Crepe Paper Roses

The crepe paper rose video tutorial on this cool blog is so fun, and it makes these little boogers seem so easy to construct that I had to try to create them in blue for Tosha's Baby Shower :).  The good lady @ http://www.filthwizardy.com/ whips these things up lickity split.  I just knew I could do it.  I didn't realize that I would have to re watch the video so many times before I got a proper understanding of the mechanics.  I made several wonky roses through out the project, but that's okay as long as they're not compared to other more perfect roses.  It's funny these roses are much like the ones found in nature.  They are all very unique in shape and size.  I started by cutting one roll of streamers into 18 in. strips.  One roll yeilded about 50 strips.

Each rose had its own challenges.  This was a time consuming endeavor.  My best efforts only produced about 10 roses an hour.  In the end one roll of streamer made about 50 roses.  I made 100 roses using 2 rolls of streamer.

My favorite roses were those that ended up in full bloom.  Like this one.

You can see the variation in sizes in this picture.  After all the roses were made, I had to decide how to use them for the baby shower. 

I decided to cut a heart shape out of a piece of foam board. Maggie is presenting the board like a Price Is Right Girl.  We need to work on her enthusiasm!

I poked holes in the foam board so that the stems of the roses could be pulled through and secured.

In the end, I did not like the results.  The heart shape was cut too big.  100 roses only covered the boarder.  I guess I could have decorated the inside of the heart in some manner, but I just didn't really like it enough to do so.

Although not visible from a distance, there were gaps in the roses that allowed the backboard to show through. 

I had to think of something else.  I had several months worth of saved vitamin bottles and wanted to use them in some way.  So I took off the caps and covered the bottles in tan tissue paper.  I tied brown ribbon around the bottles and tie 6 to 8 roses into a bouquet using bread ties. 

The finished product looked pretty good, so I made as many as a could with the supplies I had on hand.

There were only 8 made, but I think that will be plenty for the baby shower.

I'm not sure where we will use them.  Maybe Holly can figure that out.  One is cute all by itself.

Or they could be grouped, which is also cute.

The roses took some practice to get right, but really your total monetary investment is about $1.00 per 100 roses so no great loss unless you don't have the time.  The time factor is the most significant.  After practicing on the first 50, I could make about 10 roses and hour, but it's easy to do while watching television. 

Give this project a try if you have plenty of time :)

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