Making Ribbon Roses

Taking a little break from the Fairytale Challenge today... so I thought I might share a clever technique I learned last weekend.

Making ribbon roses.

I always imagined that they would be fiddly to create - but they're not! In fact Master Nine mastered the technique too...

Now Master Nine is a bit of a Rough Nut, so I was incredibly surprised when he took an interest in what I was doing... Let's just say that he's not the kind of boy who would usually be interested in making flowers. In fact, he'd probably be horrified if he knew that I was sharing these pictures with you - after all - he has a REP to protect!




So we fiddled around with various ribbons, and this one was the easiest to work with. The satin ones were just a bit too slippery for learning with, but this one has a bit of width and a rough texture which made it easier to grip. This particular ribbon was wrapped around one of our recent baby gifts - so of course we saved it for our craft stash.



Basically, you find the centre of your ribbon length, and then fold each side back and forth across each other like the photo above shows. You probably remember making these accordion type folds with paper when you were younger. Obviously the ribbon doesn't fold neatly like the paper does... but it doesn't need to be that precise.



Now I think this final step was the part which fascinated Master Nine the most. It really is quite clever. You pinch the end, holding one ribbon in place while you pull the other ribbon through.... and right before your very eyes, a rose will appear!

Try it for yourself and see.

To finish them off, you would use a needle and thread to secure the petals. But we were having so much fun with the process itself, that we kept pulling them out... and making them over and over again.

Some days we're very easily amused!