Paper Rose Wall Hangings Tutorial

Supplies:
Some sort of base*
Paper
Glue gun
Spray paint
Ribbon, tulle, ric rac, etc. (for hanging)

*About the bases: Both of the wreaths were done on 1/4" MDF wreath forms. One painted black for the Halloween wreath and the other painted white for the cottage wreath. The Circle Wall hanging was actually the piece left over from the center of the black wreath's form after we cut it out. The frame was an old cheap black frame that I base coated with white and then glued on the roses.

Step 1: Draw a spiral on your paper. Here I am using magazine pages. Newspaper and books work well too. I like the size, thickness and glossiness of magazine pages. I drew the spiral with Sharpie because I knew for this one I'd be spray painting it black. For the white roses, I use light pencil lines. (And really after cutting a bunch, you won't even need to draw the spiral--you'll be able to cut it in your sleep!) :)

Step 2: Cut out the spiral and roll it starting with the outside, going toward the inside of the circle.

Step 3: At this point your spiral will be rolled quite tightly. I like to let it unfurl a bit. This gives you more of an open rose shape.

Step 4: Repeat steps 1-3 A LOT!

Step 5: When you have the rose unfurled to the size you'd like it, place a small amount of glue or tape at the outside edge to secure it. Then start gluing them to your form. I put a large glob of hot glue and plop the rose right in the center of it. This will hold the rose to the wreath and also hold the spiral in shape.

For this wreath I first went around with very large roses and then went back in to fill in the gap with smaller ones.

When I have all the roses glued on, I like to turn the wreath upside down just to make sure everything is very secure--you don't want any centers of the roses to come loose. If there are some that are loose, just squeeze some more glue down into the center and push the paper into it.

Step 6: Spray paint. (Sorry no pictures of that). For the black wreath I did LOTS of layers so that none of the text really showed through. For the white cottage ones, I do a light coating so some of the text comes through. I also choose my pages carefully for the white ones. I choose pages that are light with very few dark colors.

You can see below what they looked like before the spray painting. The black wreath actually looked really pretty. Without even thinking about it, I had used very dark pages. It would have looked fine without the spray paint, but I was specifically making a Halloween wreath so I did spray it.

Some other options I'd like to try:
1. Painting the pages before with acrylic paint so I don't need to spray paint with finished.
2. Leaving one "natural" (no paint) and burning the edges of the roses.

Black Wreath Before the Spray Paint

White Wreath Before the Spray Paint

Step 7: Attach your hanger. I generally use ribbon and bits of fabric, tulle, ric rac, etc.

Don't want to make your own? The wreaths have both sold as has the Circle Wall Hanging, but the  frame is available here. And keep checking back in my shop. I'll be making more.

If you do make your own, please link back to this tutorial so I can see your gorgeous handiwork!!