How to Fold Paper Roses

Origami is a great way to impress someone without spending a lot of money. Although making a dozen paper roses might be time consuming, it is a lot cheaper than buying a dozen roses. Origami roses also last a lot longer than their grown counterparts.

Things You'll Need

• Square sheet of paper

Instructions

1. Fold your sheet of paper in half. Take the folded paper and fold in half again into a square. The folded paper should be 1/4 of the original size; now fold it in half again, and then again into a square about 1/16 of the original size.

2. Unfold the sheet of paper, the fold marks should divide the sheet of paper into 16 small squares. Make two diagonal folds in each direction forming a big X in the center of the sheet of paper.

3. Position the sheet of paper with the inside of all the folds facing you and then fold the sheet of paper in half again forming a rectangle. Using your previous fold lines as a guide, fold the lower half of the sheet of paper, (the part closest to the fold), in half. This last fold should cover 1/3 of the remaining visible piece of the paper.

4. Grasp the center of the sheet of paper were all the folds meet. Create four ridges coming out from the center using the smallest fold on the paper (the part that created the bottom third in the previous step.) The four corners in between the ridges should become peaks of their own, making the fold between the corner and the 1/3 the lowest part.

5. Lay the paper flat, and push the center up by rotating the corners, folding the ridge portion in a counter-clockwise direction. Pull the created point in the center in two directions and flatten; this will create a tiny square in the very center of the sheet of paper, on top of the folded ridges.

6. Turn the paper over and try to fold one of the corners with the corner counter clockwise to it. You will have to remove the paper from the table in order to accomplish this. After you do it for the first corner repeat with all the other corners; this will result in an almost spiral pattern when viewed from the other side.

7. Make the spiral pattern tight by grasping it in your fist, it should become almost circular in your hand, one side will look like a small cup.

8. Enforce the side folds so that it forms almost a cube in your hand. Now push in the bottom of the cup side slightly just to reinforce it, and place it on your table top, with the cup bottom on the table.

9. Taking the side of the cup, fold the inner flap into towards the center, this will create a triangle shape over the former mouth of the cup. You will then repeat this step with the three other flaps making three more triangles. When you get to the last flap you will need to tuck it under the first flap.

10. Flip over the bud, a clear spiral pattern should be evident, and the flower shape is nearly finished. Using a pencil of similar appliance gently push in the center of the flower and smooth it out, the bud will now be complete, except for the petals. The petals can be done by curling the four loose corners away from the center of the bud.