Craft Crafty part 2

This project I was super excited to do. I've been seeing these little paper roses in blogland for a while, but it wasn't until I saw this topiary that I really fell in love with it!

I don't know if you've seen the tutorials for this one so I thought I'd post my own.

Supplies:

Foam ball (I think mine was 3 inches. Actually, it was a decor ball on clearance for a buck!)
Stick (wooden skewer, on hand)
Foam disks ($1, from dollar store)
paper (I used 5 sheets, so about $.25)
Flower moss (also from dollar store)
Can (mine's a corn can)
Something to wrap the can
Lots and LOTS of hot glue
Patience.

Total cost: $2.25!!

Here's the foam disks I used.

I got them from $ tree, and they had a ton. I've seen the balls there before, but they were out on this trip. So I found mine at joann's instead.

It's just too annoying to try to get the flowers so close together that you can't see any white at all, so to start off, cover your ball with something. I used some red tissue paper.



Next, cut your paper. Out of 3 pieces, cut strips 2 1/8 wide. Then cut these into 2 1/8 squares. Out of 1 and a half pieces, cut squares that are 1 1/2 inches. I needed a total of 65 big squares and 60 smaller ones.

The tute I saw had you draw a swirl on the paper. That works, but I didn't find I needed it. Instead, just start at one side, and cut a long long swirl towards the center.
Don't' cut clear to the center, but leave a circle in the middle.
Then cut off the extra so you have a circle that looks like this:



Take the outside of your swirly and start rolling it up.

Keep on rolling until you get to the center circle.

And look, a cute little paper flower!

And the back:

They will be super tight when you start, but will unravel a bit.

You'll need to put a dab of hot glue on the circle of the flower. This will keep your flower together, so you won't wake up one morning and have a bunch of springy papers sticking everywhere!

Now repeat 150 times!

To assemble the topiary: First, stick your stick on the ball. Then start gluing all your flowers on! Use a combination of small and big ones. Place them as close together as you can.

Once your adorable ball is complete, place several disks inside your corn can. Wrap the can with something cute. (I used ribbon. I wanted some cute paper or something, but it was 10:00 at night and I just used what I had. I ran out. (this is the back of the can)

If your observant enough to notice it, you deserve a cookie!

Glue on some flower moss, add a cute little bow, if so inclined, and step back to admire your craftiness!

I also decorated my table for valentines.

Isn't it cute!

On this side, my cute topiary, a candle, and the BEST valentine's day book.

This side, a valentine subway plate, another candle. I decided it needed just a little something else, so I stuck some raspberry kisses (delish by the way!) in a little jar.

And we're all ready for the big day!