Paper Rosette Tutorial

Ok... Here goes attempt 2 at this post.  I wrote this all up and scheduled it to post on Friday, and blogger kindly at it on me.  Needless to say, I was a little bit grumpy with it, so I have left it until now :)  

Let's hope it posts better this time.  

Little rosettes are a huge trend at the moment, but are so simple, quick and cheap to make yourself, that it seems a bit wasteful to spend your hard earned craft cash on premade ones that don't *quite* match your project.  Here's a little tutorial on how to make your own rosettes with some leftovers from your stash! 

First of all, cut a 1 1/2 inch wide strip of your desired colour, and score at 1/4 inch intervals.  If you're making multiple rosettes, score the whole page first, and then cut into 1 1/2 inch strips. 

If you desire, use a border punch to punch the edge of your page.  Completely optional, and if you don't have a border punch, you can always dig out those fancy edging scissors that were all the rage a few years back.

Looks pretty, especially compared to my feral (much loved and well used) craft mat...

Concertina fold your strip...

Then glue the ends together to make a circle.  I like to use Helmar Professional Acid Free glue - it's nice to work with, and is quite quick drying, which is important when you're impatient like me :)

Punch 2 circles from some co-ordinating paper (or the same, if you like!).  You can use a button or whatever you fancy here, but it's easiest to use a paper circle for the back one, at least.  Smear them with glue...

Then line up your circle, and gather the straight edge into the centre.  Pop it over a gluey dot, and press down firmly for a few seconds to let the glue grab. 

Slip the other gluey dot onto the top of the rosette, hold for a few seconds and then you're done!

Don't mind the blurry photo here, but I decided to glue the rosettes to a stick, to make a fun bouquet for the local show display.  They alos look great strung up on twine, fishing line or ribbon, as well as just used on a page or card as a cute little embellishment.  When they're finished, the rosettes are about 3" across, so you can adjust the size down as you like.  If you'd like to make them bigger, you'll need to use 2 strips of paper, joined together after you concertina the strips.  

Now... lets hope blogger doesn't eat this post, or I might well give up in disgust!  

Hope you had a great weekend! 

x Rita