paper flower tree

We made paper flowers and tied them to branches we found on a nature walk to make a cool display. 

Yes, I know, I have a lot of paper flower type projects. I'm sorry. Everything is blooming and growing so well in the Bay Area right now that I can't help, but be in love with flower projects. This project we made as a center piece for our annual art show. I think it turned out quite nice. What do you think?

materials:

tissue paper

small tree branches with multiple limbs

tempera paint or acrylic paint

string

paint brushes

paint sealant 

get to work:

1. To begin, go on a nature walk and find some small branches. The smoother the better because you're going to paint them in step two. 

2. Using either tempera or acrylic paint, paint the branches as many colors as you'd like. Remember acrylic will dry and show up better on the branches, but it's not as easy to wash out of clothes. 

3. Let the branches dry. 

4. While the branches dry, stack two to three pieces of tissue paper and lay it out flat. You might want to cut the paper into an 8 1/2 x 11 rectangle to make it more manageable. 

5. Fold a 1/2inch crease along the long side of the paper, flip it over and fold another long crease, aka "the fan fold."

6. Tie a piece of string around the middle of the folded paper and begin separating the pieces of tissue paper, making it look like a flower. 

* Kaboose has a really good "how to" if you need more instruction. 

7. Once the branches have dried and you've made all the flowers you wanted, tie the flowers to branches in a semi-random order and ta-da!

a few more ideas:

 We put our flowers in a big vase as our way of displaying them, but another option is to take a few long strings and thumb tacks (or whatever you're comfortable sticking to your ceiling) and hang the branches above your child's bed or your dinner table.