Tissue Paper Marigold Garlands

What you'll need

• Tissue paper in six colors, four sheets of each, 14 × 10": red and pinks (red and two pinks) and oranges and yellow (two oranges and yellow). My oranges came from a different pack, but this one is already cut to size, which is easier.
• Waxed cord, 0.5 mm, in orange
• A needle with an eye wide enough for the cord, and a needle threader (this pack has both)
• 4 mm gold beads: you'll use about 63 for both garlands
• Scissors
• A stapler, plus extra staples
• A pencil
• Something round to trace, 2"–2.5" (I used the spool the cord came on)
• A tape measure
• Masking tape, for stringing and for hanging

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Make the flowers

1. Fold the tissue paper

   Take one color and stack four sheets. Fold the stack over on itself to make a strip that is just larger than your circle template (5 times in my case).

   If you'd like bigger flowers, use a bigger circle and layer a few more sheets.

   

   

2. Trace your circles

   Use something round as your template. I used the spool the cord came on, which was about 2". Trace a few circles along the strip; I fit about four.

   

3. Staple in place

   Plant one staple in the center of each circle.

   

4. Cut them out

   They don't have to be perfect, because the edges won't be very noticeable after you fluff them up.

   

   

5. Fluff

   This takes a little patience, so make a cup of tea and put on your favorite show. Separate the layers one at a time and give them a little scrunch so the flower gets some volume. Do both sides. There's no need to be precious about it, or it'll take forever. This is also why four sheets is plenty: more layers just means more fluffing.

   

   

6. Snip the petals

   Flatten the flower a little and, keeping an eye on where the staple is, snip around the edge with scissors to make little marigold petals.

   Short on time? You can skip the snipping. The flowers are still fun, just more pom-pom than marigold.

   

   

7. Fluff once more, then repeat

   Fluff them back up again. Then do the same in every color.

   

Plan your garland

Lay your flowers out in the order you'd like before you start, so you can see how the colors sit together. For the shorter garland I went with light orange, yellow, red, dark orange, light pink, dark pink, light orange, and yellow.

One batch of paper makes two garlands, a shorter one and a longer one:

	Short	Long
Cord	80"	120"
Flowers	8	13
Sets of gold beads	8	13
Finished length	about 6 ft	about 7½ ft

Cut more cord than you think you need. Every flower and every set of beads gets a triple knot, and the knots use up a surprising amount.

String the garland

1. Thread the needle and add the first flower

   Thread the cord onto your needle. I started with an orange flower at the bottom. Push the needle through the center of the flower, slide it down the cord, and tie a few knots below it so it stays put.

   

2. Measure, then tie a triple knot

   After each flower, use your tape measure to find 3 inches above the flower and tie a triple knot there. The triple knot is what keeps the beads from sliding and the flowers from pulling through.

   

3. Add the beads

   Slide on 3 gold beads.

   

4. Knot above the beads

   After adding your beads, tie another triple knot above the beads to keep them in place.

   

5. Add the next flower, then repeat

   Measure 3 inches above the beads, tie a triple knot, and slide on the next flower. Keep going through your color order until all the flowers are strung.

   Tip

   Tape the cord down to your table with a piece of masking tape. It stops the cord from moving around while you tie, which makes the knots much less annoying, and you can pull the cord through the previous knot to tie each triple knot so it lands in the right spot.

   

Hang them up

Leave a little extra cord at the end and tie it into a small loop with a knot. Slip the loop over a nail or a small hook, or tape it up with masking tape. The garlands are all tissue paper, so they're very light.