Directions for How to Make a Paper Rose

Paper roses

Roses symbolize many kinds of love, from friendship to passionate romance. Fresh roses are beautiful but wilt and die after only a short time. With the ancient Japanese art of origami, you can make paper roses that will last a lifetime--just like the love they symbolize. Make a whole bouquet of lovely paper roses for a thoughtful and inexpensive gift for a loved one.

Things You'll Need

• Square piece of paper
• Flat surface
• Clear tape

Instructions

Bird Base

1. Lay the square piece of paper on the flat surface so that the flat side of the square is towards you. If you are using paper that is patterned or colored on only one side, lay the paper colored-side down.

2. Bring the upper left corner down to the lower left corner and the upper right corner down to the lower right corner. Crease the paper by running your thumbnail across the fold. Unfold the paper. This will make a crease horizontally across the middle of the paper.

3. Turn the paper 90 degrees so that the crease you just made runs vertically instead of horizontally. Repeat step 2 to make a second crease that makes a right angle with the first.

4. Turn the paper 45 degrees so that a corner of the square is pointing toward you. Bring the upper corner down to the lower corner and make a crease. Unfold the paper.

5. Turn the paper 90 degrees so that the crease you just made is running vertically. Repeat Step 5. You should now have four creases on your paper.

6. Return the paper to the original position--with a flat side facing toward you. Bring the bottom edge of the paper up to meet the top edge and refold the paper along the horizontal crease line. Make sure that the fold is toward you.

7. Bring both layers of the lower right hand corner to the middle of the top, where the vertical crease line meets the edge of the paper at a point. Crease the fold. Your paper should now look like a triangle to the right of a square.

8. Turn the paper over so the triangle is to the left of the square. Repeat Step 7. Your paper should now look like an arrow with the point toward you.

9. Lift the paper so that the arrow is pointing down and the open edge is up. Take the back half of the layers in one hand and the front half of the layers in the other and gently pull to open the arrow into a square shape.

10. Lay the square shape down so that the open edges are toward you and flatten the square.

11. Place your left index finger nail on the open point, holding all layers of paper down. Take the top layer of the right corner between your right thumb and index finger. Bring the top layer to the middle until the side edge of the flap lines up with the crease that runs vertically down the middle of the square. Crease the fold. Switch hands and repeat on the top layer of the left corner. Your paper should now look like a kite laid on top of a square.

12. Turn the paper over and repeat Step 11. Your paper should now be in the shape of a kite.

13. Fold the top triangle of the kite down along the line that runs between the left and right corners of the kite. Crease the fold.

14. Open the previous three folds so that the paper is in the shape of a square again. Take the top layer of the bottom point between a thumb and index finger and lift until the paper folds itself along the previous three crease lines to form a long diamond shape. Two crease lines will be reversed in this process. Smooth out the diamond and re-crease the edge folds.

15. Turn the paper over and repeat step 14. You will now have a diamond shape that has two "legs" that form the bottom half.

Forming the rose

1. Take the top layer of the right corner and bring it across to meet the left corner. Turn the paper over and repeat. You will now have a kite shape with two "legs" coming out of the top.

2. Take the top layer of the bottom corner and bring it up to the top corner. Crease the fold. Turn the paper over and repeat. Your paper will now be in the shape of an arrow pointing away from you.

3. Pick up the paper so that the flat edge is toward you. You should see four flaps. Open these so that it forms an X.

4. At the bottom of your paper, there are four flaps that come together to form a point. Pull one flap up to make your paper look like a triangle with two legs.

5. Hold the legs with one hand and the tip of the flap with the other. Turn the flap 90 degrees to the right. At the same time, pinch the bottom edge of the triangle with two fingers of the hand holding the legs. You should notice that the paper wants to fold along two lines. Crease these lines. Your paper should look like a kite intersecting an arrow pointing to the side.

6. Hold the paper with your fingers on the kite portion of the paper so that the arrow points downward. Notice that the triangle portion of the paper opens into two legs. Orient the paper so that the legs open to the right and the kite is pointing to the left.

7. Hold the kite in the fingers of the left hand and the tip of the flap facing away from you in the fingers of the right hand. Pull the flap up and rotate the flap 90 degrees to the right. The flap will want to fold along two lines. Crease these fold lines. Your paper will again look like a kite intersecting an arrow pointing to the side.

8. Hold the paper with your fingers on the kite portion of the paper so that the arrow points downward. This time there is only one leg pointing toward the right. There are two flaps pointing downward. Holding the kite in your left hand, take the flap facing away from you in your right hand, pull it up and rotate the flap 90 degrees. As before, the flap will want to fold along two lines. Crease those lines.

9. At this point, you have a kite intersecting a narrow arrow pointing downward. The arrow has two layers. Open these layers so that you have a triangle with three flaps coming out of the back. Hold the middle flap in your left hand and the triangle in your right hand. Rotate the triangle 90 degrees and crease the fold lines. In order to make the crease, you will have to partially open the paper.

10. Unfold the model slightly so that you have a star with four long points and four short points. Each of the long points will have one side that is a complete piece of paper and one side that has two edges of paper that meet in the middle. Fold each of the long points along that middle line so that these edges of paper are outside the fold.

11. When all of the points are folded, you will have a piece of paper, shaped like a windmill, that is flat on the side facing you and has a four-sided point coming out of the other side. Lay the flat side down on the table.

12. Grab the top of the point and rotate clockwise 2 to 3 times. Do not try to keep the bottom of the paper flat against the table. The points of the windmill will come up off the table and turn slightly.

13. Turn the paper over so that the flat side is facing you. Fold the tip of each windmill arm into the center. Secure each of the tips with a small piece of clear tape.

Tips & Warnings

• Wearing nail polish while creasing folds will leave streaks on the paper and damage your polish.

References

• Origami Roses