Painting the Roses Red!

My favorite animated movie is Alice in Wonderland.
My kids know this, my friends know this, my fellow crafters know this.
I have A in W ornaments,  A in W playing cards and I am quoting this movie all the time.

So when my girls had their 30th birthday, I, of course, had red roses for decorations.
These are paper roses, and easy to make. So NO need to fear the Queen of Hearts...
today's project is:

Paper Roses

You need:
~red tissue paper (or any other color you want)
~scissors
~tape (I used colored Duct Tape)
~skewers

First take your piece of tissue paper and cut it into 6 squares.

Layer 3 pieces on top of one another, and start folding these together at the same time.



You will fold these 4 times into a cone shape.

Then cut a curve in the top, through all layers.

Then do the same with the other 3 layers.

Open all and stack on top of each other.



Take a skewer and place a little piece of tape at the dull end. Stick this through the middle of all 6 layers.

Then you will gather and crimp the pieces up around the skewer and tape the bottom onto the stick. Make sure you get the tissue paper as you wind the tape around the skewer.

Then you will start separating the layers.
Do this gently starting at the bottom layer. Pull it downward.
Go to the next layer pulling it down, but not as far as the bottom layer.
Continue until you have separated all the layers.
Leave the top layer gathered around the skewer resembling a bud.

That's it! I made several of these, added them to toothpicks instead of long skewers and hung them from my dining room chandelier. I added paper sayings for my girls' birthday party. Plus I made a large flower to hang from the center of the lamp. You can make any size flower, just remember to cut the tissue paper into squares (not rectangles). For the large center flower I used 6 full sheets of tissue paper. Then I used the cut off ends to make into the smaller flowers.

I also used pink for the inside 3 layers, and red for the outside 3 layers. I added green construction paper leaves and strung them on fishing wire. A very feminine look.

You can make several and put in vases for centerpieces. Or string them together for a garland. Fast, easy and pretty.

Why not plan a Valentines Day party and make a bunch to decorate your place with. Or better yet, show your guests how to make them and send them home with a heart felt bouquet!

tip of the day:
I bought several boxes of blueberries today from the store, at a buy one, get one free sale. So I had to freeze some of them. And the lesson I learned from picking fresh blackberries and putting them in the freezer in a zip loc bag was: separate them before freezing! Otherwise you end up with a big, squashed clump of berries. So take a cookie sheet, put your berries (or banana slices) on this, making sure they are in a single layer. Put in freezer til set, and THEN take them off and put into another container (ziploc or tupperware) and store in freezer.

That's all for this week!
:D