How to Make a Super Easy Rose Out of Clay

First, you will need to make sure you have everything on this long list of Materials.

1.) Oven-bake clay (you can find it in a craft store for about $10 a brick.)
2.)An oven to bake your clay in (you can find it in your kitchen.)
3.) A toothpick, or anything with a sharp point, for detailing (you shouldn't buy anything, I'm sure you have SOMETHING with a sharp point!)
4.)Paint, markers, glue/glitter, etc. (you may already have these, or you can buy them at any art store.)

Second, you rip off a piece of clay about the size of a golf-ball. Roll it around in your hands for a while to make it really soft so it is easier to work with.

Then you rip off about 5-10 pea sized balls of clay, out of that clay you've worked down. Roll those around one at a time, using your fingertips or the palm of your hand. Whenever you feel ready to, smush those little balls down so they are flat... these are your petals. The rougher they look the better... it's more natural.

Once you have all your petals, you start assembling them together. Take the first petal and fold it in half (like a taco shell.) This is your starter petal, you want to hold it vertically and be sure that the end on the top is 'open'. You will then attach the rest of the petals, one at a time, going in circles around the starter petal, smoothing the tops down.

It is super easy to do. Just put the petals on the way petals are on a rose... and you have finished this step when you see a rose bud. You can do an open rose bud, or a closed rose bud... either way it's as simple as creating the petals, and then putting them together.

After this, you may want to add leaves. A stem is possible as well, but to keep it simple (this is a project a 5 year old could do) we'll just attach the leaves to the rose.

To make the leaves, you follow the same process as creating the petals only slightly larger. After you have smooshed them, lay them on a flat surface, and using your sharp object (toothpick, knife, whatever) carefully cut out a V shape, curving the sides a bit. To give your leave a more natural look, you'll want to use the sharp object going up the sides and make little notches. This will pull the clay a bit but that's fine... It looks more natural the less 'perfect' it is.

Lightly detail the top of your leaf... creating an indent with your sharp object that would be the stem.

Make 2 or 3 leaves, and then press them onto the bottom of your rose bud, top side up. Your leaves will make a nice base to help your rose stand.

Once your rose(s) are assembled, you'll bake them in the oven according to the directions on the package. (I recommend placing a sheet of aluminum foil over the cookie sheet.)

After the rose(s) are baked and cooled, you can paint/decorate them. You can paint the leaves green and the petals white and use a colored marker or paint pen to add some pretty detail and color to the tips of the petals.

You could also use glue, and glitter, to put a nice finishing touch to your rose. When you're all done, sign the bottom and give it as a gift. These are so fun and easy to make that you'd have a house full if you kept all your roses to yourself!