Working Wednesday: Paper Roses

Thanks for checking out our blog! I am really excited to share how we make paper roses! If you are an active follower, you may have noticed that I missed posting last week’s “Working Wednesdays” craft blog, but we had a lot of extra activities last week, and I could not get it all done! I apologize! This particular craft is a significant part of the six Five Four Creations story. Before we were a business, we were just a crafting family. On occasion, we offered to make things for our friends and family. One of the most successful offers was when we made paper roses for Valentine's Days! The cool thing about this is you can use decorative paper, or different colors to create unique designs with them!

Making these types of paper roses is simple but can be time-consuming. It is also very repetitive! Do not get overwhelmed if you scroll down- we have pictures, and really, it is mostly doing the same thing over and over again! I promise it is not hard at all!

* For this blog, I am only using one color, but to make a multicolored rose you just replace every other section with a different color (two out of the 4 original squares)! Also we do not overly stress about measuring the pieces out or be exact, its not vital that anything is 100% uniform for this to turn out beautifully; plus it adds character to each flower!

Paper Roses

You will need:

• a piece of paper

• Scissors

• glue

• paintbrush (thin is better)

• floral wire

• floral tape

First, you need to cut the paper. You will need 4 square pieces of equal size to make one rose.

I fold a piece of paper in half, then half again, and cut it into four parts.

Then I take a section and “fold” it (don’t press the fold-down) to make it make a triangle and cut off the excess part. This will leave you with a square piece. Repeat this with the other sections (I just place the square section on top of the other sections and cut all three at the same time).

Now to fold the paper. This step is similar to how you folded the full sheet of paper. Take one of the square pieces of paper and fold it in half, then half again. Now you are going to fold this square in half again to make a triangle. It is crucial to fold this where the “folded sides” of the squares meet together at the bottom of the triangle (As pictured below).

Now to cut them. You may want to draw a semi-circle across the top of the triangle to create the curve of the petals; we do not draw the line onto the paper, though. You will start the cut on the center folded side. Now you unfold it/ open it, and it will look like the picture below.

Repeat these steps on the other three squares.

Now you will cut a specific section out of the flower. On the first one, cut one; On the second, cut two “petals” out of it; On the third, cut three “petals” out of it, and On the fourth, cut it in half.

Now we glue the sections together. Take the piece with seven petals (one petal removed) and put glue on one petal. Fold the flower over so the adjacent petal completely covers the petal with the glue on it. This section is creating the bottom layer of the rose.

You will repeat this step with the flower section with six, five, four, and three petals. (shown below) to create layers that have five, four, three, and two petals on them.

Now get a piece floral wire. I do not like a long stem, so I cut mine into four stalks, but that is just my personal preference. ( we have even used pen caps for the stem so really anything similar will work!) With this piece of floral wire, I make a loop at the top so help anchor the flower in place

(I promise this will make more sense in the next step).

Now that we have all the parts, it is time to finally assemble your rose!

First, you need the layer that has two petals. You will stick the floral wire through this layer (If there is not a hole in the bottom, just cut a small piece off to create one). The loop will be inside this section (the loop will basically plug the hole).

Now you curl the single petal and the heart-shaped piece tightly; we use a think paintbrush, but this can be done with your hands as well. Place a drop of glue inside the curled heart-shaped and put the single petaled curled inside. These pieces are creating the spiral-center of the rose. Now you will pace the center into the two petaled layer, covering the loop. Then curve the edges of the two petals. I like to add a small bit of floral tape to the bottom for extra security (this last step is pictured above).

Next, get the layer with three petals. Curl the edges of each petal. Sometimes the petals seem a bit shorts, so we cut along the line, making it easier to curl.

Add a little glue inside and fit the flower inside. Add more floral tape.

You will repeat this until every layer is added and securely attached to the flower and stem.

Now that the flower is assembled, it is time to cover the floral wire with floral tape. I like to add extra at the bottom of the stem so that the sharp part is fully covered (I don’t want thorns on my roses).

Now we are all done! (I even made two more roses to make a small bouquet!)

I hope you enjoyed it and did not get overwhelmed at the length of it!

Thanks for taking the time to check out this blog about a craft from way down memory lane. I would be super interested to see yours if you actually attempt it! Feel free to share in the comments or tag us on Facebook! (We would really love to see these, this is one of our favorite crafts to do!)

As always thank you for being part of our craziness! Until next time….