fairy flower surprise gift (giant tissue paper flower)

These make a nifty way to present a tiny gift to someone special, whatever the occasion.  Extra large fairy flowers are an especially nice way to package costume jewelry for kids' birthdays; this one, for example, concealed a comically large metallic ring with a huge purple plastic gemstone for a girl who loves fairies.

I think these flowers make a nice gift in themselves, as well, or pretty awesome party favors. They're also versatile, easy to make, and use materials that are reasonably easy to find.

Start with six squares of tissue paper. To make the largest flower possible, use full-sized sheets of tissue with an end cut off to make a square. For smaller flowers, use smaller squares of paper. I used two sheets each of green, pink, and yellow, but you can alter the colors to match your theme.

Stack them up, and make one-inch wide accordion folds from one end of the stack to the other.

Use scissors to round the ends of the folded stack, then use a green pipe cleaner (aka chenille stem) to cinch the stack at the middle.

Carefully separate the layers of paper, gently pulling and shaping them up and towards the center to look like petals and leaves.

Use a length of 20 gauge steel wire to make a long stem, and use it to follow the green pipe cleaner around the center of the flower.

At the flower's base, twist the pipe cleaner and stem wire together, then wrap the entire stem with patterned washi tape or masking tape. The stem should be sturdy enough to hold the flower upright.

The center will be where you place the bundled present! Wrap your gift in layers of tissue paper and twist the top. Use two short lengths of pink chenille stems to twist around the top of the bundle, curling the ends.

Apply a rolled piece of the patterned masking tape or a piece of double-sided tape to the bottom of the bundle. (Hint: If you're planning on traveling very far or the jewelry is very expensive, I'd attach the bundle with hot glue instead of tape.)
 

Insert the bundle into the flower's center and press hard to secure it in place. Make sure to include a line in an attached card to let the recipient of the gift know to check the center of the flower for a hidden surprise!

If you plan to make a bunch of these as party favors, you can cut up to a dozen sheets of paper into squares at once to save time, and then build the flowers assembly-line style.

Thanks for reading!