Mother's Day Corsage

Today we honor that very special person who made life possible - mom.  Yes, I will be straying from my previous post and doing a new project.  I know, I know, some of you are already thinking, “what a backslider”.  But if there is to be any exception to my rule, there is no better reason that Mother’s day, for without my mommy none of this would be possible!

As I have been thinking about Mother’s Day all week I started to remember some of the simple things we did for our mothers when we were children and how much joy those simple gestures meant.  One project came to mind that is so simple, and yes dads you too could help your kids create this gift for their mom J  Do any of you remember when you used to be able to buy facial tissue in an array of colors?  Maybe they are still available, I just do not remember seeing them lately but I also haven’t been looking for colored facial tissue.  I remember there being many color choices – pink, blue, yellow – usually in pastels.  I distinctly remember one year during Sunday school we made these super simple, pretty corsages for our mothers out of colorful facial tissue.  I decided that I would make a corsage for my mom like the one I did that Mother’s day in Sunday school so long ago.  Now, I wasn’t about to go out and search every store for colored facial tissue, so I just used the white ones on my counter and because I always have a box of handy kid friendly supplies I didn’t need to buy the pipe cleaner either.

MATERIALS:

Facial Tissue

Pipe Cleaner

Scissors (optional)

STEP #1:  Pull out 5 to 10 tissues from the box.  The more tissues you use the fuller the flower will appear.  I am using 10 tissues.

 

STEP #2:  Stack your tissues on top of each other.  This is where you can be very creative with the colored tissue by alternating the colors to get different colored “petals” on your flower.  Your stack doesn’t have to be perfect just neat enough to fold.

 

STEP #3: Fold your stack of tissue accordion style in 1 inch sections.

STEP #4:  Take a 12 inch pipe cleaner and fold it in half.

STEP #5:  Slide the pipe cleaner around the center of your accordion folded tissue.  Pinch the fold of the pipe cleaner to make it tight.

STEP #6:  Twist the pipe cleaner at the bottom of the accordion folded tissue to hold the tissue securely.  It is helpful to pinch your tissue while twisting to bunch it up for a firmer hold.

STEP #7:  Twist the pipe cleaner ends so they are perpendicular to the accordion folded tissue.

STEP #8:  Gently pull the top tissue up and away from the rest of the stack creating a “petal”.  Pull straight up on each side of the pipe cleaner so that each side stands upright and the sides touch.  Be very careful – you don’t want to rip the tissue!  Repeat with each layer of tissue until you have a full flower.

STEP #9:  Now you have a choice.  You can leave the pipe cleaner long and wrap it around your mother’s arm for a wrist corsage, OR you can use your scissors and cut the pipe cleaner then pin to your mother’s blouse for a traditional corsage.  I left mine as a wrist corsage.

Can you imagine what a beautiful corsage this would be using different colors?  Since I will not be able to spend Mother’s Day with my mom, I will have to give this corsage to her when she visits in a couple weeks.  Later today I will call her to say I love you and thank you for being a friend and confidant all these years.

What did you do on Mother’s Day?  Did you receive any great handmade gifts from your children?  E-mail me at quiltedcowgirl@gmail.com and you just might see your Mother’s Day happenings on “The Ramblings”.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY and as always, Happy Crafting!