10 of Our Most Beautiful Tissue and Crepe Paper Crafts

Tissue Paper Pom-Poms and Luminarias

Hosting a brunch, a baby shower, or a holiday feast? These pom-poms and luminarias in bright hues are worthy of cheering about. The simple project requires only tissue paper, 24-gauge floral wire, and scissors.

Crepe Paper Carrots

Create a craft that looks good enough to eat. These crepe paper carrots are simple enough to create that even young kids can make them. Loosely wrap orange streamer to form carrot shape, making it thicker at top. Tuck in gifts as you work. Press end of paper down into top. Fold green crepe paper in half across its grain. Download leaf template, and trace onto folded paper. Cut out; bunch up. Tuck leaves into carrot top; secure with dab of hot glue.

Shop Now: Crepe Paper Party Streamers, $1.49, michaels.com. Manelord Glue Gun, $17, amazon.com. Fiskars Softgrip Micro-Tip Craft Scissors, $9, joann.com.

Crepe Paper Birds

Make these wildlife creations look authentic by first making the head and body: Use a glue gun to affix a small polystyrene ball to the rounded end of a larger polystyrene egg (for each bird, vary placement slightly to create different body postures); let dry. Cut a seven-inch square of colored crepe paper. Lay the body near the bottom edge. Beginning at the breast, wrap the body, stretching the paper to fit the contours as you go. Brush with tacky glue. Taper back end to create tail. Twist front end to create a beak; brush with glue. Trim with scissors while paper is wet; let dry. Wrap beak in brown floral tape; trim. For eyes, press in map tacks. Make wings: Tear strips of crepe paper in desired hues. Overlap strips to create a color gradient, and glue. Cut out two rectangles; glue to each side of the bird. Taper ends to form wing shapes. For the breast, cut a paper oval in a contrasting color, and glue.

Shop Now: Smoothfoam Balls Multipack, $4.19, michaels.com. ccBetter Hot Glue Gun, $11, amazon.com. Creativity Street Crepe Paper, $16.64, target.com.

Crepe Paper Tulip

Who said making flowers had to be difficult? This tulip craft provides a template to get you started and requires just six petals, a fringe stamen, and two elongated leaves to achieve the effortless floral look.

Splattered Tissue Paper Flowers

Let your creative side run wild with this tissue paper project. You can add colors of your choice to make your splatter tissue paper flowers pop. Following package instructions, assemble a few tissue paper flowers from both packages. Fill your spray bottle with water, and add satin paint as needed; shake well. Spray your assembled tissue flowers with one color at a time. If the pump on the bottle sprays while held halfway down, and not lifted back fully to the top, it will release larger drops. Don't forget to spray the tips of some layers underneath for added depth.

Shop Now: Martha Stewart Crafts Tissue Flower Pom-Pom Kit, $7, amazon.com. Martha Stewart Family Friendly Multi-Surface Satin Acrylic Craft Paint, $2.49, michaels.com. Mon Image 2 oz. Mist Spray Bottle, $1.78, walmart.com.

Tissue Paper Boa

Tissue paper boas aren't just fitting for the holidays. This fun addition to your attire can add style to any party hosted in your home. Start by cutting five-inch strips of red tissue paper (approximately 24 inches long) using a ruler and craft knife. Cut tissue paper into fringe using scissors (one-half inches wide and two inches long) along both edges of the strips. Draw a bead of glue down the center of one layer of fringed tissue with the ballpoint glue pen. Do not glue all the way to the end, leave a one inch space before the end. Place a second layer on top. Continue to glue and layer with three more pieces, leaving the one inch unglued end. Repeat this process with another set of tissue paper. This adds length to your boa. Connect the two sets of fringed tissue by gluing the ends (that were left unglued), and by alternating the layers from each set.

Shop Now: Martha Stewart Clear Glue, $7, michaels.com. Red Tissue Paper, $5.80, walmart.com. Martha Stewart Swivel Cutting Knife, $13, michaels.com.

Crepe Paper Carnation

This carnation will look pretty enough to decorate for any event. Use three strips of petals (get the template below), each 12 inches. Tightly pleat bottom edge of one strip, then wrap it firmly around itself, keeping bottom edge aligned. Secure with floral tape. Repeat with other strips. Tape bases of rolled strips to the end of a plain floral wire and to one another, wrapping tape down stem. Pull petals outward to create a dome.

Shop Now: Ashland Floral Tape, $2.59, michaels.com. Lia Griffith Extra Fine Crepe Paper Folds Rolls, $13, amazon.com.

Crepe Paper Lotus Blossoms

These handmade paper creations are easy to make and will look like fresh flowers in full bloom. Begin by cutting two four-inch squares of yellow tissue paper. Stack squares, and fold in half. Using fringe scissors, cut fringe along the open side, leaving fold intact. Slide an eight-inch length of wire inside fold. Scrunch tissue paper along wire, creating a small pom-pom, the "stamen." Fold wire in half, and twist ends together to make a "stem." Cut pink floral crepe paper into a wide rectangle, about four by 12 inches, with the paper grain running vertically. Using regular scissors, cut "petals": Cut into one long side at three-fourths inch intervals, leaving a one-inch margin along opposite side. Without stretching crepe paper, cut rounded points at the end of each petal. Coil pink rectangle, petals up, around yellow stamen, wrapping it snugly but not so tight that you stretch the paper. (Try to stagger the petals so they don't align as you wrap) Secure the pink coil with rubber band. Wrap the base of coil with floral tape, covering rubber band, then wind around wire stem. Starting with the outside petals, shape each by gently stretching and curving the crepe paper. Then bend the petals back to open the blossom. Fluff yellow stamen with your fingertips. For the leaf, cut a five-inch square of green crepe paper, with the paper grain running vertically. Pinch the bottom edge, loosely pleating it, to make a fan shape; secure with floral tape to make a small stem. Using regular scissors, trim edge to make a rounded leaf. With your fingers, gently shape the leaf into a cup. Set it inside a round wooden box alongside the lotus blossom, or attach the leaf and blossom stems using floral tape.

Shop Now: Fringe Scissors by Recollections, $15, michaels.com. Tissue Paper, 99¢, partycity.com. Ashland Floral Tape, $2.59, michaels.com.

Crepe Paper Cookie Gifting

Colorful crepe paper turns humble paper-towel tubes into cute containers for gifting cookies. Pack small treats in parchment first to keep them fresh, then slide them into a tube. Wrap it with paper, and seal each end with a twist.

Shop Now: Paper Mart Premium Colored Crepe Paper, $1.28 for 8.5 ft., papermart.com.

Basic Crepe Paper Cap

Create this classic craft with ease by cutting a strip of crepe paper one-and-a-half inches longer than the circumference of the wearer's head and double the height you want the cap to be (our cap is 10 inches tall, so we measured the crepe to 20 inches high). The grain of the crepe should run along the height of the cap. Fold crepe in half lengthwise; the folded edge will wrap around the wearer's head, forming the bottom of the cap. Sew ends together by hand or on the sewing machine, forming a vertical seam to be worn at the back of the head. Trim seam allowance. Gather the top edge of the cap, either by hand or with a hand-basting stitch that you then pull to gather. Secure the gathered top by binding it with several wraps of floral tape, so it resembles a stem.

Shop Now: Creativity Street Crepe Paper, $18, michaels.com.