How to craft paper China roses
This stunning rose is a classic China rose which flowers on and off for six months of the year. Its name comes from the Latin word for changing, ‘mutantur’ because the petals change colour – opening as a pretty pink and fading to a delicate apricot colour.
The China rose is one of my favourite roses. I just adore how delicate it is. It’s a climber, so it is also a great plant for adding shape to your displays.
It’s such a unique rose, producing single scented flowers that change colour as they age. The flowers look just like butterflies perching on branches.
What you’ll need
- Large scissors
- Small scissors
- Stub wires (thin, medium and thick)
- Spike, skewer or thick stub wire
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Tracing paper
- Long-nose pliers
- Tweezers
- Paper creaser
- Tacky glue
- Floral tape (greens, brown and white)
- Crepe paper in yellow, orange, pale yellow, cream, pinks, green
- Paints and inks in pinks
- Pastels in yellow, peach, dark pink
Crafting Authentic Paper Flowers by Sophie Longhurst is published by White Owl.
1/6The templates you will need for your petals and leaves.
2/61. Hook a medium thick piece of stub wire
Making the pistil and stamens
2. Cut 2.5cm (1") lengths of ribbon from orange/yellow crepe (younger flowers) and pale yellow crepe (older flowers).
3. Colour the top of the longest side of the pale yellow ribbon with a line of brown pen. Finely fringe the ribbon, cutting through the pen line to create the anther.
4. Tacky glue along the base of the fringing.
5. Wrap the fringed ribbon over the wire hook to cover it.
3/6Making the petals
6. Colour your crepe. I dipped 7.5cm (3”) of some of my lengths of cream crepe ribbon in pale pink water based paint and ink and others in darker shades of pink.
7. Cut the petals from these coloured ribbons using the petal template. You will need five petals per flower.
8. Cup your petals.
9. Rub some creamy yellow and peach pastels into your cups.
10. Using thick stub wire, curl the petals over backwards either side of the V-shape at the centre of the top of each petal template.
11. Apply a little tacky glue at the base of each petal and pinch them together.
12. Apply a little more glue at the base and attach a petal at 12 o’clock. Attach another at five o’clock. Then attach a petal behind these two petals. Add another at 10 o’clock, slightly behind the 12 o’clock petal and then attach the final petal between the five o’clock and 10 o’clock petals.
4/6Making the sepals
13. Cut the sepals from green crepe paper, using the sepal template. I used a green doublette, with the darker shade on the outside. You will need five per flower.
14. Rub a little dark pink pastel into the inner side of the sepals.
15. Cup each sepal gently.
16. Apply a little tacky glue to the bases of the sepals and attach them evenly to the back of the bases of the petals.
5/6Assembling the finished stem
17. Wind a little floral tape at the base of the flower, just under the sepals, to thicken that section of the stem.
18. Cut ribbons of green crepe and tacky glue them.
19. Wrap the whole stem in green crepe.
20. Add leaves if desired, using the leaf template for shape and pattern. You can add more flower heads to the stem to add shape and length if you want bigger stems or just stick to single stems, which look wonderful displayed in vases.
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