Flowers make a great gift!

Do you have kids, are around kids, or work with kids? I know I am. I'm an aunt of 7 & I work with kids from time to time.

If there's one thing I learned from my child care job, it's good to plan ahead. It keeps things moving, organized, & more fun. Here, I'm going to share ideas & such for various events. Whether it be arts & crafts, parties, or holidays.

One thing that really seems to work are arts & crafts. Kids seem to really love it, & it can be fun for adults as well. Who doesn't like to get creative?! I recently learned how to make paper flowers. It might sound hard, but it's actually really easy.

Materials needed:
1. Pipe Cleaners.
2. Round tissue paper. Or you can take square tissue paper & cut it into a circle.

Places to buy material:
Any stores that sells craft materials could do. A.C. Moore, Michaels, JoAnn Fabrics, even the dollar store could possibly have the materials needed!

Directions:
1. Pick 2 or more pieces of tissue paper. You can put a few on there, but it's better to have atleast 2.
2. Fold the very tip of the pipe cleaner in. Don't fold a big part of it, just the tip. This will not only look like the middle of the flower, but it will stop the tissue paper from coming off.
3. Take the tissue paper, & gently poke a hole through the middle of it using the other end of the pipe cleaner.
4. Move the tissue paper up to the top of the pipe cleaner where you folded the pipe cleaner.
5. Repeat steps 3 & 4 for the rest of the tissue paper.
6. Once all the tissue paper is on the pipe cleaner & at the top, gently crumple them a little bit. This can make them look more like petals.
7. And wa-la! You should have paper flowers! Make as many as you want!

Remember, do steps 3 through 6 gently, because the tissue paper can rip if you're too rough.

And there you have it, paper flowers for any little one [or big one] to make for decorations, themselves, or the ones they love!