Craft Tutorial: How to Make a Duct Tape Rose Bridal Bouquet

One of the best ways to save money on your wedding is with DIY projects.  A simple project to tackle is making your own bridal flower bouquets.  If you are looking for an inexpensive alternative to fresh or silk floral, try making this attractive duct tape rose bouquet.

To make your duct tape rose bouquet, you will need:

• Duct tape
• Scissors
  
• Pipe cleaners
  
• Wide ribbon

Duct tape comes in a wide variety of colors and several widths. Using wider tape will yield larger finished roses. Choose one or more colors of duct tape corresponding to your wedding colors to make the petals of the flowers, and green duct tape to make leaves and wrap stems. (For this bouquet, we will also use black duct tape to wrap the stems of the flowers together to finish the bouquet.)

To start the center of the flower, cut a piece of tape about 2 inches long.  Carefully fold the end of the tape to a triangular point as shown.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Starting a one edge, roll the piece into a conical shape.  (This part is kind of tricky at first, but it's important that you get it right; if the center isn't conical, the rest of the petals won't lay properly.)

Cut another 2 inch strip of duct tape and fold the end to a point. Wrap this piece around the center cone to form a second petal. If you are unhappy with the petal placement, peel it off and try again until you are satisfied.

Continue adding more duct tape petals until the flower reaches the desired fullness.  Make sure the petals are added evenly all the way around the flower, keeping the center cone in the middle of the flower.

Cut a strip of green duct tape approximately the same length as a pipe cleaner. Lay the strip with the sticky side facing up and lay the pipe cleaner along one edge of the tape. Carefully roll the duct tape around the pipe cleaner as tightly as possible.

Hold the tape-wrapped pipe cleaner against the base of the flower so that it sticks out like a stem. Use one or two short strips of green duct tape to attach the stem to the head of the flower.

Cut a 2 inch strip of green duct tape and fold the end to a point to make a leaf. Wrap 2 to 3 green leaf pieces around the rose to finish the head of the flower.

Repeat the steps above until you have enough duct tape flowers to make a complete bouquet.  To make a small bouquet, use a dozen roses; add more if you wish to make a fuller bouquet.

Pick three flowers to go in the center of the bouquet. Line them up and use a short strip of green duct tape around the stems to hold them together. Tape as close to the base of the flower head as possible.

One by one, align additional flowers around the center flowers and secure with duct tape.  Once all flowers have been added, cut the bottoms of the stems so that they are all the same length.

Wrap all of the stems together with duct tape.  I used black, but you could also use green or any other color.  Wrap from just under the heads of the flowers to the bottom of the stems.  To cover the bottoms, make an "X" using two strips of duct tape covering the bottom from two different directions.  Wrap more tape around these strips to cover them and give the bouquet a finished look.  Tie a bow of wide ribbon around the bouquet at top of the stems, and you are done!