Tissue paper flower pens are a fun, inexpensive and easy way to make someone a gift from the heart. For less than $1.00 per pen, you can create a festive keepsake that’s sure to make them smile—without breaking your wallet. And the best news is, you don’t have to be super crafty to make one!
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Pens (straight ones without a clip work the best)
- Tissue paper
- Curling ribbon
- Double-sided tape
- Scissors
Lay a single piece of tissue paper flat and smooth it out. Fold it in half four times, smoothing it out each time to avoid wrinkles.
Take your scissors and free-hand cut a cloud shape, cutting through all layers of tissue paper at the same time. It doesn’t matter if it’s perfectly symmetrical or that it resembles a perfect flower-shape. (In fact, we found that the uneven cloud-shape gives you a fuller look.)
Take your stack of petal-clouds and restack them on top of each other, flipping some of them over and rotating them around so that they’re in an uneven stack, not perfectly one-on-top of each other.
Use the tip of your pen and press down on your stack of petals. Carefully pull the petals up 2-3 layers at a time onto the handle of the pen.
Once all of the tissue paper is pulled onto the pen, wrap the flat end of the pen in double-sided tape. Pull up a single piece of tissue paper and gently press it onto the tape from several sides. Gently squeeze the tissue paper to pull it all close together.
Now you pull all of your petals a few at a time towards the end of the pen. Gently pull your petals through your thumb and index finger to smooth them out and bring the flower together.
Holding the flower between your thumb and index finger, wrap the very base of the flower in double-sided tape. Apply double-sided tape length-wise down both sides of the pen and wrap the base of it as well. Then starting at the base of the flower, wrap the pen in the green curling ribbon.
Move slowly and overlap it so that the pen is completely wrapped in ribbon. When you reach the base of the pen, cut of the excess curling ribbon. If the ribbon feels loose at the tip, you can tuck another piece of double-sided tape under the tail end of the ribbon for extra security.
And there you have it–an adorable tissue paper pen, perfect for celebrating any occasion! If you want to make a dozen, it will take about two packages of tissue paper and about a roll and a half of curling ribbon, keeping the total cost of this project under $1/pen.
Still need some extra help? Watch our full video tutorial below:
Finally, spread out the loops of ribbon. Twist and pull up on each loop to create volume. Loops of ribbon often look good in 3’s, so pull three of them towards the middle. Play with it a little to get it the way you like.
You’ll find yourself with one strip of excess ribbon. If you’re using single-sided, it may even be upside-down. Twist it over and then finish it by cutting a “V” in it so that it looks finished.
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