Essential life skill: making roses from straw wrappers | How About Orange

April 15, 2010

Essential life skill: making roses from straw wrappers

Look what came on top of the straw in my drink from a local Thai restaurant. Completely charming. So my new mission in life is to get good at making roses from paper straw wrappers. It seems like an essential skill to have, just like tying your shoes or balancing your checkbook. So far I have only practiced on one straw and my rose came out looking like a ball of waste paper, but I'm determined to master this new party trick. I think the process should go something like this video here, minus the thread.

61 comments:

HipMomma said...

Ack, Ok, I guess I'll be practicing that too! How cute!

Punctuation Mark said...

Oh so cute!!! you can find creativity in the most unexpected of places... please com over and participate on my latest giveaway!

Melissa said...

How can you say you have lived if you have never folded a rose from a straw wrapper? The answer; you cannot.

Jessica Jones said...

Oh so true.

Unknown said...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v154/annheart/IMG_0035.jpg

its not really the same but this was a neat straw rose.

CourtneyKeb said...

How charming!
Whoever is sitting in the back of the restaurant doing that--I want her job!

Anonymous said...

ha, super cute!

Anonymous said...

As soon as you figure this out, let me know! I work at a restaurant and this would be great to know!

Grandma G said...

No WONDER you didn't have a blog post yesterday! You were too busy trying to figure this out!

Mum rolls her eyes (but grins and likes the cute rose)

Tharvey said...

Yes ~ let us know if you find directions!

Jessica Jones said...

No, Mum, I was working on a brochure that has diagrams of liposuctions and cross sections of boobs with implants in it. Never a dull moment.

Grandma G said...

Wow! How exciting!! Or something.

Kate said...

I usually make my straw wrappers into stars, I'll have to figure this one out too.

Lindsey said...

Aw, that is so dinky! We posted a tutorial on how to make them on our blog a couple of months ago as a valentines thing. Here it is if you are interested...

http://www.filthwizardry.com/2010/02/mini-roses-from-dollar-store-crepe.html

Jessica Jones said...

Ooo, that's it! I will try it tonight.

Abigail Leigh said...

OMG, that drink looks soooooooo good right now. I wish I would have gotten an iced coffee while I was out ; P

Kim said...

That's adorable! Must learn how to do this. I always need skills to entertain the 4yo while we wait for our food. ;)

Anna said...

I love when a total stranger takes the time to do something like this to make my day more beautiful. Just like "How About Orange" does every day. Thank you!

Jeanee said...

So precious!

Tiffany said...

I think I'd rather have that Thai tea, good stuff! Oh and good luck on ur new life skill.

Marisa said...

THIS is why I love your blog. :)

KrisKay said...

The rose is charming, but that drink looks delish!

Jessie said...

My cousin taught me how to fold roses ages ago by making one out of satin ribbon and really creasing the edges. I just followed her creases over and over again until I got it down.

Care said...

When I was in 3rd grade I learned how to make a ribbon rose simply by folding a length of ribbon a certain way and pulling on a tail. Can't explain. Still remember. Don't have a straw wrapper to see if it will work!

Maybe I'll have to hit a drive-thru just for a straw...... :o)

Kate Moore said...

Yup, it's like the ribbon roses. From the centre, start folding like the party streamers you used to make - you know folding the streamer over itself at right angles. When you finish, take one of the ends and gently pull through. Whallah, a rose.

Hi! My name is erica. Would you be my friend? said...

I love that! And I agree...it's absolutely essential!

The Glamorous Housewife said...

Once you get the hang of it, they can be quite easy. Then you can move on to sculpting a rose out of the red wax on those little circle cheeses :).

Thanks doll,
The Glamorous Housewife

Our Little Beehive said...

Too cute!

Dorothy B said...

Yes, I think that's how it's done. I have always folded the ribbon back rather than towards me. I made them years ago with florists ribbon, but began by rolling a section at 45* so I had a stem to hold on to (actually I stapled that). Perhaps you could begin by tucking some of the paper into the straw - and then you'd have a stem to hold onto.
Trying not to start doing this myself... I have too many other things to work on!

Micah Noel said...

You've got to be kidding me! That is super cute and creative. :)

Samantha said...

Cute, but you can't drink out of the straw after you make it. And if you're done drinking, you'll be throwing out the drink so therefore no more cute straw wrapper rose to look at. Still makes makes a nice picture.

Unknown said...

I saw little roses like this in a quilling book, "Quilled Borders & Motifs" by Judy Cardinal. Maybe using a quilling tool would make it easier? (at least more size appropriate)

Sandy a la Mode said...

it's the little things in life that make our day huh??? this is too cute!

objects of whimsy said...

I love detailing this would have delighted me also if I had been presented with my order this way wonderful!

Leila said...

When you are in a restaurant with a couple of squirmy kids, waiting for dinner, you better believe this would be an essential skill!! :)

And then the kids would grow up and say...mom always did this awesome thing with the straw wrapper...

kimberj said...

Oh I have to figure this one out! I love little funny things like this. Thanks for sharing :)

Debra said...

Okay - I will be hitting a fast food resturant later to day to secure some product! lol!

gih said...

That's very stylish and creative.

Dorkys Ramos said...

Ooh I should try this one out. I used to make flowers out of ribbon way back in the day. Let's just see if I remember how to do them!

Jane said...

I think this is more like a quilled rose or a ribbon rose. Basically for a quilled rose you first roll the end into a tight bit then rotate and fold down the paper as you go around. Totally hard to explain, but maybe there is an online tutorial out there.

Jane said...

I think this is more like a quilled rose or a ribbon rose. Basically for a quilled rose you first roll the end into a tight bit then rotate and fold down the paper as you go around. Totally hard to explain, but maybe there is an online tutorial out there.

Becky@ Daily On My Way To Heaven said...

I loved it...and I just linked to your place.

Thank you soooo much for all the good ideas you are always willing to share.

Have a joyous weekend!

lsaspacey said...

It is beautiful and I guess it's just me but all I can think of is that they had to touch my naked straw to put the rose in. If I didn't know for sure that the person who did this was wearing gloves this would just skeeve me out.

Unknown said...

Straw wrapper art . . . equivalent to balloon animals? I see I have a long weekend ahead of me!

Elizabeth. said...

So cute!!

I found these instructions very helpful in figuring out how to make one: http://foldingtrees.com/2009/04/guest-feature-crepe-paper-roses/ (uses crepe paper instead of ribbon- I just didn't fold the straw wrapper over)

Thanks for the idea!

Blair said...

I am going to try and do this every time I come across a paper wrapped straw from now on... I created a Flickr set for my attempts, maybe we should start a Flickr group?

Chelsea B. said...

My mom taught me to fold a paper straw wrapper into a flower by folding the wrapper to a 90 degree angle in the middle and then folding each side over top of the other side until there's only a little left on each end and then pulling the more exposed side through the folds and it makes a flower.... Although now that I try to type it out it's hard to explain with words.

Amy said...

Pretty.
To me, it looks like the straw wrapper was never completely removed. It looks like it was either started from the top end and folded down to meet the part of the straw wrapper left on the top of the straw, or maybe by folding up from the part that remains on the straw.

A Casa da VĂ¡ said...

oh my... beautiful...

carolyn bertram said...

I was surprised there was only one previous poster that thinks like me. My immediate response would be, Eeew, someone touched my straw! It's a really cute idea for me to do but not necessarily a stranger.

Certified germaphobe! :)

oklyous said...

oh that is just briliant:)

Cara @ Live the Home Life said...

This is adorable! Thanks for sharing.

-Cara @ Live the Home Life

Karen said...

Hi! It's nice to know that I'm not the only person that does this. I have been making roses from straw wrappers for more than 10 years now. I do this every time we go to a restaurant. My 6-year old son knows the routine. :-) I learned making the rose using the streamers when I was 8. Since then, I've tried it on different materials. I like making it using the unused straws as well (whenever the server gives us extra). I leave the roses with the tip. For the super nice servers, I make them this:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4043967&l=00556e100b&id=664058766

It surely does make other people's day! ;-)

Leigha said...

Your "Essential Life Skill" posts are quickly becoming my favorites. Too cute.

Unknown said...

haha so cute! another thing to keep your hands busy while you wait for your food to come out at restaurants

Charissa said...

I love how many comments this has generated already! Your audience is quite earnest in helping you master this one.

I was just writing a post about a Thai restaurant that gift-wraps its mints (www.thegiftedblog.com) when I read this.

Is there something about Thai restaurants and these sweet little flourishes?

Ann Martin said...

I see I'm late to the party, but if anyone would like a step-by-step tute on how to fold roses, there's one on my blog: http://allthingspaper-annmartin.blogspot.com/2010/02/folded-rose-tutorial.html You don't need to use a quilling tool btw. Just roll the paper by hand a few turns to get it started before beginning the folding steps.

Anonymous said...

i love these! i practiced making them for a month, and now i just made 50 of them for my moms birhtday party, everybody loved them and wanted to learn how to make them!!

Anonymous said...

How to fold rose from Pandan leaf.

http://playandcraft.blogspot.com/2010/08/rose.html

(Pandan leaf smells nice, better than the chemical air freshner.)

Anonymous said...

my next "essential life skill" to master... then on to nuclear physics...

Jessica Jones said...

When you're done with the physics, I'd do neurosurgery next.