In Search Of. . . A Good DIY: Tissue Paper Flowers

In Search Of. . . A Good DIY: Tissue Paper Flowers

All right, so after I finished Jane Eyre, I promised myself I would take a brain break from reading and work on writing. 400 words a day or something ridiculous like that.

To kick off my thing writing extravaganza... I will give you a how-to. In this case, how to make tissue paper flowers. It's not overly difficult thankfully which is probably why I can actually do this, but they really make a present pop, like this one.

  

First, you have to get all your junk together.

You will need:

• ·         Tissue Paper
• ·         A ruler (I used measuring tape and a triangle because I have no ruler and can't cut strait lines.)
• ·         Scissors
• ·         A stick of some kind (I have my mom's old panda chopstick.)
• ·         Super glue
• ·         Either ribbon or a pipe cleaner. (Basically something to wrap around the center)

  

All right so take the tissue paper and measure out ten inch squares for a large flower. If you're making a poppy, like I am you will need six squares of paper. As far as colors, you can get actually flower colors, or use the paper that matches whatever you're decorating like I did.

 Once you've got your square organize them how you want the flower to fold. The top layer will fold into the center and the each layer after that. Here you can see I put the decorative part for the center.

Ok, so then you will need to accordion fold the paper. For the poppy you do bigger folds. If you’re doing a smaller flower like a dahlia, do a smaller fold. 

 Once you’ve got your paper folded, take your ribbon/pipe cleaner and tie it around the center, but not tightly. Just enough to hold it together.

 You need to cut the edges now. Again flower depends on shape. Poppies have round edges so I used the ribbon bobbin to make my lines neater. I suck at free handing.

Now pull the string a little tighter if you want, but not too tight or you’ll have a big hole in the center of your flower. Then take one end and spread the accordion out so that it makes a fan shape.

Pull the sheets apart towards the center very carefully—and I mean carefully because this stuff rips like—well tissue paper. After, do the other side until you have a flower shape. You can fluff all you like. I also glued the last sheets together at the edge to make it stay better.

And your flower is done. 

For the stick, I used a chop stick so the flower would stand on its own. To decorate it I took a sheet of paper cut a long strip, folded it in half, and piñata cut the edges. I wrapped it around the stick, gluing it in place at both ends.

 After you’re done decorating your stick find a crevice in the bottom of your flower and glue it there.

And finito! All done. 


Here are my dahlia's and the main reason you shouldn't tie your ribbon/pipe cleaner too tight. You'll have to put random stuff in the middle, but it will still look good though.

<b><a href="http://www.rustandsunshine.com/2012/05/tissue-paper-flowers.html/">Original Tutorial Here as well </a></b>

As Always, 

In Search Of. . . Observations: Once Upon A Time Romance

In Search Of. . . Observations: Once Upon A Time romance.

 

The other day a guy told me it seemed like I lived in "Once Upon A Time", but he wasn't Prince Charming and I wasn't Cinderella. (Or the princess of my choice because Cinderella gets to my nerves.)

 

And that made me think.

 

Why can't I be?

 

Now, before you all think I'm a hopeless romantic, let me correct you. I'm not. I know full well those characters have predetermined plot points and developments in the show written by excellent writers. What I see though is something I want to emulate.

 

When I see Snow White and Prince Charming, they always encourage each other to do the right thing. It may not be the best thing, but they always try to do what they would consider good.

 

They're selfless too. When one is down and out, the other will give anything to get him back up. Seriously, how many times do they go to Rumplestiltskin to make deals and give sometimes something they treasured for the others safety?

During the curse, the worst torment was they couldn't be together, but still Snow White brings him flowers every day, not knowing who he is.

Why shouldn't a couple be like that?

I think they should.

 

I wouldn't want to date someone who would encourage me to lie, or do anything negative or wrong. I would want someone to encourage me in God. For those of you who don't have a personal relationship with God, someone to encourage you to do the right thing.

Snow White and Charming aren't the only ones who have relationship qualities I would want.

Even Regina, who loved Daniel enough to run away from luxury to be with him, has love qualities I would want.

 

Yes, that didn't work out, but that's more of a plot point that the writer's added in. My point though is that she would run away with someone she loved. That love meant more to her than all of her wealth.

Or how about Belle and Rumpelstiltskin? They never give up on each other. Even when their bad--because each has had his turn--they don't give up on their love. Bae aside, Belle means more to Rumple than any other person. Also, her kiss is the only one that can break the curse. When he kissed Cora, he stayed the Dark One, but not when he kissed Belle.

 

These are just a few examples of true love in the story, and there are flipside examples of fake love in the story too, but I don't want those. I just want to try to emulate the good qualities.

 

Who wouldn't?

 

I mean, to me these all represent qualities of love that I would want. And so, why wouldn't I want to be in a Once Upon A Time love story? If it means always encouraging in the right, being uncomfortable, but together; and never giving up.

So yeah, maybe it's a little far-fetched and maybe my ideas are a little. . . old-fashioned, but that's all right. If people think that they'd rather live in a confused New Girl episode then let them. I'd rather live in Once Upon A Time, and have a straight forward lasting love like the characters in Once Upon A Time.

 

As Always,

In Search of . . . Written Words: Book update

In Search of. . . Written Words
Time for a book update. I hadn't imagined reading this fast, but I have no life.

1. Harry potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, J.K. Rowling. Pretty much the movie exactly. Although, I did have to read the entire series once I started. Stupid inability to finish things.

2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling. Nothing like the movie really. They changed several elements, but it's my favorite book and movie. Also, Rowling does a really good job of retelling events that happened in previous books with in the book you're reading.

3. "Little Match Girl", Hans Christian Andersen. Most of us know the story of the little girl trying to sell matches on Christmas night.

4. "Rapunzel", Brothers Grimm. If you want a detailed story of it, go here.

5. "The Raven", Edgar Allen Poe. This is my favorite poem. I love Poe's use of cadence and rhythm.

6. Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare. Tragedy of pre-teens in love, who do stupid things
because they are only 13 and 18.

7. A Room of One's Own, Virginia Woolf. More stream of conscious, and it makes me want to cry. I had no earthly clue what was going on in this stupid essay.


As Always,

In Search Of. . . Observations: Convictions

In Search Of. . .Observations: Convictions.

So anyone who knows me well, knows I don't feel guilt very often, occasionally I feel shame. I guess that's a horrible thing, but it's the truth. I actually felt guilty about something recently, and I mean actual guilt, which was new to me.

If any of you have been following along, I'm doing the Rory Gilmore reading challenge. It's been fun so far, but I took a detour recently to read a book series. After my fourth night of staying up late to finish the book, the guilt hit me.

I spend a boat load of time, valuable time, reading junk. I don't just read, either. I gorge myself on it until I'm stuffed to the brim. And then I go back and read some more. It's like being the fat person at a buffet.

Believe it or not, it's not what I'm doing that makes me feel guilty.

It's what I'm not doing.

In all my reading, I never read my Bible, and for once I feel guilty about it. I make all this time, and I mean I make it--don't sleep to make time--to read all this crap, but rarely my Bible

This isn't a trite, "I-heard-a-message-on-daily-devotions" type of guilt either. This is the personal realization type of guilt.
It's kind of like a bee stinger under the skin. You feel it deeply. What's more, I want to take the bee stinger out, not just get accustomed to the dull throb.

To say, I've read this or that won't mean anything in the end, even if I write the most beautiful, articulate articles about the books. My Bible on the other hand is the written word of God; it will mean something. It has the power to change. Unlike books that simply influence my ideology or connect with some nebulous emotion of mine, the Bible can really change my core in a way that nothing else can. While I may not regret reading other books--there's nothing wrong with that--I do regret not reading my Bible first.

For once, I truly want to read my Bible because I need too; not because I'm supposed to or I'm floundering in life. I'm fairly steady and I actually want to read my Bible. Now, I have to address the daunting task of where to start.

I know that this is vague and probably sounds like jibber-jabber, but it's honesty that I felt I should share. I spend so much time reading junk and ignoring things that really matter.

I need to change that.

As Always,