Rolled Paper Rose Tutorial

Again, as promised... a tutorial! Purdy (but cheap!) paper flowers! YAY!!!

I made a bunch of these as a sample for event centerpieces. They are super quick to put together, and there is little to no learning curve involved. Thank. Goodness.

Thing is, this is NOT just my idea (although I did put my own twist to it.) Here's the original tutorial that I worked off of, compliments of Dozi. It's a lovely, basic tutorial. She glued hers to thin branches. So pretty! But, I was terrified that my flowers would pop off the branches in the middle of the event. So, I had to improvise and include the use of some floral stems. Earlier this year, LollyChops did a similar version but with more options (and TONS of explanation). She's a pretty hard core scrapbooker who has a LOT of extra embellishments to make them extra fancy. Hers really are like art. But, alas, I'm a simple girl. Mine are more modern and minimalist (is that code for "plain"?)
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First things first: SUPPLIES!

- cardstock (I like to use solid colors since both sides of the paper show in the end result.)

- 18 gauge cloth covered floral wire (They look much more substantial than just plain wire.)

- needle nose pliers

- scissors

- X-acto knife (Not pictured because I forgot. Oops.)

- glue gun (I forgot that, too. Cripes!)

Step 1. Cut out a 4 inch by 4 inch square of cardstock. You can go a little bigger (too big feels floppy in the end) or a little smaller (too small starts to feel like brain surgery or rocket science or something.) But, I find 4 x4 to be juuuuuust right. You can draw yourself a spiral as I did above. But, if you're feeling SUPER adventurous, cut it out without the lines. Perfection is NOT necessary here. In the photo, the lines are dark so you can see them. However, it's best to use a light touch so you can easily erase the marks. Otherwise, you'll probably notice them in the end result. Also make sure to draw a little "x" in the middle of the spiral.

After you cut it out, you'll get this:

Step 2. Now for that little "x". Use your X-acto knife to cut two slits in the shape of an "x". This is where you'll insert your stem.

Quick side note: I am absolutely in LOVE with my hot pink egonomic X-acto knife. *swoon* If I have tons of detailed stuff to cut out, it absolutely saves my sanity... and my hands. But, for the purpose of this project, any little blade will do. (And no, the X-acto knife people didn't pay me to say that. It's just THAT awesome.)

  

Step 3: Let's tackle that stem! Grab your needle nose pliers and one piece of your cloth-covered floral wire. Spiral the wire around your pliers like this: 

Then, bend the little spiral you just made to be at a 90 degree angle to the rest of the stem. Like this: 

Step 4: Wind up that rose! Start from the outside, tightly rolling your paper up...

...until you get to the end.

Hold it there for a minute or so. Then let go and admire the sweet little rose in your hand.

Step 5: Attach the stem. Slide the floral wire through that little "x" slit that you made in the center of the rose...

...so that it looks like this:

Step 6: Put a big ol' dab of hot glue were the stem meets the paper. While the glue is still hot, put the paper rose back in place so that the curled paper sets up in the glue. (Did that make ANY sense?) You might need to add a little more hot glue to make sure that everything is secure. WARNING: Because of the hot glue, you will probably burn yourself a little. I know I do every. stinkin'. time. Please just be careful and keep a little bowl of ice water nearby, just in case. </end motherly rant>

The finished product:

Pretty!

Here are the flowers that I did originally. They were looking for a more autumnal color scheme, so I did the flowers in white, cream, yellow and burnt orange. Throw 'em in a carafe with some thin branches, a little ribbon, and you're all set!

I adore this color scheme.

Happy Friday, my friends!