How to Make Christmas Rosette Ornaments

I have been making paper ornaments over the past couple of days and have loved making these Christmas Rosette Ornaments because they are so easy.  And it’s easy to create something unique each time you make them.  Just change the paper you use or….

add different colors of glitter, buttons, small holiday embellishments, and like I did today, you can add pre-made holiday tags which makes these unique and even more easy!!

   

I spotted these papers at Hobby Lobby a couple of months ago.   I like their selection of scrapbooking papers the best.   I especially like the more retro looking paper that I used for these rosettes.

To get started, simply take your papers and divide them into strips.  I folded the papers in half lengthwise, creased them really well, and tore them by hand down the center.  Then I tore each of the halves in half lengthwise in the same way.  Of course you could use scissors but I just liked the soft edge that creasing and tearing  gave the strips.  I also think that the fancy scissors with the scalloped edges would be very nice here.    Then after you have your strips torn, take each strip and fold the entire strip into an “accordion”. 

    

After you have all your strips folded you can then glue them together.  Each rosette will take two of the glued together “accordions”.

        

I found these mini wood clothes pin clips (purchased from the Ballard’s Catalog for a completely different purpose) to be the best and most helpful crafting tool.  Use whatever you have on hand even paper clips will work.   After gluing two strips together I used two of the clips to hold them tight while they dried.  And I have to say Aleen’s Tacky Glue is my favorite glue for projects like this.  After all of the strips were dry , then it was time to from each strip into a rosette by gluing the opposite ends together and clipping them till dry.  So you are gluing it to itself to form a circle or a tube it that makes sense. 

    

Here is the tricky part.  Once the accordions are dry and secure, you will have to play with it and gently press it down,  pattern side up,so that it pops into the rosette shape.  It seems to be easier if you gather the inner accordion pleats together and gently pop it into place.  You will figure it out I promise!  The rosettes will not stay flat until you place and glue something to the center of the rosette. I had some small wooden circles that I used from an old game that I found at Goodwill.  Recycling at it’s crafting best!   I glued the circles to the center of my rosettes and and then added some weight to the top to keep them flat until I was sure they were dry.   I also used some cute holiday tags that I had and added them to the center of some of my rosettes. 

And then you can get creative by adding some glitter.  It’s just  not the holidays till you pull out the glitter!  And Martha Stewart has some very sparkly glitter in so many  gorgeous colors.

    

I am also in love with red and white butcher’s twine.   I replaced the silver and gold metallic threads that came on the tags with the butcher’s twine.  It just gives your rosettes a nicer and more homemade look I think. 

Here you can see that the different papers like the music sheets I used on some of these paired with different pre-made holiday tags really changes the looks and makes each one unique. 

This is probably my favorite one out of the batch of many that I made over the past few days.  I found a snowflake button in a jar of mixed buttons and embellishments that I picked up at Michaels’ quite a while ago and in it I also found the mini gingerbread man cookie cutter.  Both were glued on to the center tags.  And don’t worry, the Aleen’s Tacky Glue dries clear. 

    

The music paper is fun to work with but I really love the retro paper.  I added a silver button right on top of the green glittered center.

These are a quick, easy, and fun project that let’s you use your imagination on how you want to embellish them to make each one unique.   Have fun and don’t let all the cute papers in the paper aisle at your favorite craft store overwhelm you!  Just get started!

I am linking up to the Christmas Craft Linky Party over at Shanty 2 Chic!