Easy Oval Tea Bag Folding Paper Craft
If you really enjoy your paper folding crafts then you should love this easy, quick and fun craft technique. This pretty looking design is where you create rosette or flower shaped embellishments from paper using a method which is based on using oval shapes.
The craft of tea bag folding is really a simpler version of origami with the main difference being that you can use glues and adhesives to keep your finished designs together.
This particular pattern is made from oval shaped paper pieces and really is about as easy as you can get. It looks great for your cards and scrapbook pages and I'll be showing you step by step how it is done in photos.
Note: This post may contain affiliate links for which I can be compensated.
You can use this technique to make round, rosette and floral style embellishments for your handmade cards and your scrapbooks.
They also make brilliant looking toppers to finish off special wrapped gifts too. Learn this simple method and get making yours today.
Cut out 8 ovals of paper with provided template in your choice of colors
Step 1: Towards the bottom of this page you'll find an oval folding template. Unless you want to draw out your own elongated oval, you will need this template to create this oval shaped tea bag design.
I prefer to print this template on to card (or paper and then stick onto thick card) so I can then cut out an oval and use it to draw around just like a cardboard template; doing it this way means you can easily use up small scraps of paper for your projects.
If you have a die cutting machine, such as a Sizzix Big Shot, you can purchase oval shaped dies to do all your cutting for you. This is a great idea if you plan to make a lot of oval shaped tea bag paper rosettes.
Alternatively, you can also use the free ovals template to print these shapes right over the top of some colored or patterned paper and then just cut the shapes out. The choice is yours.
You need to cut out 8 ovals to make one of these designs. Don't forget that you can choose to print the ovals larger or smaller depending whether you want a larger decoration for a piece of creative wall art or a smaller one for a handmade card or scrapbook page. It's totally up to you.
I really love to finish off my pieces by edging them with some craft ink (as in the mini rubber stamping ink pads) which you gently scrape across the edges of the cut paper. I think this just finishes the edges of the papers off better as you can see below.
Fold a paper oval in half widthways
Step 2: Here's the super easy folding instructions. Follow the image above to fold an oval in half. You fold the bottom end back and match up the tops before making a good crease.
The image shows how the oval looks before you start to fold on the left side and how it should look after you've folded on the right side.
Fold the paper oval in half lengthways
Step 3: Now fold the paper in half again but as if you are closing a book by bringing the right side over to meet the left. Make a crease just along the bottom half. You can crease all the way along but the finished piece looks neater if you don't.
Unfold the oval tea bag shape
Step 4: Open out the fold you just made so your paper goes back to being just a half-oval shape.
Fold a little triangle up to the creased middle line
Step 5: Take hold of the bottom right corner and pull it up to meet the vertical or upright middle crease line. This makes a little triangular flap that looks like a slice of pizza. And that's it. This is one of the easiest pieces to fold. Go back and repeat steps 2-5 to fold all 8 pieces of paper.
Starting to glue the folded papers together
Step 6: Now you've got your 8 folded paper pieces, you can start to glue them all together to make what looks like a paper rosette or flower when finished.
My preferred adhesive for this project are the Zig glue pens because they come with a range of nib sizes (I'm using the chisel tip here) and they are fast to apply, don't make a mess and give you just enough time to position your paper craft before the glue sets.
They're one of my all-time favorite paper craft adhesives, and I have a few. I also like glue dots to use with tea bag folding.
Have a look at the image for step 6 above because where the glue pen nib is, is where you want to be placing the glue. You need the adhesive on the bottom left of your folded paper piece.
The part with glue goes behind another folded oval, you need to line up the points and folds. It sounds complicated but it is actually very easy when you see it in the images.
This is how the papers fit together when glued with an adhesive pen
Step 7: This shows three pieces that have been glued together and how they all line up very neatly. Try and use contrasting shades and colors. I opted for a couple of folded pearly white papers, two blue, two mostly red and two mixed colored patterns that work well together.
You have to slot the papers in and glue near the end
Step 8: Keep gluing in the same manner. As you get near the end, you essentially have to start slotting the pieces in to place.
Putting in the final oval piece
Step 9: This image shows how I am adding in the very last piece which is the most difficult one to do. It's easier to slot it into place and then glue. Don't worry if you cannot line up the middle part perfectly because you can hide that with a central embellishment.
Decorating the paper rosette with red, white and blue embellishments ideal for the 4th July
Step 10: I like to add something to the middle of the finished paper rosette. Here I've added white and blue fabric flowers with a red brad which secures them to the finished flower decoration.
Tea bag folding is fun and I have made a beginner tutorial as well which is based on folding squares.
Don't forget to print off your free template below ...
Free printable oval template for teabag folding, paper rosettes and crafting. Print onto patterned paper or plain card to make templates to draw around.
Free printable oval template for teabag folding, paper rosettes and crafting. Print onto patterned paper or plain card to make templates to draw around.
This free printable is for your personal use only. You are welcome to blog about how you've used this freebie along with your own photos providing that you include a link back to this page.
Click on the design shown above of the ovals pattern sheet so it opens fully which means you can then easily save a copy of this to your own computer. This pattern is just a standard picture file that most computers can view and print out.
Click on the pattern with your mouse, trackpad or tablet drawing pen to open it up in full size view and then choose save image or save image as to get a copy of this template onto your own computer. I appreciate comments and feedback on this craft left below.
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Page Last Updated:
The craft of tea bag folding is really a simpler version of origami with the main difference being that you can use glues and adhesives to keep your finished designs together.
This particular pattern is made from oval shaped paper pieces and really is about as easy as you can get. It looks great for your cards and scrapbook pages and I'll be showing you step by step how it is done in photos.
Note: This post may contain affiliate links for which I can be compensated.
Easy Oval Tea Bag Paper Folding Rosette Flower Tutorial
You can use this technique to make round, rosette and floral style embellishments for your handmade cards and your scrapbooks.
They also make brilliant looking toppers to finish off special wrapped gifts too. Learn this simple method and get making yours today.
Tutorial on How to Make These Easy Paper Folded Tea Bag Rosettes with FREE Printable Ovals Template
Cut out 8 ovals of paper with provided template in your choice of colors
Step 1: Towards the bottom of this page you'll find an oval folding template. Unless you want to draw out your own elongated oval, you will need this template to create this oval shaped tea bag design.
I prefer to print this template on to card (or paper and then stick onto thick card) so I can then cut out an oval and use it to draw around just like a cardboard template; doing it this way means you can easily use up small scraps of paper for your projects.
If you have a die cutting machine, such as a Sizzix Big Shot, you can purchase oval shaped dies to do all your cutting for you. This is a great idea if you plan to make a lot of oval shaped tea bag paper rosettes.
Alternatively, you can also use the free ovals template to print these shapes right over the top of some colored or patterned paper and then just cut the shapes out. The choice is yours.
You need to cut out 8 ovals to make one of these designs. Don't forget that you can choose to print the ovals larger or smaller depending whether you want a larger decoration for a piece of creative wall art or a smaller one for a handmade card or scrapbook page. It's totally up to you.
I really love to finish off my pieces by edging them with some craft ink (as in the mini rubber stamping ink pads) which you gently scrape across the edges of the cut paper. I think this just finishes the edges of the papers off better as you can see below.
Fold a paper oval in half widthways
Step 2: Here's the super easy folding instructions. Follow the image above to fold an oval in half. You fold the bottom end back and match up the tops before making a good crease.
The image shows how the oval looks before you start to fold on the left side and how it should look after you've folded on the right side.
Fold the paper oval in half lengthways
Step 3: Now fold the paper in half again but as if you are closing a book by bringing the right side over to meet the left. Make a crease just along the bottom half. You can crease all the way along but the finished piece looks neater if you don't.
Unfold the oval tea bag shape
Step 4: Open out the fold you just made so your paper goes back to being just a half-oval shape.
Fold a little triangle up to the creased middle line
Step 5: Take hold of the bottom right corner and pull it up to meet the vertical or upright middle crease line. This makes a little triangular flap that looks like a slice of pizza. And that's it. This is one of the easiest pieces to fold. Go back and repeat steps 2-5 to fold all 8 pieces of paper.
Starting to glue the folded papers together
Step 6: Now you've got your 8 folded paper pieces, you can start to glue them all together to make what looks like a paper rosette or flower when finished.
My preferred adhesive for this project are the Zig glue pens because they come with a range of nib sizes (I'm using the chisel tip here) and they are fast to apply, don't make a mess and give you just enough time to position your paper craft before the glue sets.
They're one of my all-time favorite paper craft adhesives, and I have a few. I also like glue dots to use with tea bag folding.
Have a look at the image for step 6 above because where the glue pen nib is, is where you want to be placing the glue. You need the adhesive on the bottom left of your folded paper piece.
The part with glue goes behind another folded oval, you need to line up the points and folds. It sounds complicated but it is actually very easy when you see it in the images.
This is how the papers fit together when glued with an adhesive pen
Step 7: This shows three pieces that have been glued together and how they all line up very neatly. Try and use contrasting shades and colors. I opted for a couple of folded pearly white papers, two blue, two mostly red and two mixed colored patterns that work well together.
You have to slot the papers in and glue near the end
Step 8: Keep gluing in the same manner. As you get near the end, you essentially have to start slotting the pieces in to place.
Putting in the final oval piece
Step 9: This image shows how I am adding in the very last piece which is the most difficult one to do. It's easier to slot it into place and then glue. Don't worry if you cannot line up the middle part perfectly because you can hide that with a central embellishment.
Decorating the paper rosette with red, white and blue embellishments ideal for the 4th July
Step 10: I like to add something to the middle of the finished paper rosette. Here I've added white and blue fabric flowers with a red brad which secures them to the finished flower decoration.
Tea bag folding is fun and I have made a beginner tutorial as well which is based on folding squares.
Don't forget to print off your free template below ...
Your Free Pattern Template for Oval Tea Bag Folding
Click on the image to open up the full size which is best for printing and choose "Save As" or "Save Image As" to download it.
Free printable oval template for teabag folding, paper rosettes and crafting. Print onto patterned paper or plain card to make templates to draw around.
Free printable oval template for teabag folding, paper rosettes and crafting. Print onto patterned paper or plain card to make templates to draw around.
This free printable is for your personal use only. You are welcome to blog about how you've used this freebie along with your own photos providing that you include a link back to this page.
How to Save the Printable Ovals Template
Click on the design shown above of the ovals pattern sheet so it opens fully which means you can then easily save a copy of this to your own computer. This pattern is just a standard picture file that most computers can view and print out.
Click on the pattern with your mouse, trackpad or tablet drawing pen to open it up in full size view and then choose save image or save image as to get a copy of this template onto your own computer. I appreciate comments and feedback on this craft left below.
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What a unique craft. These turned out so pretty; I would be glad to receive one of them. Pinned to my crafts board!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Fay. I was definitely pleased at how the folded tea bag flowers turned out.
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