Tea Bag Roses

supplies:
tea bag (already used)
scissors
glue (I used glue gun)
nimble fingers =0)


Just a little note on my tutorial:
I have started using glue sticks and toothpick to glue my roses as I go.
No burnt fingers!!!!
And you get to use that last little bit of glue you
can never get out of the bottom of the stick. =)
 

already used tea bag
black tea bags work best
(Herbal does not have much color)
Black tea= brown rose
raspberry tea= pink rose

open tea bag up
(you can either carefully open by little seam,
or just cut open)
dump out grounds.

 

After paper is dry, cut into 3 or 4 strips lengthwise.
(I usually do 4)
 

On right side of strip, fold corner down as shown.
Begin rolling towards you, tightly, to end of folded piece.
This will be the center of your rose.




Continue to pinch together at bottom,
gather, and roll with your fingers.
The 'gathering' keeps the rose fuller.
As you go be sure the center of rose stays lower
than the outside 'petals' you are making.
Think of how real roses are.

As you can see in above photo,
I am pinching bottom with my middle and ring fingers.
I am also using my right hand to help roll, but had to take pic with it. =))
Sometimes I kind of scrunch top edge to add interesting folds to top of rose.
You will get better at this as you practice.
(My first ones were horrible!
You might call them zero personality roses.) =0)


At end, fold corner down towards outside, and hot glue.
(careful! The glue goes right through the paper)
Then twist bottom of rose as tightly as you can.
(see photo below.)

I then just put my roses aside till ready to use.

To glue to project:

 

Hold rose gently by pretty part, and snip
off the pointy end that is gathered tight.
 

(See the little end laying there?
You can actually fluff that up and make the teeniest rose ever!!)