Roses are Red (Deux Petite Amie)

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching so we’ve got a whole week’s worth of tutorials, recipes, and fun goodies for you to celebrate. Deux Petite Amie is all about spreading the LOVE!

I’m so excited for my first official tutorial! I have to admit to you that I’m the type of person who sees a tutorial and I HAVE TO MAKE IT RIGHT AWAY. In fact I keep my craft/sewing room stocked with all the essentials just so I don’t have to go out and buy something in order to fulfill my latest obsession. Sick, huh?

I first saw this idea for a Valentine Rosette Wreath on Our Best Bites. I love wreathes for all different occasions and this looked fun, festive, and easy enough to do during a long football game (yep, Super Bowl crafting). Here’s my version and my way...so here we go. Oh wait, and I have to apologize for the super high noise photos. It was really dark and I'll do better next time...

ok, here we go...

Collect your materials.

*styrofoam wreath form. (Mine was 12” and white. I chose white so that green would not peek through my rosettes.)

*1 yard of felt (My wreath is primarily red with a few white rosettes sprinkled in. You can decide whatever colors you want your wrath to be and just get one yard total.)

*sharp scissors

*glue gun and glue sticks

The tutorial I read used felt that you buy by the sheet in craft stores. You could do this (they used a total of 40 sheets) but I prefer the feel and the thickness of felt by the yard from the fabric store. Take your felt and start cutting approximately 4” squares. They don’t have to be perfect.

Just stack them up and keep cutting. You're going to need a ton!

Next, take those squares and make them into circles by rounding out the corners. Then cut a spiral inwards on one of those circles. I drew a spiral here to show you where to cut but you don’t have to draw on yours. Just give it your best shot. J

You will end up with a spiral of felt like this.

Start rolling! What I found made the most “rose like” shape was to roll from the outside of the spiral in. So start from the tail end of the felt and roll towards the middle of the spiral. This should help you create more ruffled petals on the outer petals of the rose.

Pretty little rosettes. (My table is so in need of refinishing. We’ll just call it distressed for now.)

Great thing about felt rosettes is once you start rolling you can do a big bunch of them. The felt sticks to itself and won’t unravel.

When you’re ready, plug in that glue gun. First, put a drop of glue at the tail end of the rolled up flower to secure it in place. Then glue the rosette to the wreath. Place the flowers near each other but don’t squeeze them so close that they are smashed up against each other.

I sprinkled in white roses among my red ones spacing them out. Keep working your way around the wreath making sure you cover the top, and sides nicely. The back of the wreath will be blank so that it can hang flat against the wall.

Keep rolling and gluing! Almost there!

To fill in any small gaps you can take 4” strips of extra felt and roll them straight into tight rolls. Look who is badly in need of a manicure.

One little roll for filler.

A bed of roses. I think the Queen of Hearts would be proud.

I hung mine indoors with strips of tulle in front of my window in my breakfast area, but I do think this would hold up well enough under a covered porch outdoors.

I have to thank my friends Barbara and Karen for helping me roll roses during the Superbowl game. Karen, who claims not to be crafty, told me in the end she wanted to make one for herself. That is exactly what I hope this blog does. Inspire you to create.

Comments

Wow! Such a lovely wreath and simple clear tutorial. Am a wreath lover meself. Definitely one for my craft queue, that is, when I can eke out some little pocket of time! LOL!

Posted by: Phebe Roberts | Tuesday, February 08, 2011 at 01:57 PM