Fold that accordion in half and fold an inch and a half of a pipe cleaner around it. Then twist the pipe cleaner together to secure the flower to the stem.



Take two more pipe cleaners and attach them the same way, on each side, about 6-7 inches away from the center. The paper color at the top of the pipe cleaner will be your center color and the color at the base of the stem will be your bottom color. By placing the pipe cleaners in different directions you'll get opposite color combinations for your flowers. If you position your pipe cleaners all in the same direction your flowers will all be identical.



Cut the paper into three equal sized pieces (about 6-7 inches long), the pipe cleaners should be in the center of each of the pieces. Adjust your pipe cleaners if necessary.



Cut rounded edges on each end of your three flowers. You'll probably need to trim the outer edges a bit more than the inner edges to even them out. Catch paper trimmings in the bottom of the vase for decorative confetti.



This is a great stopping point, if you want to prep all your tissue paper up to this point in advance. After this point your tissue paper flowers will take up more space and be more fragile.