To start making your roses, take the smallest petal (which is the center piece) and shape it by rolling it almost into a coil. Then, taking the next petal, wrap it gently around the coil. Now using your thumb and index finger, gentle press the clay at the top of this petal to help make its shape look more naturally uneven and more delicate.

Using this same method, add the other five petals. By the time you get to the outside of your rose, you will be using 3 petals to wrap around in order to complete the shape. Of course you can add as many petals as you wish. You can really make them look natural by copying the real rose and softening those edges, as well as giving them irregular shapes.

Once you are happy with the size and shape of the rose, it would be wise to cut off the bulky stem..

Follow manufacturer's instructions as to air-drying or oven baking etc.

How to paint your roses
We painted our roses using a method which created a look of aged copper and brass. This was done as part of another project 'How to revamp a wrought iron mirror' where we attached the roses to the mirrors' frame. (Click on the link below to see how we painted our clay roses).
How to revamp a wrought iron mirror - click here