DIY Paper Rosette Heart Decorationt

I saw a paper rosette heart on Pinterest, and I fell in love with it the second I saw it! I just HAD to have it….or one like it. Roses have always been my favorite and the paper rosettes are pretty fascinating too!

I have never attempted to make paper roses before. So this was my chance! To make myself one of these gorgeous hearts, and to tackle the craft challenge that I have always said I would do some day. It really was not that hard. I found a great tutorial, in another language, but luckily it had good pictures (sometimes I think the pictures help more than the words anyway.) From the pictures, I was able to see what I needed to, so that I could figure it out on my own. {I’m sure I could have searched for another tutorial that was in English, but nope! I’m a picture kind of gal}

So here’s how I did it.

First off you’re going to need to gather your supplies.

• 8×10 wood block
• one large finial
• 6 various patterned and/or solid 12×12 cardstock scrapbook paper (I got mine from Joann’s)
• 1 yard of baker’s twine. I bought it locally but you can find it here from Amazon but it’s a large amount.
• 24″ of coordinating or contrasting ribbon
• Double sided project paper
• Mod Podge
• Sponge brush
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks
• 4 different sized circles to trace (I used 3 various sized bowls and 1 glass)
• pencil
• scissors
• texturizing cream or paste (I also bought this locally but you can get it here)
• sponge roller
• Old sheet (to protect your work surface)–no matter how hard I try, I always get it everywhere!

Step One: getting your block prepared

Begin by making sure your 8×10 block is clean and free of
rough edges and saw dust. Using a sponge brush, paint the edges, back and finial white. The color I used is called Swiss Coffee by Behr from the Home Depot.

This is my favorite white color! I use it in my house everywhere! You can also get just an 8oz sample size if you go in and have them mix it. The link I provided is for 1 gallon, semi-gloss which works for me because I use it a lot. You are going to want to apply more than 1 coat of paint to get it good and covered. I applied 3 coats to mine.

Once the paint has dried, trace the shape of your block on the double sided paper.

Cut it out. Glue the finial into the drilled hole at the top of your block so you know which way to put your paper. (I hate when I get something done and I realize I did it upside down) Next, using a sponge brush and Mod Podge, you are going to glue the paper to the block. Use just a small amount or thin layer of Mod Podge (I say this because if you use too much, your paper will wrinkle) then firmly press the paper to the front of the block, rubbing out any air bubbles that may have collected under the paper. (If your paper is directional {shapes or lettering} make sure the top is up and not upside down)

After this step has been finished, let it sit a good long time to make sure it is dry. I let mine sit over night.

Step Two: texturizing your block

Now it’s time for you to texturize the front of your block, but before you do so, you need to sand the edges of your paper to remove any loose edges along the sides of the block. Look close to the edges of the paper in the photo.

After the edges of the paper is kind of sanded off, you are going to place a generous amount of texturizing cream or paste on a paper plate.

Using your sponge roller, roll it in the cream and get the roller good and coated. Now roll over the front of your block and watch how you can see the texture go on! Do more or less according to your liking, by using more than 1 coat, and letting it dry between coats. When you have the texture you like, set it aside (I let mine sit overnight once again) and work on your paper rosettes, if you haven’t already started.

Step Three: getting your circles traced

You can work on this step while you let your block dry over night. So, you have your six different cardstock papers, and you are going to choose 1 print that you want to make your largest flower out of. On this paper, you need to trace:

• -1-8″ circle
• 1-4.75″ cirlce
• 4-3.25″ circles.

Next, you are going to decide what colors you want the majority of the second to smallest roses to be. On those 2 papers, you are going to trace:

• 1-6″ circle
• 2-4.75″ circles
• 4-3.25″ circles

Now that you have 3 pieces of paper with circles traced on them, the remaining 3 will need to be traced as follows: (which this will be the majority of the smallest roses)

• 1-6″ circle
• 1-4.75″ circle
• 6-3.25″ circles

Step Four: getting your circles cut out and spiraled

Once you have all of your circles traced, you are going to want to cut them out….and then cut a spiral into them. You can either draw a spiral onto the circles then cut them or you can just eyeball it while cutting, either will work just fine.

Do this to all of your circles, then move on to the next step.

Step Five: making the paper rosettes

Now that you have taken a lot of time drawing, tracing, and cutting your circles and spirals, you are going to spend a lot of time rolling them! Begin with the outer end of your spiral and start wrapping/rolling it around the point of a pencil. Having something in there, I felt, helped me to be able to get the roll good and tight without bending and creasing the paper.

After you get the roll started, you can take the pencil out and continue rolling it ALL. THE. WAY. to the center.

I did not get a photo of this rosette once I got it rolled completely to the center. But I must say that as you get closer to the center it is harder and harder to roll. I left a little of the center kind of unrolled. You can see it in this picture here: *also note that the rolled rosette has been released and is no longer a tightly rolled piece of paper.

Disregard the glue on the picture above, that will be a later step. I just wanted you to see how the center of the spiral wasn’t rolled tightly. Continue to do this step for ALL of your rosettes. (Now, you probably won’t be using all of these flowers but I wanted to have options to work with as I was placing them on the block)

Step Six: deciding the layout of your rosettes

After you have all the paper rosettes rolled and ready for a home on your block, just lay them out on the block so you can kind of see how you want them placed. I began with the largest rosette and then worked out from there. I also did design the point of my heart pretty soon after I chose the place for my largest rosette. (*Note: I sorted my rosettes in size piles so I could see what size and colors I wanted in different spots)

When I got to this point, of laying out my rosettes, I began hot gluing them into place so they would stop moving and rolling around. That way I could work more accurately on the top.

Step Seven: hot gluing the rosettes together and into place

I began by placing some hot glue in/on the bottom piece of the rosette spiral and then pushed it down on the glue to secure the spiral of the flower. I’m sure you could probably skip this step and it would be fine, but I just felt I liked the rosettes better this way.

After I glued the flower “together” I put some hot glue on the bottom of the rosette and glued it on the block where I wanted it. For both of these steps, I held them for a while until the hot glue dried enough to not let the rosette move around.

I did these two steps EVERY TIME with EVERY FLOWER. You could glue all the rosettes “together” and then glue them into place, I just knew I wouldn’t use all the rosettes and I didn’t want to spend time on the ones I didn’t end up using. Sometimes I try to save time!

So, repeat this until you have your basic heart shape you want.

Now you can stop here if you want, but I didn’t like how I could see “open holes” in there. So I took my smaller rosettes and twisted them a little tighter and worked them into the “open holes” and around the edges to make it look more full. After you have all your rosettes placed it’s time for my most favorite step: Embellishing your piece!

Step Eight: applying the finishing touches to your block

Weave the bakers twine in between some of the lower flowers so it looks like you placed it first. If you have 1 yard of twine, you’ll have enough to wrap around it 3 times plus a little bow. Choose the side you want the bow on and wrap it accordingly. Lastly, take your 24″ coordinating ribbon and tie a little bow around the finial and let the extra dangle down. Be sure to trim the edges so it looks nice.

Now stand back and look….you just did that!! Hooray!