Wedding Blog

After seeing this post on Engageology I knew that tissue paper pomanders would make a great addition to our ceremony decor. We aren’t doing too much decorating since we’re hoping to be outside, but in case it rains, these would be able to decorate an indoor ceremony, as well.

The first step? Figure out what tissue paper you want to use. It’s best to do this by getting samples BEFORE you purchase, or finding your tissue paper in person. Don’t trust your computer or the internet to show you how colors look in real life. I originally searched for dark purple, then gave up and looked for light purple, then gave up on that and randomly found ivory tissue paper at the Container Store.

Assemble your tools. I used:

• 22 gauge floral wire (stiff, sturdy but pliable $4.00)
• Tissue paper (ivory, from the Container Store: 3 packs $3.50 each)
• Scissors
• Wire cutters (thanks dad!)
• 5 inch Styrofoam balls (about $4 but use those 40-50% coupons to save $$)
• Hot glue (and glue gun)
• Tny box for the 1,000,000,000+ paper pieces you’ll be cutting out

Next, fold one million flowers. No… for reals, one million. I’m making 10 pomanders, and at 20-some flowers per ball that will be A LOT flowers. Perhaps not a million, but it feels close.

MOH MaryBeth and I realized that folding the flowers assembly line style works best, so if you have unlimited volunteers, the best roles would be “paper cutter”, “flower folder”, “stem twister”, “edge cutter”, “flower fluffer” and “flower stuffer”.

Paper cutter? Cut your paper into 10×5 inch rectangles.

Flower folder? Fold lengthwise (so you make more folds and the flower isn’t super wide). Accordion fold it about 3/4 inch.

Stem twister? grab your wire cutters, cut off a piece of wire, then attach it to the flower. Hook it over, then twist the ends to make a tight seal. I like to cut the ends off to give it a nice sharp point and to make the “stem” shorter.

Flower cutter? Cut the ends of the paper into rounded but not-too-pointy tops. I made mine pointy at first and it just didn’t look as nice (IMO).

Flower fluffer? Fluff that flower. I prefer to start with pulling up the top layer and working my way around both sides in a circle.

Flower Stuffer? Add a dab if glue where the “flower” meets the “stem”. Stick in to ball… but don’t burn yourself. Continue sticking flowers into the ball, not too far apart, but also not too close, as you’ll squish them together too much. It helps if you can sift through the already attached flowers on the ball so when you’re working on the opposite sides, your fingers are pressing the ball to the new flower and not smushing the flowers.

After several hours of manual labor…y ou’ll have these. I haven’t timed myself on making one yet since I usually chillax and zone out while creating them.

*Credit where credit is due: I used this tutorial and barely altered it.