How to Make Dough Roses
Dough roses are a beautiful effect that looks complicated to achieve. Typically made from salt dough and used for crafts and jewelry, dough roses are actually simple to make and take very little time. Although there are several types of blooms you can create with dough, there are two basic dough roses that even beginners can successfully create. You can make a rosebud in seconds or you can create blooming roses which mimic a rose just opening.
Instructions
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Blooming Roses
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1
Add food coloring to the dough before you begin if you wish.
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2
Roll a pea-sized ball of dough into a thin rope.
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3
Press down on the rope with your finger. Make it as flat as possible but thick enough that you can still manipulate the dough without it falling apart.
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4
Roll the flattened rope lengthwise into a coil. This creates the center of your blooming rose.
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5
Pull off another pea-sized ball of dough and flatten it.
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6
Peel the top edges back a bit to make it resemble a petal and place the first piece into the center of this petal.
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Press the two pieces together gently at the bottom.
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Make another petal the same way and place this petal in the opposite direction of the first. Remember that not all rose petals are the same size and shape so you aren't trying to make each identical.
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Continue making petals this way. Place each petal a bit higher on the rose bud so that the turned back edges are even with the rose center and overlap each other's edges slightly.
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10
Add eight petals in total to complete the rose.
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Leave your rose to dry overnight. To glue it to a flat surface cut off the rounded bottom before the rose is totally dry.
Rosebuds
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12
Add food coloring to the dough if you wish before beginning.
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13
Separate a small ball of dough and roll it into a thin rope about 1 inch thick by 1 ½ inches long.
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14
Press the rope with your finger to make it as flat as possible.
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15
Roll the rope into a coil. Pinch the outer coils as you roll to make the top of the coil thicker.
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Stretch the outer edge of the coil to make the outer coils higher than the center coils of your rosebud. This creates an effect that appears as though the rose is about to bloom.
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Tips & Warnings
If you're having trouble making the rose look real, look at an actual rose or a picture of one as you work to mimic how the petals bend and shape themselves around the center.
To add leaves, flatten a pea-sized ball of dough and shape it into a flat teardrop. It should be a bit thicker than a piece of paper. Use a straight pin to make the veins in the leaf and curl the ends and edges a bit. Press in place at the bottom of your rose before leaving it to dry.
References
- Photo Credit wooden rolls for rolling dough image by Maria Brzostowska from Fotolia.com
