A Tissue Pouf Leads to Inspiration

Ivy and her Tissue Flower Pouf

little girl, repurposed gift tissue, twist tie

38/100 in 100 days creative challenge

The other day, I came home from work and told my daughter I'd make her a pouf for her room.

I grabbed some left over tissue from a gift of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It was a pretty color and I didn't want to waste it. I folded it up like I used to when I was a little kid making kleenex bouquets. And voila. There was my pouf. Well half a pouf. I realized half way through that I needed eight sheets, not four. But it didn't matter. Little girl was delighted and made me pin it up in her room right away. Which is why the photo lacks natural light.

And then her brother asked for his own pouf. Uh oh. I did not have enough tissue for this. All I had was two sheets of orange, what could I do?

And then the brain wheels started rotating. Two sheets. Floral poufs are really a little girly, aren't they? What could I make that would be good for a boy? He likes bugs. Orange tissue. A BUTTERFLY!

I had never made a butterfly nor had I seen it done on the internet. No tutorials. No tissue paper butterflies sold on etsy for weddings. I never did it in grade school for Spring bulletin board displays, but none of that signified.

I thought about the process of the pouf. I looked at the supplies I had available, I said to myself... Why not give it a try? Worst comes to worst and I'll waste a few minutes and some scrap wrapping paper.

Sneak Peak

Tissue Butterfly

39/100 in 100 days creative challenge

I'm just throwing a little tease of my butterfly in here, for two reasons. First, I want to point out to you that creating the pouf, while it made my kid happy, was not really important in itself. It wasn't a challenge for me. I didn't make anything new. I wasn't saying anything with it. I wasn't exploring anything or expanding any understanding. It was just a simple pretty crafty thing. And that was just fine in itself. However, even more important in the creative process was what happened next, the simple pouf led to a desire for something new and a dilemma. The dilemma led me to find a creative solution. The creative solution opened up a whole world of possibilities.

You should never write off a creative project as not challenging enough or too crafty or too simple. All of life, looked at creatively, can be a spring board for new adventures.

The second reason I am teasing with the small butterfly detail, is because I want to do a tutorial to show you how I made this. I'm so pleased with myself for figuring it out I want to share. But I have to make another and photo the process.

To be continued.