Paper Roses

I have been keeping my hands busy during virtual faculty meetings and family movie nights with this simple process for making paper roses. Now it is my student's turn to contribute to what will hopefully a stunning tribute to Helen Keller and those with visual impairments at the upcoming community Festival of Trees. The steps below 

Each paper rose requires four squares of paper (the same color.) A normal 8 1/2 X 11 sheet of paper will get you 4- 4 1/2 squares, or 2- 5 1/2 squares.  Or you can get 6- 6 inch squares from an 12 X 18 piece of construction paper.

 Fold each of your 4 squares in half, diagonally three times to create 8 triangle shapes radiating from the center. Snip the very tip of the folded triangle, and then cut the non-folded edge to be a rounded petal shape. You can cut the petal edge with a simple rounded shape. I like making three bumps with the largest in the center.

Open up these up and you'll have four flower shapes.

Cut one petal out of the first flower, two from the second, three from the third, and the fourth will be cut in half for two four-petal sections. This will leave you with eight parts in the following sizes: 1 petal, 2 petals, 3 petals, 4 petals, 4 petals (again), 5 petals, 6 petals and 7 petals.

Use a pen to curl the petals back.

Start with the largest piece and glue the ends together, overlapping the end two petals.

Then repeat with each section working from largest to smallest, and nesting each one on top of the other, gluing each  of the eight layers. You'll end with the tiny one petal curl in the center.

 It's that simple! I played Marie Osmond's Paper Roses once to inspire me. Enjoy the process and the product.