Taking a break from wedding posts to talk about paper rosettes. We'll just entitle this:
Brickhouse Banners
I started making banners for family parties and am toying with the idea of selling them, but I always make the same style, similar to this:
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| My first banner, made on a whim for my brother's welcome home party. |
When I got the invitation for my cousin's fiancee's bridal shower, I decided it was time to switch it up and try something new.
I saw some ideas for Fourth of July decorations on a website (not Pinterest) and decided to try rosettes using crepe paper. The directions on the website weren't too descriptive, but how hard could it be? It involved a piece of crepe paper cut to 8" x 20", and then you glued two strips of crepe paper on top in different colors, and folded like an accordion. Well they looked god awful. Turns out crepe paper is difficult to work with.
So, I set out scouring the internet for a paper rosette tutorial and they were all terrible. None gave measurements whatsoever! They basically said to have a piece of paper 12" long, fold like an accordion, glue the two ends together, push the center in to flatten it out, and it should be perfect. Many failed attempts later, they weren't even close to perfect. So here I am to tell everyone how to make the perfect paper rosette --now, including measurements!
To start off, I would recommend buying the Martha Stewart Crafts Scoring Board and Envelope Tool. It is just over $13 on Amazon and it is amazing! I wasn't going to buy it at first, and just make the accordions by hand, but I am so glad I bought it because it made it so much easier, and I will totally use it for other projects!
I used 12" x 12" scrapbook paper and 8.5" x 11" cardstock. I wanted to have layered rosettes on the banner, so I made some strips that were 2.25" wide and some were 3.0" wide (and 11 or 12 inches long).
There is a ruler at the top and sides of the scoring board, and it comes with a bone folder. For the 2.25" wide strips, I scored them every 1/4 of an inch. For the 3" wide strips, I scored them every 1/2". Here's what I didn't find on other tutorials: two strips are needed for one rosette. I tried scoring every 1", but it didn't work out (I have a feeling it might have worked had I used three strips instead of two, but didn't attempt it).
Once all the strips are scored to the proper width, line two up end to end to make the first rosette. You want to glue them together so there is a seamless transition from one strip to the other (so the zigzags all flow together).
Here I had to cut off a little piece from the one strip. Below you can see how the piece on the right is going to sit like a hat on the left piece, so there is a seamless transition.
I put hot glue on the piece on the left before sliding the piece from the right, on top. Then, you're going to do the same to the other ends, so they form a circle.
Next, you're going to pinch the top and push down to flatten the circle.
And, voila!
Squeeze the edges to make the center smaller, and put hot glue in the middle to hold it all together. I like to put a piece of scrap paper over it, for extra security.
Hold down until mostly dry, so it all stays together.
For the 2.25" strips where I scored every 1/4", I probably could have gotten away with shorter strips (length wise), because I had to really squeeze them together to glue the center close enough to glue, but they still turned out nice.
I went through a lot of hot glue and burned my fingers a lot, but am so happy with the finished product! I still have to figure out how hang them perfectly, but they still look pretty awesome.
So, who wants a banner!?
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