Easy Tassel Flowers: DIY Dandelion Bouquet

This tutorial for easy tassel flowers teaches you how to make dandelions out of yarn tassels with a pipe cleaner stem. It's the perfect craft for Mother's Day, a Girl Scouts meeting , or a birthday party!

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DIY Flower Bouquets

Did you pick bouquets of “flowers” (dandelions) for your mother or teacher when you were a child?

Dandelions are widely considered weeds, but there is something so classically all-American about a Mason jar full of fresh picked dandelions. I love it when my kids bring me a bouquet!

You may not want dandelions growing in your yard, but these pretty yellow and green tassel flowers are the perfect gift for Mother's Day, birthdays, and rustic weddings. (You can even make them into Easy Tassel Flower Crowns.)

Making Yarn Flowers with a Fork

I love making crafts with supplies I already own and didn't want to buy a special tassel maker for this project. After a little brainstorming I realized that a fork is the perfect tool for this craft.

Yup, a fork!

It's easy to hold while wrapping the yarn and the tines make tying the tassel easy!

*Tip: To make flowers of different sizes use different sized forks (i.e. a table fork, a serving fork, etc.).

Selecting Your Yarn

My adorable yarn dandelions are made from cheap, synthetic yarn and pipe cleaners. (You can also make the make the flowers out of wool or cotton yarn.)

If your yarn is thicker you may need to wrap it a few less time, if it's thinner wrap a little more to make the dandelions fluffy!

*Tip: Change the look of the flowers by using different colors and types of yarn and pipe cleaners.

How to Make Easy Tassel Flowers

Don't be intimidated! Tassels may look complicated, but they are actually quite easy to make.

After a bit of practice the yarn flowers only take a few minutes. Soon you will be have fields and fields of these iconic summer flowers!

Materials

• yellow yarn
• green yarn
• green pipe cleaners
• fabric glue or hot glue gun
• scissors
• serving fork, 1-1.5 inches wide

Directions

Tassels are easy to make with a fork, but it may take a little practice to get the hang of the technique. Don't get discouraged, you’ll soon be a tassel making pro!

1. Gather materials.
2. Place a pipe cleaner along one side of your fork.
3. Wrap the fork and pipe cleaner with yellow yarn. Be careful to keep the area of wrapped yarn about 1 inch wide.
4. Wrap the yarn 25-30 times around the fork.
5. Twist the pipe cleaner together around the end of the yarn. Wrap it 3 times down the stem and then back up toward the flower ( you are forming the base of the stem).
6. Cut a 4-inch piece of green yarn and tie it around the base of the flower (between the last tine of the fork). Remove the tassel from the fork.
7. Knot the green yarn tightly two (2) times.
8. Trim the ends of the green yarn close to the knot.
9. Cut a 8-inch piece of green yarn. Add a dot of glue near the green knot and attach the green yarn. Wrap the flower from the green knot down to the stem, wrapping the yarn close together so no yellow yarn shows.
10. Wrap the green yarn until it is about 1/4 inch from the end, add a dot of glue to the flower base and secure the end of the yarn.
11. Cut the loops of the yellow yarn with scissors.
12. Use a fork or metal tool to fray the yarn slightly.
13. Fluff the top of your flower and trim any stray threads.
14. Enjoy your dandelion!

Tip: Make a few dandelions with white yarn to look like dandelions that have gone to seed. (Wrap the white yarn 35-40 times in step 3 to make them extra fluffy.)

I hope you try making tassel flowers. Your mom might even appreciate a bouquet to remind her of your childhood!

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