Tissue Paper Bowls

Ages ago I pinned this tutorial for tissue paper bowls to my preschool board on Pinterest.  It seemed like a very easy craft project for the kids, but I almost never have colored tissue paper on hand.  I typically only ever buy and use white tissue paper (plain and boring I know!).  However, I finally did get some really pretty floral tissue paper for a  last minute gift bag and had a few sheets leftover.  Now we could finally do this craft, and as it turns out it was also perfectly timed for a great gift for "Grammy's" birthday.

I love making and giving homemade gifts, and I think its even more special when they're made and given from the kids.  Here's how the bowls turned out, and I think they're the perfect size to use as a candy dish or for some other small items, maybe a great spot to always leave your keys.

It was very easy to get started.  I chose two small bowls, one for each of my kids to work on.  These bowls are about 4 1/2 inches wide at the mouth.  We got to work cutting up the tissue paper in small squares.  You're going to need a bunch!!  My oldest, 4, did most of the cutting under supervision with my scissors, but tissue paper is thin enough that safety scissors would probably have worked great too.

Then he sprayed the bowls with non stick spray to make it easy to remove them later.

Here he's wrapping them in plastic wrap, which is what you'll actually be "gluing" the tissue paper too.

And here's what the bowls looked like before we got started.  I tried to help him get the plastic wrap as smooth as possible.  It's tricky to do and once you start handling the bowl the plastic wrap moves around again anyway.

Next it was time to mix up the "glue".

He loves using this funky whisk whenever he's helping me out in the kitchen.  It's feet suction cup to the counter.

Stirring carefully.

With the tissue paper squares and the glue ready to go, it was time to start making the bowls.  The kids each got a paint brush and got to work painting on the glue and then placing the squares over the plastic wrap.

They looked so serious working on them!  Keep at it until you have several layers of tissue paper and a complete bowl shape.

Now comes that part that isn't fun for kids.  The waiting.  It takes several hours to dry.  Here's one of the bowls sitting on a rack drying on the counter.  I put a piece of wax paper underneath just in case any of the glue dripped off.  When it was completely dry, I trimmed up the edges with scissors to make them more even and coated it with a layer of mod podge.  Let dry completely again.  This sealed down any of the tissue paper edges that weren't completely glued down by the kids.

Once it's done, find a great way to use or display the bowl.  I must have had sugar on the brain because I immediately thought candy dish!!

Here's what the inside of the bowl looked like.  It would be nice if the whole bottom layer was facing up, but that's ok.  It just adds to the homemade look.  When we make these again, I might try to be more careful about this.  Of course if you used a solid color tissue paper, the direction it's facing shouldn't be an issue.

And since I knew we'd be giving them as a gift, I saved a piece of the same tissue paper to use in the gift bag!  I'm looking forward to doing this again, and I plan on keeping my eye out for some more fun patterned tissue paper as well!