In today’s DIY, we show how to make romantic crepe paper roses. These handcrafted beauties are very long lasting and wonderful for home decorating, in paper flower arrangements and wedding decor. You can create the roses in a rainbow of colors, and we created a printable template, which you can download at the end of this post, to make cutting the petals and leaves as easy as possible.
For more rose inspired crafts, try our tutorial for homemade liquid soap and rose lantern centerpiece.
More Paper Craft Tutorials
If you’re feeling crafty, please also check out these creative projects:
- DIY Tissue Paper Pom-Poms
- How to make a Gift Bag
- Giant Paper Dahlias
- Honeycomb Pom-Poms
- Swarm of Bats Wall Decoration
- Giant Paper Roses
- DIY Tassel Garland
- Paper Rosettes
- Tissue Paper Butterflies
- Easy Crepe Paper Flowers
The Mary’s Rose Garden series
This DIY is part of our Mary’s Rose Garden series. Have a look at the links below to for more rose inspired projects:
- There are always flowers for those who want to see them – Printable Quote
- Strawberry Rose Meltaways & Printable Hexagon Boxes
- DIY Rose Liquid Hand Soap
Which type of crepe paper should I use?
We used extra fine, 60 GSM crepe paper as rose petals tend to have only subtle veins. You can also opt for heavier Italian crepe paper or doublette crepe paper to create gorgeous two-toned effects.
Crepe Paper Roses Instructions
Learn how to make romantic crepe paper roses. These handcrafted beauties are very long lasting and wonderful for home decorating, in paper flower arrangements and wedding decor. You can create the roses in a rainbow of colors. We recommend using a low melt glue gun to reduce the risk of burns.
Materials
- printable crepe paper rose template (download below)
- crepe paper in different shades of pink
- green crepe paper
- green 18-gauge wire
- green 24-gauge wire
- glue stick or white glue
- hot glue sticks
- green florist tape
Tools
- craft scissors
- pliers
- wire cutter
- pencil
- skewer
- hot glue gun (preferably a low melt glue gun)
Instructions
- Cut the petals. Fold a strip of crepe paper several times, so it’s slightly larger than the petal template. Place the template on top and cut along the outline. Make sure the template follows the grain of the paper. For one rose, you need 10 small petals, 5 medium petals, 6 large petals, two small and two large leaves and the calyx.
- Shape the petals. To make the petals more life-like, gently stretch the center of a petal to give a cupped shape. Then curl the edges of the petals outward by wrapping them around a pencil or use a skewer for more pronounced curls.
- Make the rose center. Using pliers, bend a small hook in a 30 cm (10 in) piece of 18-gauge wire. Roll two of the small petals into a tube, insert the wire and secure the base of the petals with fine wire.
- Build the flower. Dot hot glue to the base of three smalls petal and attach them just below the center. Add five more small petals, allowing them to overlap. Be careful not to burn your fingers when working with hot glue. Then attach a set of 5 medium petals in-between the small ones. Add another row of large petals to create a full-blown rose. This work best when you hold the rose upside down.
- Create a calyx. Cut out the calyx using the template. Add glue to half of the length of the calyx and attach it to the base of the rose. Apply glue to the rest of the calyx and continue wrapping it around the base.
- Make leaves. Cut out leaves as described in the first step. Apply glue to a leaf, and sandwich a 15 cm (6 in) piece of 24 gauge wire between two leaves. Bend to give the leaves an organic look. The leaf template comes in two sizes so you can create different sized leaves. We usually use two to three leaves per flower.
- Assemble the rose. Using green floral tape, wrap around the calyx a couple of times and then cover the entire stem going from the top all the way down. Tip: Always stretch the tape to activate the glue and make it sticky. Starting just below the paper, wrap 3 cm (1 in) of the wire sticking out of the leaf. Position the leaf where you want it to sit on the stem and tape to the stem. Add a large leaf and remove any glue strings to finish the rose.
Tip: Watch our video on Easy Tissue Paper Flowers for tips on how to arrange the roses in container and bouquets
Free Printable Template for Crepe Paper Roses
Click on the button to download your free printable template for crafting crepe paper roses!
