quick crepe paper roses

Not a very inventive title, but "what I did to keep myself busy while the Man played Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood" or "a crafty project from blog land that I was determined even I could finish" or "what I burned myself on while watching back to back episodes of Cesar Millan's Dog Whisperer" weren't quite the catchy appealing titles I had hoped for.  So we'll go with "quick crepe paper roses" as a starter instead.

After seeing it around blogland, I thought this project would be perfect for our Valentine's mantle.

I first saw crepe paper roses on Shelly's blog over at House of Smiths. 



Find her flower tutorial here.

She made these seem so simple and it gave me hope.  I too could make something cute AND inexpensive!

So I flagged it in my reader and come the month of sweethearts-- I knew it was time.  I dashed to the HobLob before buying groceries one night and left with 3 different spools of red, pink, and fuchsia crepe paper.  I also picked up two metal heart-shaped wreath forms.  My total was around $7 for everything.

The Man had to work late (as he often does) and I decided to pile up in the floor and give these roses a whirl.  I watched a few tutorial videos seen here and here and felt like I had the hang of it. I would write it out step by step-- but the video shows it so much clearer.  A few tips:

• I used scotch tape (around the stem) to keep the roses from unraveling
• I cut off the stem and pinched the base of the rose to keep it together while applying LIBERAL amounts of hot glue
• I wrapped the wreath in a layer of crepe-paper to help fill in any gaps
• Use low-temp glue-- there is a high level of burn potential here if you're not careful

I made about 75-100 pink roses and still had plenty of crepe paper left.  I stuck to the baby pink for my heart wreath (the red wasn't as rich as I hoped, and the fuchsia just didn't "go").  I just kept layering the blooms on top of each other until I felt the wreath had a good shape and was fully covered. 

I'm not sure how much time it took.  I worked on and off for a few days and my wreath was complete! I can think of so many other things to use these roses for and they seem like a perfect crafty staple. 

Shall we add this to our crafty repertoire?  I mean, it's cheap and easy... and cheap!  I think I spent a total of $3 on this wreath (not counting glue sticks and time and compensation for minor burn wounds).  Even Inari liked it, or rather--licked it.

Besides, what's more Valentine-y than pink roses and hearts?

Happy Valentine's Day from the nerdy nesters (and Bessie the cow bank)!