How to Make Tissue Paper Flower Ornaments for Your Christmas Tree

If you want a more casual, low-maintenance alternative to our fresh flower ornaments for your Christmas tree, look no further! Create these super-fun, super-festive tissue paper flowers instead. They look just like real flowers, and their decorating potential isn’t limited to Christmas trees: Use them to dress up wreaths, garland, gift boxes, baskets, curtain rods, flower pots and much more. Plus, you can enjoy this easy Christmas craft with your kids—no cleanup required!

Materials Needed for Tissue Paper Flower Ornaments

• Red, green and white tissue paper*
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Floral Wire

*You’ll need about six to eight sheets of tissue paper per flower

How to Make Tissue Paper Flower Ornaments

1. Neatly stack six to eight sheets of tissue paper, one on top of the other. Pile them in any color pattern you wish: You can use one color, or you can alternate colors for each layer. With three festive colors of tissue paper to work with, the combinations are limitless! Use your imagination to make each flower unique, like the ones shown above.

2. Trim the stack according to the size you want your flower to be. You can trim it down to a 10-inch by 10-inch square, or you can cut it into a 7-inch by 12-inch rectangle. The smaller you cut the pile, the smaller your flower will be.

3. Fold the tissue paper accordion-style into 1-inch-wide folds.

4. Lay the tissue paper accordion flat on a table. Fold a 10-inch piece of floral wire in half and wrap it around the center of the accordion. Twist the floral wire right below the accordion to prevent the tissue paper from unfolding. There will be a few extra inches of floral wire sticking out; you’ll be using this wire to attach your flower to your tree.

5. Trim the two ends of the accordion to create either round or pointed edges. Round edges will give you a flower that looks like a rose or a peony; pointed edges will create poinsettia-like petals. The image above shows what each type of petal looks like on a finished flower. (The red and white flowers have rounded petals; the green flower, pointed petals.)

6. Fan out the accordion on each side of the floral wire.

7. One by one, slowly and very gently start pulling each layer of tissue paper up and toward the center of the accordion, away from the floral wire. Do this on each side of the floral wire.

8. When you’re done, carefully fluff up the petals to fill any empty spaces. Use the wire to attach your gorgeous tissue paper blossom to a branch on your Christmas tree … or to anything else you think can use a festive and flowery touch!

Bonus: When Christmas is over, save your flowers and use them as decorations for your next birthday party, barbecue, baby shower, bridal shower … the list goes on and on!

So which flower ornament is your favorite: our fresh flower ornament or our tissue paper flower ornament? Tell us which one you’ll be using to decorate your home this Christmas!