Mini Origami Rose Earrings

Hello everyone, today we'll be shrinking down origami until they are perfect to be worn as a necklace or earrings! I picked this particular origami because I love how detailed it looks and how easily it can be customized. We'll first learn how to make it in full scale, but then we'll need to go veeeery small... we will see what's the limit for that at the end!

• Thin colored paper (I suggest to use at least green and red, but you can be creative here)
• Epoxy resin
• Earring hooks (and maybe a few small metal rings)
• Vinyl glue (not mandatory)

Tools you will need:

• A hand drill with a small tip (or a dremel tool)
• A toothpick
• Tweezers and pliers
• A thumbtack and a clothespin

First of all, you'll have to learn how to do this origami. You will need a total of 6 squares of paper, 3 red (for the petals of the rose) and 3 green (for the leaves). You can start with squares of 8 cm in side (about 3 inches).

You can follow the video tutorial on top (it's my first "tutorial", I hope I was not too fast) or check out the next few steps. If you already know how to make the magic cube rose origami, you can skip those steps :)

Take one of the red squares and follow the steps shown in the pictures. There's not much to say except try to make deep folds, tracing each new one with the back of your nails. The red module is symmetric, so you just have to replicate the diagonal fold on the other side, then make them at the same time, one inside the other (maybe the video is easier to follow here).

Make 3 of these modules.

The green module is exactly the same as the red one, except for the last few steps. You will have to make two extra folds that makes it not symmetric anymore. Again, the video might be more clear about this. At the end, you should get a piece that looks like the final image of this step.

Make 3 of these modules.

You now need to assemble the 6 modules together. I usually prefer to proceed 3 at the time, connecting the red modules, then the green ones, and then everything together, in a last, easy step. Before assembling the two parts together, you can use some glue (applied on the inside corner) in order to prevent the rose from disassembling later (of course, this won't be a huge problem with the miniature because we will sink it in resin).

It's now time to try and make a tiny rose! I think that the best ratio between smallness and actual feasibility is having squares of 2cm in side (a little bit more than 3/4 of an inch). You can try to go even smaller, but the result is that you will have a very hard time making the folds and assembling the rose, and at the end it might even lose some detail due to the resin. I'll show my record (1.3cm, 1/2 inch) at the end of this instructable!

In order to dip the roses in resin, I used a thumbtack in the back of the rose (where there is a natural hole due to the assembly process). To keep them upright while the resin cures, I used a clothespin to hold the thumbtack, as show in the picture.

Prepare all the roses and then mix a little amount of resin. I mixed a total of 16 grams of components A and B, and got a lot to spare at the end. Note that my resin has a ratio of 10:6, so check what's yours before pouring. Just make sure to respect the mixing ratio (using a very precise scale) otherwise the resin might not cure at all!

Don't forget to use gloves while handling resin! You really don't want this stuff on your hands, trust me!

It's time to dip the rose in resin! Hold it with the thumbtack and dip it all in. You should see a slight change in color of the paper, but it's not a problem, it will be strong and shiny when it's finished!

Use a toothpick to remove the excess resin, as if you wanted to "squeeze" the rose. If there is too much resin left on the rose, it will most likely lose some detail. When you're ready, open the rose to its final position and put it on the clothespin, letting the resin cure for a day or two (may depend on the resin you're using). If you want, you can curl the leaves a little bit, as shown.

When the rose is ready for this step, it should be as hard as a rock (but don't test this too much, don't forget it's empty on the inside!). You should poke a tiny hole in one of the leaves using a hand drill or a dremel tool. I recommend you to drill the hole where the paper makes an extra fold, as shown in the picture.

Once the hole is poked, you can insert the metal ring and the earring hook, then close it with a pair of pliers. You may need to use 1 or 2 rings, depending on the rotation you want the rose to have. Of course, it's not mandatory to make an earring, you may as well use it as a necklace, if you want :)

The earrings are finished! You can give them as a present to your beloved one and make them happy :)

Now it's up to you to customize them! For example, you can use different colors for the petals, or change its size! In the last picture, you can see the smallest rose I made (squares with sides of 1.3cm, 1/2 inch). It was a pain, but I love how tiny it came out! You can see it compared to the size of a 1€ coin.

I hope you enjoyed this project, please let me know if you make it yourself! Don't forget to follow me on instagram @fabcolella, I would appreciate that :D

- Made with love, for instructables.com, 2021