Decorating with Mexican Tissue Paper Flowers
Decorate with traditional Mexican tissue paper flowers for your next Cinco de Mayo celebration. These colorful flowers are a great way to create lasting decorations at a fraction of the cost of fresh flowers. You can also use them as a souvenir of your party; just hand each guest a flower as they leave at the end of the evening.
Get the kids involved in making these simple decorations. Get your supplies together. You need to choose several bright colors of tissue paper, scissors and green pipe cleaners or florist wire. You will need to decide whether your flowers will all be single color or if you want to alternate colors for variegated blossoms.
You can layer the colors to help you decide what color combinations you like best. Once you have decided, layer your sheets the way you want them to look for a blossom and cut them into a six inch by twelve inch rectangle. Pick up your sheaf of rectangles and fold them into an accordion fold. Your finished folds should be about an inch tall. Holding the folded paper by the center, use the scissors to round off the ends. Alternatively, you can cut patterns into the ends for more visual interest.
Fold one of the wires in half and slide it over the center of your folded tissue paper. Wrap it securely. Holding the “stem” in one hand, use the other to pull up both sides of your tissue paper so they are all together pointing away from the wire. This is the beginning of your flower.
Separate each sheet carefully from the others as much as you can to create the individual petals. The more you separate them, the fuller your flower will look. Go ahead and play with the petals a bit, so they are at slightly different angles just like a real flower.
To make your flowers extra special, take a felt-tip pen and just touch it to the edges of the petals. The ink will bleed into the tissue paper, creating a streaked look. You can also add some sparkle to your flowers with tiny sequins or a dash of glitter. You can even spray a little perfume on them for scent.
Display your flowers in vases, glasses, and garlands. Choose one to wear in your hair if you wish, or pin one on your clothing. You will be amazed at how fun they are to make. They really make the house festive with their bright colors.
A vase of colorful Mexican tissue flowers will really set off the authentic Mexican recipes you have made for your party. You will feel like you went to Mexico without all the hassle of packing and traveling. For the time spent on a single afternoon, you will see that your table looks extra special.
Adding decorations makes your Cinco de Mayo celebration more fun. There is something about decorating that puts everyone in a happy mood.
Mexican food might conjure up images of hot crunchy tacos, richly flavorful enchiladas, crunchy nachos with melted cheese and jalapeo slices on top or even cleverly spiced Mexican casseroles. Traditional Mexican food is both healthy and easy to make, even for beginner cooks, so why not try out a Mexican dish?
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