DIY Mexican Paper Flowers: Brighten Up Your Party Decor.

Today I will show you how to make Mexican Paper Flowers with tissue paper and crepe paper for your Cinco de Mayo or Birthday party decorations.

The bright and vibrant colors of Mexican crepe paper flowers have made them a popular and beloved art form worldwide, making them one of the best craft projects for your Cinco de Mayo or Mexican theme party.

In this article, we will guide you through making your own tissue paper flowers, a beautiful and easy craft anyone can enjoy regardless of skill level.

So grab your materials, and let’s begin this exciting journey into the colorful world of Mexican paper flowers!

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Mexican Tissue Paper Flowers. The History Behind the Tradition.

Mexican paper flowers have been around since the prehispanic age. Historians found that Aztecs used the tree barks and turned them into paper to make banners, flags, flowers, and other decorations for their celebrations.

With the arrival of Asian paper to México, thanks to the Spanish conquest, artisans started to make colorful paper flowers.

They started making paper flowers during winter to replace living flowers that didn’t bloom on colder days.

These Mexican flowers made with tissue or crepe paper are great for decorating parties, festivals, tombstones, and altars in celebrations. The fiesta flowers are great for events like the Day of the Death, Mexican Independence Day, or Cinco de Mayo, which are greatly celebrated between México and many places in the United States.

What Colors to Use in Mexican Tissue Paper Flowers.

México is a rich country filled with beautiful textures and bright colors. That is why you should choose bright colors only for your Mexican Paper Flowers DIY Tutorial.

There are a lot of Mexican Color combinations you can use for your paper flower decorations, and they vary depending on the celebration. For example, colors like sky blue, soft pink, and white are very popular for religious events. On the other hand, for celebrations like Cinco de Mayo or the Day of the Death, colors like pink, blue, orange, and purple are the best choice.

If you need more color combinations, go to our Cinco de Mayo Color Palletes for Decoration post. Here you will find several color combinations inspired by Mexican culture and tips to use them at your parties.

Another excellent tip for your Mexican tissue flowers is to use two or more colors in each one of them. This is a great way to get creative and use those color palettes I mentioned above. I will teach you how to do this in the second part of this tutorial, so keep reading until the end.

Mexican Paper Flowers Decoration Ideas.

You can use these Mexican paper flowers in your Mexican theme decorations in many ways.

I once did a Mexican-theme bachelorette party for one of my friends and made all sorts of Cinco de Mayo crafts for it. One of the crafts I did most was these flowers, and I used them in various ways as decor.

Here are some of them.

Center Pieces.

If you are having a party with sitting arrangements, consider making your centerpieces with these colorful flowers. You could use small vases or pots and just place them inside. Make each vase/pot on the table a different color, and you can even paint the table number on them.

Flower “Floating” Curtain.

I made this for the shower. This creates an excellent backdrop for pictures!! And I am not going to lie. It took a lot of effort and cramped hands. But look how gorgeous it looks. To make a floating curtain with Mexican flowers like this one, make a bunch of different sizes of Mexican paper flowers (mini and small only!), then hang them in long strings of transparent thread. The thread will be tied to a curtain rack. 

Headbands, Bracelets, and Other Accessories.

Who wouldn’t love having a head full of flowers?? Mexican flower headbands are a great party accessory and will look amazing in pictures. You can also make more discreet accessories for your other guests, like bracelets or pins. This will be the perfect prop for your Cinco de Mayo Colors Party.

Materials.

• Crepe or Tissue Paper
• Pipe Cleaners
• Paper scissors
• Embellishments (Optional)

You can use tissue paper or crepe paper to make these beautiful paper flowers. 

Crepe paper is much more sturdy than tissue paper. This is important because you will manipulate the flower “petals” a lot with your hands, and tissue paper is more prompt to break or tear.

Nevertheless, if you only have tissue paper to work with, go ahead and use that. I also made Mexican paper flowers with this material, which turned out great. I advise you to be very careful in the process.

You will also need pipe cleaners of your favorite color for the steam of the flower. This will help us hold the petals and make a cute long steam. 

If you are following a large Mexican paper flowers DIY, then use a thicker wire and cover it with more tissue paper so that it can hold the weight.

Mexican Paper Flowers DIY Tutorial.

1. Cut several rectangular sheets.

Cut your rectangles with the width and length depending on how large you want your flowers.

As general measurement, I used for these medium size flowers was 3” by 8”. And I am using between 4 and 5 layers in each flower.

The thing you have to consider is that the wider your rectangle is, the bigger the flower is going to be. On the same note, the larger the rectangle, the fuller the flower will look. This last one also depends on the number of layers you use on each flower.

2. Fold like an accordion.

Start folding the rectangle from the shorter end about ½” or ¾” and crease the fold. Flip the layers and fold them to the other side. Fold again and crease the other fold.

Keep going like this, respecting the width of the fold so each fold has the same width.

Grab it from the center.

3. Make a notch in the centers.

Fold the entire piece in half and make a small triangle notch on each side right at the middle of it.

Try not to cut too close to the center, or your flower petals will break on the next step.

4. Attach the steam.

Use the end of a pipe cleaner and fold the tip making a hook shape. 

Attach it using the notch you made and twist it at the bottom of the piece to secure the steam in place.

In this step, you can additionally add leaves made with the same crepe paper. 

You can also make the shape of the leaves with the pipe cleaner and twist them in place.

Once the steam is in its place, you can make the petals shape by cutting the paper’s ends in a semi-circle or a pointy triangle.

This step is unnecessary, but it makes the flowers look much better, so I strongly recommend it!

5. Separate the layers.

Open half of the accordion and start separating the layers of the paper from each other VERY GENTLY. 

Spread the “petals” out, and your beautiful Mexican paper flower will be ready to decorate your space!

Two Color Tissue Paper Flowers.

You can make these beautiful flowers in more than one color. In fact, in México, two or more color flowers are more common than using a single color.

And the great thing is that adding more colors is as easy as adding different layers before you fold your rectangles. 

Put the colors you want at the center of your flower on the very top of the layers. This way, when you start separating and spreading the petals, you will have that color in the center.

And that’s it!! Please let me know what you think about this tutorial in the comment section below. How are you using your flowers? Where are you going to put them?

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