Everything's Coming up Rosettes...

Rosettes. You see them everywhere. But hardly ever for Saint Patrick's day! What?!! Has the world gone mad? I adore rosettes so I thought I’d create one for St Patrick’s day, or any time of year that you want to wish your sister some luck! Whew--rosette lovers can all breathe freely again...

Clover Rosette Tutorial {finished size about 4 inches wide}

Getting started:

You’ll need a sheet of paper for each rosette, scissors, glue stick, AND a 2 to 3-inch backing circle cut from one of the following: cardstock, poster board, a file card, or thin cardboard. (I traced a circle around the bottom of a cup onto a file card.)

Access the free printable here by clicking on the picture to bring it up full-sized, then right-clicking on it to save the 300 dpi jpg to your computer. Print. Cut out the printed pieces, cutting out only the center design you plan to use.

Pleat both strips:

Notice the “s” on both strips. This stands for “start here”. Fold this end upward (like on the right strip shown above), then continue folding in ½-inch accordion pleats across entire strip. Use the ½-inch cheat marks printed on the side to help. (If you try to keep the side edges aligned as you fold, your pleating will be a little less funky.)

Accordion pleats

Make one long paper strip and hide the “s”:

Take one strip. Apply glue stick to the back of the end pleat that doesn’t have an “S”. Glue that pleat over the “s” pleat on the other strip, covering the “S”.

Make a continuous loop:

Again, apply glue to the back of the fold without an “s”, then place it over the fold with the “s”, forming a loop.

Now it gets a little bit tricky for those of us with less than four hands...

Flatten it:

Gently gather the top of the rosette together, then press down lightly to flatten. Make sure the green part is in the center. Flip over, wrong side up.

Apply a good thick coat of glue stick to the wrong side of the 2 to 3-inch cardstock backing circle.

Very lightly, place the glued backing over the center, glued side down. Try to push outer edges of rosette inward toward the center, bringing the middle part as close together as possible. Now press backing circle down gently until rosette folds stay in place.

Flip rosette over, glue banner to the center. Glue ribbon tails to the back, if desired. And present!

And yes, you can cut off the background for a clover-shaped rosette. I recommend you don't trim the background until after you've accordion-folded it. Otherwise, your pleats might get really crazy on you. (Mine did, but that's pretty much my standard procedure!)

Enjoy your visit!


Susan