{"id":15447,"date":"2015-08-11T08:32:01","date_gmt":"2015-08-11T12:32:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/?page_id=15447"},"modified":"2017-04-04T04:53:01","modified_gmt":"2017-04-04T08:53:01","slug":"tissue-paper-carnations","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/papercraft\/tissue-paper-carnations\/","title":{"rendered":"Tissue Paper Carnations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>This tutorial was originally published on my old papercraft site, Folding Trees.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Who&#8217;d have thought you could easily make such pretty and realistic carnations from tissue paper?! As well as beautiful decorations or gifts, these are perfect for weddings: make everlasting boutonnieres, table decorations and even bridal bouquets, and keep your wedding flowers forever as a memento of your special day.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"\/blog\/ftimages\/carnations.jpg\" alt=\"tissue paper carnations\" width=\"450\" height=\"600\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Below is a close up of the\u00a0flowers &#8211; aren&#8217;t they lovely?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"\/blog\/ftimages\/carnations2.jpg\" alt=\"tissue paper carnations\" width=\"450\" height=\"240\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This tutorial is Donationware &#8211; the instructions are available for free, but if you like it please consider sending me a donation to show your appreciation:<\/p>\n<div style=\"float: left; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/blog\/images\/pattern_carnations.jpg\" alt=\"tissue paper carnations tutorial\" \/><\/div>\n<p><strong>Send me a donation and receive the easy-to-print PDF version of the tutorial as a thank you!<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"donate\"><a href=\"\/shop\/index.php?main_page=document_product_info&#038;cPath=32&#038;products_id=200\" class=\"cssbutton\">make a donation<\/a><\/div>\n<p>Donations of any size are much appreciated. Just add the amount you wish to donate, and, once you have checked out and paid, your PDF will instantly be available to download from your PlanetJune account.<\/p>\n<p>The complete instructions are available below, regardless of whether or not you choose to pay for them \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n<p>This is a PlanetJune original tutorial. <strong>Please do not share or reproduce this tutorial<\/strong>; instead post a link to <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/papercarnations\" class=\"autohyperlink\">www.planetjune.com\/papercarnations<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>You will need:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Tissue paper<\/li>\n<li>Scissors<\/li>\n<li>2 large paper clips<\/li>\n<li>Pipe cleaners (chenille stems) or floral wire<\/li>\n<li>Coloured marker pen<\/li>\n<li>Optional: floral wire, floral tape, wire cutters<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Instructions<\/h2>\n<p>You can make your carnations any size, but I found that a 3&#8243; (7.5cm) circle gives a realistic-sized flower. Fold your tissue paper in half\u00a0again and again\u00a0until it is just larger than your circle size. I used a 20&#215;24&#8243; sheet of tissue paper, which let me cut 48 circles at once &#8211; enough for 4-5 carnations!<\/p>\n<p>Find a suitably-sized circular container and draw around it with a pencil onto your folded tissue paper.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"\/blog\/ftimages\/carnations01.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"271\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Start to cut out the circle, holding all the layers of tissue paper together. If you can&#8217;t cut through the whole thickness, try cutting half the layers\u00a0at a time, then draw another circle to cut out the other half. I found that I could cut through 48 layers with no problem, as the tissue paper is so thin. You don&#8217;t have to cut too exactly, so don&#8217;t worry if some of the layers don&#8217;t come out as perfect circles.\u00a0Use a large paper clip to help keep the layers together.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"\/blog\/ftimages\/carnations02.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"323\" \/><\/p>\n<p>As you continue to cut, add a second paper clip on the opposite side of the circles to keep all the circles together.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"\/blog\/ftimages\/carnations03.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"392\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This next step is the key to making the flowers look more realistic than standard tissue paper flowers. If you are in a hurry or making them with children, you\u00a0could skip this step and still end up with nice flowers.\u00a0It is a bit tricky and takes a few minutes to complete, but I think it&#8217;s worth it!<\/p>\n<p>Take a marker pen with a complementary colour\u00a0(a cheap kids&#8217; pen is fine).\u00a0A\u00a0bold colour will give a more effective result. Use your non-writing hand to hold the edges of all the tissue-paper layers together, and use the side of the pen nib to begin to gently colour the <strong>edge<\/strong> of the circles. Take this slowly &#8211; if you press too hard, the tissue paper layers will separate. Colour a small section of the edge at a time, and go over each section a few times to ensure the colour is\u00a0intense and the ink has saturated all the edges.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"\/blog\/ftimages\/carnations04.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"268\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Continue to colour around the edge. When you are about halfway through,\u00a0move the paper clips to areas you have already coloured, and fill in the gaps.<br \/>\n<em>Note:\u00a0I\u00a0have switched to the white tissue\u00a0paper for these photos as the coloured pen shows up more clearly!<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"\/blog\/ftimages\/carnations05.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"268\" \/><\/p>\n<p>..Erm, yes. You may well end up with a coloured finger by the time you have finished (see below)\u00a0as you have to hold the papers close to the edge to keep them together while you colour them! Don&#8217;t worry &#8211; it&#8217;ll wash off \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"\/blog\/ftimages\/carnations06.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"209\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Remove\u00a0the paper clips and\u00a0select\u00a0enough circles from the pile to make\u00a0one flower. I used approx 12 circles per flower, but\u00a08-10 circles would be fine.<\/p>\n<p>Keep these circles together and\u00a0poke two holes near the centre of the circles. I used the end of a pipe cleaner to do this, but if your pipe cleaners aren&#8217;t sharp enough you could use a large needle or similar.<\/p>\n<p>Fold down about 1 inch of the pipe cleaner, and push the long end through one hole and the short end through the other hole.<\/p>\n<div class=\"halfcenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"half\" src=\"\/blog\/ftimages\/carnations07a.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"223\" height=\"192\" \/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"half\" src=\"\/blog\/ftimages\/carnations07b.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"223\" height=\"192\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Pull the ends\u00a0all\u00a0the way through, then twist the ends of the pipe cleaner together underneath the flower to keep all the circles together:<\/p>\n<div class=\"halfcenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"half\" src=\"\/blog\/ftimages\/carnations08a.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"223\" height=\"192\" \/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"half\" src=\"\/blog\/ftimages\/carnations08b.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"223\" height=\"192\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Now to make the petals. Separate the topmost circle and crumple it upwards from the centre.\u00a0Scrunch up the paper randomly, but try to concentrate on the base of the petal (the centre of the circle) and leave the coloured edges alone.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"\/blog\/ftimages\/carnations09.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Now repeat with each circle in turn.\u00a0Crinkle each circle up individually, and try not to have the folds in the same place each time. You can see (below, right) how I am squeezing my fingers around the <strong>base<\/strong> of the petal each time I\u00a0add a new circle. This stops the coloured petal\u00a0edges from being creased into folds.<\/p>\n<div class=\"halfcenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"half\" src=\"\/blog\/ftimages\/carnations10a.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"223\" height=\"192\" \/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"half\" src=\"\/blog\/ftimages\/carnations10b.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"223\" height=\"192\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Keep scrunching&#8230;\u00a0When all the circles have been crumpled up, you will end up with a lovely carnation like this:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"\/blog\/ftimages\/carnations11.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"286\" \/><\/p>\n<p>And that&#8217;s it for the basic tutorial! If you are making these with children, you probably want to stop at this point. If you want to make the stems look more realistic, here are some ideas:<\/p>\n<p>Make a double-headed stem by\u00a0cutting down\u00a0one pipe cleaner to half its length (use wire cutters for this) then twisting it together with another completed stem:<\/p>\n<div class=\"halfcenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"half\" src=\"\/blog\/ftimages\/carnations12.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"223\" \/> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"half\" src=\"\/blog\/ftimages\/carnations13.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"223\" \/><\/div>\n<p>I wasn&#8217;t satisfied with my green furry caterpillar stems, so I converted them with some floral wires and green floral tape:<\/p>\n<p>Cut the floral wire to the same length as your stem.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"\/blog\/ftimages\/carnations14.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"241\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Holding the wire and pipe cleaner stem together, start to wrap the floral tape tightly around them. Start about 1&#8243; down from the flower head (below, left)\u00a0and wrap up the stem to the head. Then wrap all the way down the stem to the bottom. To\u00a0wrap without the tape getting tangled up, hold the tape steady and at an angle to the stem with one hand (below, right),\u00a0and use your other hand to twirl the stem around, winding the tape around itself as it goes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"\/blog\/ftimages\/carnations15.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"174\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The floral tape will stick to itself, so there is no need to use glue to fasten it down. Remember to stretch the end of the tape as you wrap\u00a0the end of the stem, to help it to stick securely.<\/p>\n<p>Make just one as a paper buttonhole. Make\u00a0about a dozen, and you have a beautiful bouquet!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"\/blog\/ftimages\/carnations.jpg\" alt=\"tissue paper carnations\" width=\"450\" height=\"600\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Please leave me a comment if you did, and consider leaving me a donation. Thanks!<\/p>\n<div class=\"donate\"><a href=\"\/shop\/index.php?main_page=document_product_info&#038;cPath=32&#038;products_id=200\" class=\"cssbutton\">make a donation<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This tutorial was originally published on my old papercraft site, Folding Trees. Who&#8217;d have thought you could easily make such pretty and realistic carnations from tissue paper?! As well as beautiful decorations or gifts, these are perfect for weddings: make everlasting boutonnieres, table decorations and even bridal bouquets, and keep your wedding flowers forever as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":15704,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-15447","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15447\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}