How to Make a TINY Paper Quilled Rose – Free Tutorial

Yes, I’m finally back with a tutorial!  Although I already have a tutorial on the blog for making a paper quilled rose, and another post showing the sizes of paper needed for different sized roses, I still get questions about how to make a teeny tiny paper quilled rose, since I make and us them.

Just how tiny ARE these paper quilling roses?  They are about 1/4″ (6mm) in diameter.  They might be a tiny bit smaller or bigger depending on the length of paper.  That is tiny, friends!

And just what do I used these tiny paper quilled roses for?  I have used them in frame designs, card designs, and a lot of jewelry!  Click here or the image below to learn how to use them to make adorable and elegant earrings!

Therefore I thought it was high time to create this tutorial!  Now, before I continue, you’ll notice that for the first time I have watermarked all of my photos right across the middle.  Usually I just add my website to the bottom corner so that if my photos are shared people can easily find my site.  However, due to the increasing problem of people stealing photos (and sometimes whole posts!) I feel it is sadly necessary to put my name bigger and in the middle of my photos.  I know they don’t look quite as pretty, but I don’t know what else to do.  I hope someday for an honest world where artists (and anyone else!) don’t have to worry about others stealing their hard work and passing it off as their own!  So now, onto the fun stuff!

To make a tiny paper quilled rose you need:

• a strip of paper 1/8″ (3mm) wide and 3-6″ long
• a slotted quilling tool (find it here at Custom Quilling, or here on Amazon)
• glue – my favorite is PPA which you can find here on Amazon. (click here to see some posts I’ve written about glue for quilling).
• Fine tip glue applicator bottle.  This is optional, you can always just use a toothpick or needle tool to dab the glue on. However, I find the fine tip bottle perfect for squeezing glue into the layers of the rose for the final step!

Directions:

• Start by inserting your strip of paper into your slotted quilling tool and roll it just a bit.  Then you will fold your paper at an approximately 90 degree angle backwards as shown in the center photo.  Continue rolling the paper, but at an angle so that it flares on the top and the bottom corner of the folded triangle portion stays touching the quilling tool.  *note* you can also fold the paper forward instead of backwards, just make sure you do it the same direction for every fold in the rose.

• When you have rolled so that the folded triangle portion cannot be seen anymore it is time to fold your strip backwards again.  Continue folding your paper and rolling, making sure the top flares out while the bottom always stays close to the quilling tool.

• When you have finished, take it off of the tool.  It will unfold a bit like a spring as shown in the left photo below.  That is fine.  Now it’s time to glue together your rose!  Put a drop of glue on the bottom tab of the rose. Put more dabs all the way up the rose.  Then gently push the layers back together into a rose shape.

• Turn the layers counter-clockwise to get it to look the best.  Play around with it, adjusting it so that not all the corners are on top of each other.  When you have it so that you think it looks best, use your glue applicator (I find it best to use one with a very find tip) to insert glue into all of the edges as shown.  Hold onto it for at least 10-20 seconds, depending on how fast your glue sticks, and then set it down to dry.  Usually I set my rose under a lightweight object such as a plastic lid of something to keep it weighted down so it doesn’t spring open while it is drying.  If you are using a tacky glue this isn’t necessary.  I, however, love to use Matte PPA, so that there are no shiny bits of glue on my finished rose.  PPA takes slightly longer to dry, but for the matte finish it is worth it for sure!

• So now your rose is done!  You might be wondering what you can do with your tiny paper quilled rose.  They are great for embellishing frame designs, cards, tags, etc.  I also use them for jewelry.  I’ll be giving some details about how to turn them into fun jewelry in the next post.  Stay tuned!

When I made the colored variety roses in this photo below I was using a tacky glue.  If you look closely you can see the glints of the glossy dried glue between the layers of some of the roses.

By the time I made these rainbow roses below, I was using the Matte PPA
.  No more shiny bits!

Stick around and check out some of the other fun stuff on the blog!

Click here to view more FREE paper quilling tutorials!

Click here to view paper quilling tips and tricks!

Click here to view a list of places to buy quilling supplies around the world!

Click here to view some of my own quilling projects, with tips so you can make your own if you’d like!

*This post contains some affiliate links.  If you purchase products through the affiliate links I get a small percentage (at no extra cost to you!).  I only link to products that I believe in and/or love to use myself.  Thank you for supporting my blog!