tissue paper collage DIY

Tissue paper is one of those materials with magic qualities. It can be voluminous or delicately transparent, soft and crinkly or hard edged and with a rainbow palette of colors, the possibilities seem to be endless. When you were a kid in elementary school, there were a lot of classroom projects using this humble material. The two that instantly come to mind are faux stained glass artwork and bulletin board murals of little glued tuffs.

Last year, when we were designing some new products, I started to experiment with the idea of tissue paper layers and the surprise colors that happen when colors overlap. We just fell in love with the results. That experiment turned into an alphabet of big, colorful letters that eventually made there way to journal covers, cards and mugs. You can see some of the examples here:

Tissue paper collage is an easy and inexpensive project that you can do to create fun artwork for your walls. We did just that for this fun DIY video:

Here are the step-by-step written instructions for what is shown in the video:

Supplies needed:

Base paper (white poster board, heavy cardstock, or illustration board are good), various colors of tissue paper (we used 3), scissors, mod podge, and a brush for glue

{ Big Hope }

1) Cut pieces of tissue paper into letter forms. you’ll have to experiment with sizes and shapes (that’s the fun part!)

2) Prearrange tissue paper letters onto the base paper

3) Starting with the first letter, move tissue paper out of the way so that you can apply glue

4) Using a brush, apply a thin layer of glue to the base paper in the area of the first tissue paper letter

5) Lay down the first tissue paper piece

6) Brush glue over the entire piece of tissue paper to smooth down

7) Lay down the next tissue piece of the letter, and brush with glue

8) Repeat until you letter is complete

9) Move on to the next letter, repeat steps 3-8

10) Brush a thin layer of glue over the entire piece of base paper to seal your artwork.

11) Once it is fully dry…Frame and enjoy!

We hope you enjoy this project and get inspired to have fun with tissue paper. From experience, I can say that it is pretty addicting. Here is a picture of an amazing tissue paper tray project from Cathy Callahan’s Vintage Craft Workshop that you might want to check out:

Big word journals and thank you cards, pictured in post, by Rock Scissor Paper

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Enjoy and have fun!

-Susie