Something Extraordinary Tissue Paper Dandelion

The cover of Something Extraordinary contains a wish. A boy blowing on a dandelion, as you do. The first page tells us what the wish is: to fly. In fact, everything the boy wishes for is extraordinary like that. But as the book goes on, the boy learns that extraordinary stuff is in the everyday too. Wish granted!

Instructions:

1. Stack 8-10 sheets of tissue paper and cut it into a 4 x 3” rectangle.

2. Starting at one short end, accordion-fold the rectangle so it ends up as one thick strip.

3. Cut a piece of floral wire and wrap it around the very middle of the strip. Twist the ends up together (and be careful of those sharp ends!).

4. Cut into the paper folds on each end of the strip. This will create many tiny lengths of paper that can be frayed out in a sphere.

5. Fan out all the strips in a circle, creating a pom pom/dandelion shape. This may take a few minutes and a good deal of fraying with your fingers to separate the delicate sheets.

6. With the putty, attach the wire center of the dandelion to the top of a lollipop stick (or straw or paper stem).

7. Finish fraying out and shaping your paper dandelion.

Voila!