Bookish Christmas Roses

One weekend evening, my sister and I had a bit of a Christmas craft session and decided to make some bookish Christmas decorations from an old and extra copy of Great Expectations. These paper roses look great on the Christmas tree or as a present topper, whichever you prefer, so here’s how you make them:

For this project you will need:

1. A book that you don’t mind ripping the pages out of.
2. Hot Glue Gun (and glue)
3. Scissors
4. A skewer or something similar to curl the edges of the petals around
5. Thin wire and string (if making tree decorations)

For each rose, you need four pages. So, take a deep breath and prepare yourself for the pain of ripping up a book. Once you’ve managed that, each page needs to be square. The simplest way to do this is to fold one corner diagonally until the edges line up. Cut away the excess and unfold to see your square.

Fold each square in half diagonally. Then fold each triangle in half and then half again. You should end up with four triangles that look like this:

Next, take the scissors, and keeping the fold as one of the edges, round the top of the triangle off to create a petal shape.

Once all four pages are cut into the petal-like shape, snip the point off and unfold.

Each flower has eight petals. On one, cut a single petal out so you have a seven and a one. On the next cut the flower so you have a six and a two. On the third, cut so you have a five and three. On the last flower, cut in half so you have two fours.

Put one of the fours to one side. I also choose not to use the two as well as I think it looks too tightly packed, but it is up to you.

Take the seven and use the hot glue gun to stick two petals together, overlapped. This creates something that is almost conical.

Immediately after glueing (whilst the glue is still warm), take your skewer and curl the petals outwards.

Repeat for all pieces except the one.

For the one, roll up as tight as you want the centre of your rose and secure with glue.

With all pieces glued, it’s time to start glueing them together. Start with the second biggest and glue around the outside of the base and stick inside the largest piece.

Repeat with all pieces.

The next part is only for those who wish to turn their roses into tree decorations. Take a thin, bendable piece of wire and cut off a piece around an inch long. Loop the wire over the skewer and twist the ends together, leaving a big enough gap for string or ribbon to fit through.

Flip the rose upside-down and place the wire into the gap at the centre of the rose and secure with some hot glue.

Add a ribbon or some string and tie to your tree. You now have a bookish decoration that is sophisticated and can, if wanted, be put up all year round.

We wish everyone happy holidays filled with love and hope.

C🌙