The required ingredients: A roll of 2 inch wide duct tape.
Heavy wire or small rods.
Scissors.
Making the stem.
First, you'll need something to be the "base" of your stem.
The best thing I've found so far is 12 gauge wire, which can be found fairly inexpensively.
You can cut it to any length you desire, really, but I recommend somewhere around the 8 inch area.
It's not too long, won't eat up a lot of tape, and it just looks good.
Next you're going to cut a 6 to 8 inch length of tape into 3-4 thin strips.
From these, cut 2 half inch pieces from the strips and use these to cap the wire so it's not sharp and "pokey.
" Finally, simply wrap the remaining pieces around the stem in an ascending swirl.
Just make sure you cover the wire completely.
Making the petals.
Cut 2 inch long pieces of tape.
These will be square.
Sticky side up, fold the top right corner down over half way across the square of duct tape.
Then fold the top left corner down the same way, creating a thicker triangle area that is not sticky, but leaving a sticky tab on the bottom.
A decent looking rose generally takes about 25 petals, so you can be assured you'll be pretty decent at making them by the end of the first rose.
Wrap the first petal tightly around the top of the stem, and simply wrap further petals over and over in your desired pattern.
It sounds rather complicated, but it's actually a lot easier than words make it seem.
You'll understand when you start this process.
When you're satisfied with the general size and shape of the flower bud created, wrap a small strip of duct tape over the outermost petals at the line they all meet.
This helps to seal it all together, as well as looking more like an actual flower.
If you're using separate colors for the stem and the petals, I recommend making the strip of tape holding it all together to be the same color as the stem, not the petals.
Leaves, just to make it fancy.
To add leaves, fold a 5 to 6 inch length of tape over end, making a 2.
5 to 3 inch by 2 inch rectangle.
Fold this over again, allowing you to make two leaves at once.
Cut an oval shape out of the tape, and you've made two leaves at once.
Now simply attach the leaves to the stem using then strips of tape around 1.
5 inches long.
Again, if you're using multiple colors, this tape should be the same color as the stem.
It does take some practice, but overall this isn't really all that difficult.
It does make for some rather interesting ornamentation, however, that is almost guaranteed to start a conversation anywhere they're seen.
Try it out and put a few out on your coffee table at home, or desk at work.
What other neat little things can you make out of duct tape? Well, maybe I'll write a few more how to's, if they're in demand...