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  • Hi, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle.

    You can find me writing for HGTV and DIY Network, follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

    Thanks for visiting!

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Pom-Pom Therapy

March 13, 2012

Hey. Nothing bunches my britches more than a DIY tutorial being confusing and non-tutorialistic, so I’m breaking it down, and making it easy to follow for you.

Enter subject: This bean of a tutorial from a recent Better Homes & Gardens issue was particularly confusing. I mean, I don’t actually know what it’s trying to tell me, but I do like that poofy flower, and I wanted to make one. Consider yourself forewarned, this is a nail gun-free post.

Oh, I loathe you, confusing guidelines.

Their way:
1. Cut a tissue-paper strip from a pom-pom garland (a what?), leaving the ribbon attached (what ribbon?)
2. Fan out the strip (it was fanned?)
3. Fluff the fanned-out strip to form the pom-pom (forget it.)

And just know, I really, really love me some BHG. We subscribe, and I have for years. And I before that I read my mom’s issues and dreamt wildly about being a homeowner. I do glean a lot of inspiration from the pretty pictures and landscapes that they profile, so that stuff, BHG, keep it up. 

But this broken tutorial. I’m breaking it down. Making it simple. Making it overly simple. So make this flower yours.

Step 1: Cut a single piece of tissue paper into 6 quadrants.

DIY paper flower tutorial.

Step 2: Layer the quadrants into a stack. Begin to fold them together like an accordion.

DIY paper flower tutorial.

Step 3: Keep going with the accordion-making, like a paper fan from your childhood.

DIY paper flower tutorial.

Step 4: Tie something around the middle of that completely accordion-ed paper. Tie it firmly, but do not cinch it tight. I used embroidery thread (like the BHG tutorial) but anything would work. Ribbon. Twine. Your choice, it doesn’t really matter much in the end.

DIY paper flower tutorial.

Step 5: For the peony-esque look, I rounded off the ends of the bound accordion with a few snips of the scissors. Consider this an optional step.

DIY paper flower tutorial.

Also consider doing fun cuts into the ends, make them pointy, make them fringed, make them concave curving.

DIY paper flower tutorial.

Step 6: This is where things got more intuitive. Those 6 layers of paper? Pull them apart carefully, slowly, gently, starting with the layer at the top.

DIY paper flower tutorial.

And then keep peeling back and fluffing as you go. Voila, this is so cute.

DIY paper flower tutorial.

I don’t think I need to tell you to keep doing the same with the second side of the accordion. That seems obvious.

DIY paper flower tutorial.

Since I used a full piece of tissue paper, my flower was pretty substantial. Compared to my hand, it stood this tall. Man, I love flowers.

DIY paper flower tutorial.

And it looked sweet on top of a baby shower gift, attached with a dab of glue. (Yes, I used embroidery thread for the “ribbon” too, just like the magazine tutorial. Simple, and less expected, it keeps the focus on the flower. I bought a whole rainbow of it at the store, so other friends, you can expect to see it on your own gifts in the future.)

DIY paper flower tutorial.

I hope that’s a little easier, fellow DIYers. Now go, make something pretty.

Share

Dainty Details  / DIY

Emily
I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. You can find me writing for HGTV and DIY Network, follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

4 Comments


Ashley @ DesignBuildLove
March 13, 2012 at 1:37 pm
Reply

how cute is that! Especially for a baby shower gift. Totally beautiful and understated with the twine too! :)



    Emily
    March 13, 2012 at 3:52 pm

    Thanks Ashley! I was really pleased with the texture of the finished piece; so voluminous, more voluminous than any gift bow I’ve found!

Anna
March 13, 2012 at 2:52 pm
Reply

Thanks for the tutorial! I was thinking of making pom pom “flowers” for wedding centerpieces out of yarn, but this might be even easier and faster.



    Emily
    March 13, 2012 at 3:51 pm

    I considered that they’d be great for a wedding too – so simple, but fun and clean and inexpensive. Attached to sticks, maybe?

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  • HI, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. Follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

    Thanks for visiting!

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