Dollar Store Design School - Paper Flowers

As the seasons begin to change and Fall is right around the corner I start to think about different craft ideas to decorate the house for the upcoming string of holidays - Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and my birthday. Ok so that last one isn't technically a holiday but moving on...

My goal is to always have the perfect balance of mature sophistication and fun when decorating especially with the front of the house. I want people to drive by and say "Ooooo I love what they did with their porch!" and I want kids to walk past our house in October making a mental note to come back and hit up that awesome house on Halloween. Of course I am on a pretty tight budget and have most certainly not been to design school so I do the next best thing... scour the internet and hit The Dollar Store.

The other day we were doing an ice breaker at work and I was asked to share what my favorite store is. When I said Dollar Tree everyone erupted in laughter but I expected it. Sure it's full of a bunch of individual cheap items but when those items come together with a little imagination then you could have something amazing!

So to start off my new "Dollar Store Design School" teaching course I will walk you through how to create adorable paper flowers!

Items needed: tissue paper, pipe cleaners, scissors
Optional items: vase, ribbon, balloon

1. Choose one sheet of tissue paper, lay it out flat and then fold it in half 4 times.
2. Slide your scissors in at the folds and cut the paper. When you are done you will have a stack of 16 squares.

3. Make sure the squares are stacked neatly and then fold the stack of papers back and forth (accordion style) 8-10 times. Wrap a pipe cleaner around the center of the paper to secure. Be sure the pipe cleaner is in the center of the paper so your flower will be event. Twist the pipe cleaner so that it is tight around the paper so it will hold it will not move.

4. Next cut the ends of the paper into a 'V' shape or you can round them off. This will make a nicer shape for the flowers "petals".

5. Begin to open the flower by pulling each layer up towards the center. Do one side and then do the other.

Done! Beautiful flower! Just shape it up the way you want.

Now you can arrange them in a vase. These were both bought at The Dollar Store. The clear one is actually a glass. I added a balloon (also from the dollar store) to one. You could also tie together a bouquet of them with some ribbon.

Next time on Dollar Store Design School - Creating a Halloween Wreath!