll save you loads of time and look nicer for your honey.

Ok, so, shopkeeping done, here is what you do:

1. Gather the necessary components:

• Scissors
• Tissue Paper (Pink is fun for Valentine's day, but you may want to choose a color that will match what your Sweetheart wears often)
• Snap Clip (I used Bobby Pins and ribbon)
• Elastic Hair Tie (I used a needle and thread)

For your reference here are some snap clips and elastic hair ties. Make sure the hair ties do not appear to be made of rubber. Rubber rips out hair. They are uncomfortable. The hair ties in this photo are covered with some kind of thread *slash* fabric situation and thus do not rip out hair, which is preferable.

2. Start with a sheet of tissue paper on a flat surface	3. Fold in half length-wise, "hot-dog-style" if you will
4. Fold it again in half. This time "hamburger-style"	5. Fold it in half one more time

6. Unfold the tissue paper

7. Cut the piece of tissue paper into 8 sections based on the lines we just folded

8. You can alternate colors of tissue paper if you want to have a variegated flower when we are finished

Again, if you are house-hold iteming it:

8.5 If you're using the same materials as me, sew the scrap of fabric or ribbon into a loop as shown:

9. Place the stack of tissue paper in front of you so one of the short sides is nearest to you (portrait layout)

10. Fold up the bottom end of the paper to create about a 1/4" fold

11. Flip the stack over

12. Fold up the bottom end of the paper again to create another 1/4" fold

13. Flip the stack of papers over

14. Continue folding and flipping the stack until you create a fan as shown:

Now, here comes the divergence. If you're using materials similar to me, keep on reading. If you've got the hair clippies and elastic, jump down to # 15.1.

15. Use the thread to tie a knot around the center of the fan:

16.5 Use the needle and thread to sew the fabric loop to the bottom of the fan

17. Pull the first layer of paper on the right side of the fan towards the center to create your first petal

18. Repeat for the left side

19. Continue steps 17 & 18 for each layer until the Carnation is complete

20. Place two bobby pins through the fabric loop and you're done!

I also made a few smaller flowers by cutting the stack of tissue paper in half again:

Stay tuned for more ideas for Valentine's Day this year!

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15.1 Cut the elastic hair tie in half. Hold the hair tie around the center of the fan.

16.1 Thread the ends of the hair tie through the openings on the hair clip. Tie a knot at the bottom to attach the hair clip to the fan.

17.1 Pull the first layer of paper on the right side of the fan towards the center

18.1 Repeat for the left side

19.1 Repeat for each additional layer until the Carnation is complete!

There is a video of a great girl explaining how to make a flower in this manner. Feel free to watch it - you may be a visual learner, or she may explain how to do this better than me: