Napkin Flowers

Time to add some Spring to my crafting projects and what better way then with some flowers, Napkin Flowers that is!  Did you ever make tissue paper flowers when you were in school?  Well, this is just like that except with various sizes of dinner napkins.  If you're not sure what I'm talking about then just follow my steps.


1) First, pick your napkins.  Any colors.  There are no rules.
If you want something more interesting, pick a larger napkin
of one color and a smaller napkin of another color. The more napkins the fluffier, and more ornate the flower.  So pick 2 or more
larger napkins and 1 smaller napkin.

2) Trim the outer edge of the smaller napkin, either with a

"fancy" edge scissor or just make a scallop edge with straight

  edge scissors. 

3) Open the napkins and layer them up.  You can also carefully
peel apart the ply's of the napkin (this is better for the really stiff
kind of dinner napkin, if they're very soft then peeling them apart
might make your layers too flimsy; in that case it's better to use more
napkins instead)  For smaller size flowers, don't open the napkins,
rather, cut them into 4 squares and layer those.

 4) Now starting at one end fold back and forth like a fan until completely folded up.  My pictures help clarify.




5) Cut a small semi-circle of one end of the fan;
repeat on the other end. This will give a nice petal
shape to your flower. You can also do an inverted
semi-circle to give a more "edgey" look. Just play
with it!

              6) Grab your "fan" approx. in the middle and tie a string, a piece of twine or a twist tie around the middle (string works best for smaller flowers, twist ties are excellent for large ones)with the knot being in the back and the two colors facing up.

7) Pull up the layers of the"fan".  Be gentle, you don't want to rip it.  And make sure you pull up all the way

into the center.

8) Continue to pull up on the layers and to fluff
them until your fan turns into a beautiful flower.
There is no right or wrong way to do this, it's all
personal preference and fun. 

So now you have a fantastic napkin flower that can be used anywhere!  Use huge ones as centerpieces, or wall art.  Talk about an inexpensive way of decorating a wedding shower, or tea party!  Various sizes can be used instead of a bows for gift wrapping.  Smaller ones can be used on scrap pages and cards.  Ideas are endless.  What would you use them for?

See my idea in action.  Check out Leia's Culinary Treasures to see how beautifuly she set her dinner table using napkin flowers.