For those of you who want to add a little whimsy into your love of books, I’ve got a fun tutorial on how to make your own roses out of book pages! This blog will focus specifically on making book page roses for your hair, but this technique can make larger roses that you can add to vases, turn into wedding bouquets, make garlands out of, etc. Make them for yourself or for others!
- To begin, gather your materials. You will need:
- A recycled book, sheet music, magazine, etc
- Scissors
- Ruler or tape measure
- Hot glue gun and glue (or superglue)
- Bobby pin (optional)
- Watercolor paint and brush (optional)
First, decide on the size of your rose. For book page rose hairpins, I cut three squares of paper 2 inches on each side.
Fold the paper into a triangle shape. Fold again. Fold one more time until you end up with this.
Cut your triangle so it will resemble more of a “petal” when you are done. To do this, cut off the tip of the triangle and shape the edges.
Do NOT worry too much about perfection. In fact, when I made the flower for this post I cut a terrible shape but continued making the rose to show you how easy this craft is to make. Unfold your shape.
(This is a terrible flower. But continue onwards!)
Take each individual “flower.” Separate them. Cut your first “flower” into sections of one petal and seven petals. Cut the second “flower” into two petals and six petals. Cut the third “flower” into three petals and five petals.
Now, take your hot glue gun or your superglue. (I personally use a hot glue gun, but if you need a particularly durable flower use superglue.)Glue your petals into flower shapes by putting hot glue on one end petal and placing it under the petal on the other cut end. Repeat until all petals are glued into a rough flower shape. This will be hardest for the one and two petal sections.
Now, begin gluing your petals inside each other to shape your rose. Start with the biggest section and add the second largest section and so on until all are glued.
At this point, you can fold your rose if you don’t like how it looks with your hands gently by pulling down on the outer petals.
Optional step: paint your book page rose with watercolors if you want it to be more vibrantly colored. This looks awesome but it won’t be as obvious that you made this from a book.
When you have your shape (and color) how you want it, glue your book page rose onto a bobby pin.
Your book page rose is done!
Place in hair and have fun!
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