Back in June when I had four small girls fluttering about my home, I realized that I also had four pairs of fairy wings. I will leave it to your imagination as to how a home of one girl acquired four pairs of glittery, sparkling, bejeweled wings.

With the perfect ratio of girls to wings, I instantly knew that a fairy tea party was in order. I pulled out decorations from Ava’s party that hadn’t fully made their way into storage, put on a pot of tea, and invited one of Ava’s friends to add her charm to the mix.

But something was missing.

See this fairy.

She has iridescent wings with polka-dots. She has a violet twirling dress. She even has pink dots on her cheeks. But something is not quite right.

Do you see what is missing other than the eyes hidden by her lashes?

Flowers, people, flowers. A proper fairy must have flowers.

I write these because in the months that have transpired since I posted this,

I have had scores of people find their way to Badgers on the Loose by googling: “fairy party,” “decorations for a fairy party,” “fairy party games,” and so on. And since so many nice people have come this way, I feel a bit obligated to share a flower fairy craft for their potential fairy princess party. And while I don’t see myself as an expert on all things fairy-wise, I do live with a girl who believes that fairies cause the snarls in her hair, hunts for fairies in our backyard, and is sure that there is a fairy house in the tree by our pond. And did I mention that she has four pairs of wings? Really, I sort of find this appalling. I keep mentioning it as way of penance.

As I was saying, fairies generally speaking are adorned in some array of flowers. And since fresh flowers were in short supply this afternoon (and by short, I mean non-existent), I pulled out some tissue paper, piper cleaner and craft scissors.

While I set about to make their lunch, the little fairies busied themselves by making paper flowers.

How does one make a paper flower? Oh, these little sprites are more than eager to tell you.

It’s basically a study in shapes.

First cut tissue paper into 4″ by 4″ squares. Stack five of those squares together and fold it half to make a rectangle.

Then fold the rectangle in half to make a square.

Now comes the tricky part, tricky if you are four that is. Holding the folded corner in one hand, angle it up to make a diamond. Take a pair of decorative scissors and cut a half moon from the left corner to the right corner. It should look like an ice cream cone. When you open it up, it should be a circle.

Take a bit of pipe cleaner and wind one end around your thumb to make a small loop. Pinch the loop together.

Open up the tissue paper and push the pointed end of the pipe cleaner through the center of the stack. Pull the pipe cleaner through until the bent end meets the tissue paper. Your flower is almost done.

With one hand make an “O” with your thumb and your index finger. Pull the stem of the flower through the “O” so that the petals of the flower scrunch together. Fan the tissue paper out and use the stem to attach the flower to a fairy’s hair.

Presto: a flower fairy!

With freshly made flowers in their hair the girls sampled cucumber sandwiches and strawberries and sipped apple tea.

They were delighted to find a glittery treat for their hard work.

Something tells me that she likes it.

Paper flowers are now yours for the making. So is ice cream with sprinkles. Do tell if you try them, but wipe your mouth first.