Valentine's Day Tissue Paper Heart

Did anyone see the cover of Martha Stewart Living this month?

This tissue paper heart got my attention.  I dove into my issue as soon as I had a free moment (which was probably at 2:00 a.m.)  Anyway, the instructions for recreating this were in the back of the magazine.  I read through them but decided I didn't really care for those instructions!  Sorry, Martha!  Martha wanted us to BUY her "Vintage Girl Poms" in large and medium and her "Vintage Girl Pink Pom Garland."  I thought I could probably handle cutting up some tissue paper of my own.  So I took a couple of her tips and recreated it on my own.  Here are my instructions:

I began with a large hanging heart shape that I had and I traced around it onto this big chunk of cardboard I had.  This is what it looked like after I cut it out.  Rough edges are okay because they will be covered by the tissue paper.

I then cut out squares of tissue paper in three different colors:  hot pink, light pink, and a patterned heart tissue paper.  The squares were about 6x6 inches.  I used layers of 5 sheets of tissue paper for each set of squares.

I then did an accordion fold (like a fan) on each set of squares and secured it with floral wire.  Then, using scissors, I rounded each end and threw away those scraps.

The next step was to gently pull each layer of tissue paper apart and fluff it up!

I did this over and over and over.  Aren't they sweet little flowers?

I then hot glued them all over my cardboard wreath. 

I took hot pink duct tape (yes!  Isn't that great?) and cut two strips of the tape in the same lengths than stuck them together leaving about 3 inches apart at the end.  I stuck one side on the back of the heart and the other on the front - tucked in under the tissue paper flowers.  I like how it turned out.  Pretty, super easy, and cost me nothing because I used all items I found around the house!