Any one having a Cinco de Mayo bash? I’m heading to my college reunion this weekend, and we’re having a Scottie Fiesta. We actually have two parties in two nights, and I’m decorating both on a $5 per person budget, so I’ve been getting very crafty!

For the fiesta, our table centerpieces will be traditional Mexican tissue paper fiesta flowers. I used this tutorial from Lillyella, which was great. The instructions were very clear, and the only thing I did differently was to use pipe cleaners to create the flower stems. Scroll down to see my step-by-step instructions.

Tickled Peach Studios created these darling printables just for our event! Somehow, I think she’d be happy to customize them for your fiesta! 😉

Fiesta Tissue Flower Supplies

• Tissue paper in the colors of your choice
• Scissors
• Twine

Fiesta Tissue Flower Instructions

1 – For each flower, you’ll need four sheets of tissue, cut into sections that are 10″ x 5″. These can be all one color, or whatever color combination you choose. If you want multiple colors, the color on top of your stack will be in the center of your flower.

2 – Now it’s time to make your accordion folds. Stack your tissue papers neatly, so all the edges meet. Start folding from a 5″ side. Make your first fold, as wide as you like it. Mine were about 1/2″ wide. Flip over your stack, and make your second fold. Flip the stack, and fold again. Try to keep all your folds the same width.

3 – Trim each end of your fold into a curve. This will give you the flower effect.

4 – Tie the center of the folded tissue with your twine. This doesn’t need to crimp the paper. If you want these to be flowers with stems that you could put in a vase, use a pipe cleaner instead of the twine. Everything else is the same process!

5 – Spread out one side of the accordion fold.

6 – Time to start fluffing. All you are doing is very gently pulling each sheet of tissue up and out, trying not to rip the paper. The first layer you pull up will be the center of your flower. Continue until you have fully fluffed one side of the flower.

Here’s what the back side of the flower looks like when just one side is fluffed. I wanted a flower with a flat back. If you want a flower or pom that is fully round, you just need to fluff it into a round shape. And have a lot of patience. Pom balls are pretty challenging to make evenly round.

To see more Cinco de Mayo-inspired ideas, visit: https://www.pinterest.com/ThePartyTeacher/fiesta-party/

(And a big, huge thanks to my friend Susan who crafted right along with me for our parties!)