Give a really special Mother's Day gift by crafting these Handmade paper roses. It tends to get a bit messy, but is lots of fun and the finished flowers look wonderful.

What you'll need:

How to make it:

1. Simply create handmade paper, then, while the paper is still wet, cut it into 1-1/2" strips.
2. Create petal shapes. Start with a strip which is approximately 2" long. Trim off the corners to form curves.
3. Roll tightly around the toothpick, squeezing the bottom of the rose around the end of the toothpick.
4. Continue this process with varying lengths of strips to create the petals.
5. End with a longer strip - approx. 3" long and squeeze firmly at the bottom so that it will adhere to the toothpick when dry.
6. Stick toothpick in styrofoam to allow rose to dry upright. The rose will dry in approximately 24 hours.
7. The base of the rose is then created by wrapping with floral tape.

Tips:

Try out this Handmade Paper recipe at Pioneerthinking.com.

These roses, which will dry to a durable hard shape, can be used by themselves in a vase or in numerous craft creations such as on wreaths, picture frames, and boxes. You can even create lightly-scented paper roses by adding crunched up rose petals to the paper pulp mixture.