"Ceramic" Paper Roses

ByMichele McDonald
55 Comments
If you missed my guest post during Flower Week at Singing Three Little Birds, here's the lowdown!
 
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These rolled roses originally started out as plain red cardstock. Now they have an almost ceramic look to them. Let me show you how I made them!
 

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1. Start with a couple of pieces of cardstock (I only ended up needing one for all of these flowers, but I grabbed a 2nd piece just to be sure).

 
2. Soak the cardstock, one sheet at a time, under running water. Be sure and wet both sides of the cardstock.
 
3. Wad each piece of cardstock up into a ball. You're going to want it very rumpled so you will need to wad it up, open it, and wad it up again several times. Just be careful that you don't rip the paper.
 
4. Lay the cardstock out flat and allow it to dry. I soaked mine before going to bed and let it dry on the kitchen counter overnight. If you're slightly more impatient you can take a hairdryer to it.
 
From here I tried two different techniques to get the "ceramic" look for the roses. Here is the technique for the single rose.
 

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5. From a roughly 5"x5" square of the dried cardstock, cut out a circle. From the circle cut out a spiral. I like to cut my spirals in a wavy fashion to give the final rose a more realistic look.
6. Start with the outermost part of the spiral and start rolling it between your fingers. Contine you to roll until you get to the center of the spiral.
7. Take the center of the spiral and use some adhesive to glue the base to the rest of the rose so it acts as the base of your flower.
8. A pretty little rose!
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9. Ink the edges of the rose with a contrasting color. This just makes the rose more realistic so its not uniform in color. You can skip this step if you would rather.
10. Apply a somewhat thick coat of Mod Podge to the rose with a sponge brush. Not too thick though! If its too thick the glue with dry white instead of clear (especially between the petals).
11. Turn the rose over after the front dries and appy more Mod Podge to the back of the rose.
12. Apply a pin, bobby pin, clip, or whatever you like to the back of the rose.
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Note: This starts the 2nd "ceramic" technique. (I think I actually like this one better.)
13. Cut three different size squares from the wrinkled cardstock. Apply Mod Podge to each square. Once the front dries, flip it over and apply again to the back.
14. Cut out spirals as before.
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15. Once again, start with the outside of the spiral and start rolling the rose.
16. The roses for this set of 3 flowers are more tightly rolled so they can be placed snugly next to one another.
17. Glue the back of the roses as before.
18. Ink the roses at this step if you are so inclined.
19. Apply another coat of Mod Podge just to get the flowers nice and shiny!
20. Line the 3 flowers up in a row and adhere a strip of the red cardstock to the back of the flowers. Apply a small amount of adhesive between each flower to glue them to each other also just to be sure there is no flopping around. Add a pin, bobby pin, or whatever suits your fancy.
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The final single rose. I glued some large silver beads to the center.
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The final set of 3 roses. I didn't add anything to the center of them since they are wrapped so tightly. And I think they look just as good without the extra embellishment.
Its may be difficult to tell from the photos, but these roses have a great shine to them. And the Mod Podge also makes them very stiff so they also almost feel like they could be ceramic. The wrinkled paper and the waviness of the spiral really give them a realistic look!
So, what to do with these fun new flowers?
Well, since they are pinbacks I can add them to any outfit as a brooch, put them on a belt, add them to a headband...
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Or thread them through the chain of my DIY go-to necklace! I'm loving this look!
Other than the time it took the cardstock and Mod Podge to dry (which was really only a few minutes), this was a pretty quick project.
siggie

 

 

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55 Comments

  2. hi ur tutorial is very nice.and rose looks beautiful,u used mod podge but am from india,so in place of mod podge can i use poster colors.will it work,and i would like to know what is cardstock.if u dont mind can u tell me.

    Reply

  3. A friend sent this to me on Facebook, and I'm so glad she did! I am trying to decide when I can make these. Thanks for the great tutorial!

    Reply

  4. Thanks for linking up! No wonder it's your most popular post it's fantastic! Great job! I can't wait to try it out. This and the other great links are making me think I need to start trying and featuring them! Hmmm the wheels are turning... thanks Michele ;D

    Reply

  8. Love these! Thanks so much for sharing šŸ™‚ I'm your newest follower and will definitely try making these for myself and gifts! I'll link back once I do šŸ™‚
    Katie
    miamoodesigns.blogspot.com

    Reply

  17. Michele,
    These flowers are fabulous!! Thanks for leaving a link. I love them!
    happy crafting,
    Linda

    Reply

  18. Thank you, I love making flowers and there seems to be no end to the different techniques. Love this one. XXMollye

    Reply

  19. Thanks for posting this tute..well done and good pics..
    I'm wondering how this would work on flimsy but beautiful materials, done in the style of the second
    example..that's what is so great about these ideas, they are a wonderful springboard for more!

    Reply

  23. Those are gorgeous and they do look like ceramic- how fabulous! I just clicked over from Tatertots and Jello. I would love to link to these if you didn't mind.

    Reply

  26. Check you out crafty lady! How cute and fun are your flowers? What a fabulous idea! Thanks for linking up to Hoo's got talent!

    Reply

  27. These are gorgeous! I will be featuring you on Monday..come by and grab a featured button. Thanks for the wonderful tutorial!

    Endlesscrafting.blogspot.com

    Reply

  29. Those look so real! And the mod podge makes them fairly sturdy, huh? Thanks for the idea!

    Reply

  32. Great project! I've made the spiral paper flowers like that, but never thought to add Modge-Podge to them!

    Tania

    Reply

  36. Saying hi from NFF...these are so pretty! It's so interesting that you wet the paper first to get the crinkled look. Very nice!

    Reply

  37. These look amazing. Might be too many steps for me but I'll see if my daughter wants to try them.

    heather

    Reply

  39. I love that you used the mod podge. I've been making theses with my students, but the mod podge is such a great addition!

    Reply

  40. So clever! These look fabulous on the necklace! Fabtasic job and great tutorial! Thanks so much for joining The Sunday Showcase! I greatly appreciate it. Hope you are enjoying your week! ~ Stephanie Lynn

    Reply

  42. Okay, these are seriously just stunning! Great tutorial and I love the color of the flowers!! I need to try this one out!!

    Reply

  43. Awesome project! I'm definitely going to try this sometime! Thanks for the tutorial.
    suchakingdom.blogspot.com

    Reply

  47. Love these roses and your how to is fabulous. Can't wait to try it! The roses look lovely with your dress, too.

    Reply

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