DIY Mexican Tissue Paper Flowers

These flowers are traditional Mexican decorations for all sorts of occasions, from birthday parties to Cinco de Mayo. Here are step-by-step instructions on how to make your own!

Step 1: Gather Materials

You don't need that many materials to make these flowers. Collect the following materials:

- 6 sheets of tissue paper (multi-colored is best)

- 1 pipe cleaner

- 1 pair of scissors

Step 2: Accordion Fold

For this step, first you need to lay out all of the sheets of tissue paper flat on top of each other, with the color you want for the middle of your flower on top and the color you want for the outside on the bottom. Next, you do the accordion fold. If you don't know what this is, it is when you fold the paper in one direction, then flip it over and fold it that way too. Do this for the whole sheet of paper, and make your folds at least an inch or two.

Step 3: Pipe Cleaner

For this step you need your pipe cleaner. Fold the tissue paper in half and find the center, then wrap your pipe cleaner around the center like shown in the photos below. Twist both ends of the pipe cleaner around each other so that it stays sturdy.

Step 4: Cut

Use your scissors to cut the petals of the flower in any shape you want, rounded or pointed, it doesn't matter. MAKE SURE that you cut at least 3 inches, or else it won't open enough for the next step. You may have to come back to this step and cut it a little bit more.

It should look like this:

Step 5: Open and Peel

Take your flower and open it up like shown in the picture below. If it doesn't reach all the way to both edges, then go back and redo Step 4. If it does, then next you need to peel up each layer of tissue paper as far towards the center as you can like in the pictures.