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DIY

How to Make Paper Flowers for Day of the Dead

October 29, 2015
Step-by-step instructions for making paper flowers for Day of the Dead. How to make paper flowers easy, how to make tissue paper flowers, Mexican paper flowers. #tissuepaperflowers #paperflowers #Mexicanpaperflowers #dayofthedead
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Girl holding paper flower with text overlay that says, "How To Make Paper Flowers."

Day of the Dead is coming up on Sunday and Monday. We set up our alter last weekend and are beginning to decorate it with candles, incense, and pictures of loved ones who have passed. Today I will place a little jar of salt on the alter to represent the earth and to cleanse the spirit. The final piece will be the colorful addition of large paper flowers.

Colorful tissue paper flowers in yellow, light blue, orange, and purple.

In Mexico, enormous fresh marigolds in red, orange, and yellow are used to decorate the graves and alters but paper flowers are also popular and are often strung together to make elaborate garlands which are draped overhead and along the edges of the gravestones.

Colorful tissue paper flowers sitting on an altar for Day of the Dead.

I am not, not, not a crafter so believe me when I tell you they are very simple to make. All you need is one package of colorful tissue paper and some pipe cleaners. 15 sheets of tissue paper and 15 pipe cleaners should make about 15 flowers.

Tissue paper for making paper flowers sitting on a Day of the Dead tablecloth with scissors and pipe cleaners.

Take one sheet of tissue paper and cut it in half, then cut that piece in half two more times until you have several sheets that are about 8-inches long x 4-inches wide. This doesn’t matter too much—the bigger the sheets, the larger the flowers. Stack 8 pieces of cut tissue paper together (you can use all the same color or multiple colors).

Piece of tissue paper on a Calavera tablecloth with scissors and pipe cleaner.

Starting on the short end make a 1/2-inch thick fold.

Girl sitting at a table folding light blue tissue paper on a Calavera tablecloth.

Flip the tissue paper over so the folded side is down and then take the folded piece up and fold it again so now the fold is on the top, like an accordion. I wonder how many times I can use the word fold in a sentence, hmmmm.

Girl folding light blue tissue paper on top of a Calavera tablecloth with a pair of scissors.

Keep working your way up, folding back and forth until all the tissue paper is folded.

Purple tissue paper folded on a Day of the Dead tablecloth decorated with Calaveras.

Bend the pipe cleaner around the middle of the stack and twist to secure. This will be your stem.

Aqua-colored tissue paper folded with a green pipe cleaner tied around it.

Cut each edge, either in a triangular shape or rounded.

Girl cutting the edge of a folded piece of tissue paper with blue scissors. Close up of a corner of the folded tissue paper sitting on a Day of the Dead tablecloth.

Then fan out the paper.

A folded piece of purple tissue paper secured with a green pipe cleaner.

Now pull one layer of tissue paper at a time towards the middle, carefully peeling the pieces of paper apart to create a puffy flower.

A girl's hand unfolding a purple piece of tissue paper to create a paper flower. A girl's hand unfolding a aqua piece of tissue paper with a green pipe cleaner. A girl's hand unraveling a folded piece of tissue paper to create a paper flower.

Continue with the remaining pieces of tissue paper to make as many flowers as you like. You can even make gigantic ones to hang from the ceiling using full sheets of tissue paper.

A girl in a purple and gray-stripped shirt holding the finished paper flower.

For those of you celebrating Día de los Muertos, I hope your hearts are full of celebration this weekend. Cherish these days; share family stories, eat sweet yeasty bread, and leave a flower or two for those who can no longer walk with us on this earth, but who are waiting to show us the glorious world on the other side.

A bouquet of tissue paper flowers sitting on an altar for Day of the Dead.

These Paper Flowers Also Make Beautiful Cinco de Mayo Decorations

Check out our Cinco de Mayo Party Guide for lots of DIY decor ideas, cocktails, and Cinco de Mayo recipes.

One More Thing

Did you love this post? I want to know! Leave me a comment and snap a photo for Instagram. Tag @holajalapeno so I can see your beautiful creation! Your feedback is super important to me. If you run into trouble shoot me a message on Instagram and I’ll walk you through it.

Also, don’t forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter, lots of good stuff there too!

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A photo collage of paper flowers with a text overlay that says How To Make Paper Flowers

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Kate Ramos
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2 Comments

  • Avatar
    Reply nicole October 29, 2015 at 12:57 pm

    thank you for sharing your dia de los muertos recipes and the paper flowers how to, louisa did an excellent job demo’ing! i’m gonna give the chocolate anise pan de muerto a try. i think it is really cool that you and your family celebrate the ritual of dia de los muertos. i think we are better off as humans if we maintain a connection to our loved ones who have died as it not only keeps their spirit alive, but by celebrating the dead, death becomes part of the fabric of being alive. fantastic ritual. “don’t know your past, don’t know your future” from “tomorrow people” ziggy marley and the melody makers

    • Avatar
      Reply Kate Ramos October 29, 2015 at 4:38 pm

      I couldn’t agree with you more Nicole. I hope you enjoy the pan de muerto and take a few moments this weekend to fondly remember those you have loved who are no longer with us. xo

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