anna and blue paperie: diy Tutorial: Giant Paper Rose Flower

I received an email this morning from a sweet fan asking if I had made the large flowers that I used for the Aloha Summer themed dessert table. They were actually given to me by a local boutique that had used them for a springtime window display. I emailed back that you could find lots of great diy tutorials for giant flowers online. I started to look myself and came across this Giant Paper Rose Flower via Green Wedding Shoes and fell in love. I just knew that I had to share the tutorial with you.

What You Need:

1 Roll of floral tape

6 18-gauge floral stem wire

4 sheets of Doublette crepe paper for petals

1 sheet of Doublette crepe paper in green for leaves, calyx, stem

1 round pencil

Craft Glue

Crepe paper templates (download from Martha Stewart)

3 copies of the teardrop template

8 copies of the heart-shaped template

2 copies of the leaf template

1 copy of the calyx template

Step 1: Cut the petals

Cut 5-6 teardrop petalss and 15-16 heart-shaped petals from the petal colored paper.

VERY IMPORTANT: Crepe paper is directional so it matters which way you're cutting the paper. Make sure the grain is vertical when you're cutting the flower pieces.

Stack 2 pieces of crepe paper on top of each other and then place 1 copy of the template over the crepe paper and staple. It is not recommended to cut more than 2 layers of crepe paper at a time since the edges won't cut as cleanly.

Repeat until all of your petals are cut out.

Step 2: Cut the leaves + calyx

Cut 3 leaves and 1 calyx from the green crepe paper.

Step 3: Make the rose stem.

Take 3 pieces of stem wire and wrap in floral tape.

Step 4: Shape the petals

With both hands, pull from the center of the petal outward. This will create a cupping of the paper (which is what gives it the petal-like) quality.

Turn petal over and use the round pencil to curl the top of the petal.

Step 5: Create the rose bud - the inner part of the rose

Take one teardrop shaped petal and wrap around the taped floral wire from Step 3. Use more floral tape to secure. Repeat working your way around the floral wire until all of the teardrop shaped petals are used.

Step 6: Make the rose bloom - the out part of the rose

Take one heart-shaped petal and wrap around the rose bud, secure with floral tape. Repeat until all of the petals have been used.

Step 7: Make the leaf-stems

Take 3 loose pieces of floral wire and using craft glue, wrap each one with crepe paper. Take one leaf and 1 crepe paper wrapped floral wire and glue together. Repeat 2 more times.

Step 8: Add calyx to rose

Wrap the calyx around the base of the rose bloom and secure with floral tape.

Cover the floral tape area with more crepe paper.

Step 9: Add leaf-stems to rose

Using craft glue, secure each of the 3 leaf-stems to the rose stem. It is helpful to use binder clips to hold the stems together while the glue dries.