The Napkin Rose
This has always impressed the girls (or guys) at the bar!!
This is such a great entertaining and romantic way to give a single rose. I really don't know the origin of the napkin rose. Several people showed it to me at different times over the years before I decided to practice it often enough to remember how to do it.
Since napkins are used at many bars and restaurants, they are easy to obtain, which almost makes it an impromptu skill. A napkin rose can safely be given to a child who is too small for balloons. A napkin rose can be used in hospitals. It can be given to cancer patients or cancer survivors. Napkin roses have a romantic connotation.
People are fascinated by the napkin rose, and I often will teach somebody how to make one.
To make a napkin rose, open a napkin out fully. Fold the top two inches over towards you. Pinch the upper left corner between the first two fingers of your left hand. Take the upper right corner of the napkin in your right hand.
Starting by moving your right hand away from you, wrap the napkin around the first two fingers of your left hand. (Looking down you will be going counter clockwise.) If you are doing it right, the folded portion of the napkin will stay on the outside.
Keep winding to within about two inches of the end of the napkin. Find the corner of the napkin and pull it up and to the left forming a triangle. This will be the outside petal.
Finish winding the napkin the rest of the way.
With your right hand, pinch the napkin together just below your left fingers. The portion above the pinch is the rose bud, while the rest of the napkin will become the stem and leaf.
Start twisting the napkin below the pinch. The tighter you twist the stronger the stem will be. Once you have started the twist, you can take your left fingers out of the bud and use both hands to twist the stem. Stop about half way down.Find the remaining exposed corner of the napkin.
Gently pull it upward so it is above where you stopped twisting. This will become the leaf.
Pinch the napkin together just below where you had stopped twisting. Continue twisting the napkin in the same direction as before until you reach the end of the napkin and the rose is complete.
When I was learning the napkin rose, I made at least one a day. Whenever I was in a restaurant that had paper napkins, I would make a rose. If we visited a friend’s house, and they had paper napkins, I made a rose to present to the hostess. Frequency is the key to learning and remembering something like this.
So let’s repeat!
The layer of the napkin out and fold the top edge down about two inches. Catch the fold between the index and middle finger approximately 1 inch from the end. Wrap the napkin around the index and middle finger so that the folded down portion stays on the inside.
Keep wrapping the napkin around the index and middle fingers until it is completely wrapped around the two fingers. Wrap securely but not too tightly.
After you have completely wrapped the napkin around the two fingers, index and middle, pinch the napkin together with your opposite hand. While the two fingers are still in the napkin, give the spot at which you have pinched the napkin a firm twist or two. You can remove the fingers from the wrapped napkin at this point. The cup shaped upper portion is the rose bud and the lower portion is the stem and leaf. Continue to twist the napkin downward from the point at which you pinched below the twist. Twist firmly and evenly to about half way down the lower portion of the napkin.
After you have twisted the stem about half way down, hold the twist securely with one hand and with the other hand, find the lower outside corner of the napkin. Work the corner loose and gently pull the corner up to the twisted portion to form a leaf. Pinch securely at the leaf and continue to twist the remainder of the napkin securely and firmly. When you reach the end of the napkin with the twisting, the rose is just about complete.
Your rose is ready for the finishing touches. Hold the rose securely at the base where the flower joins the twisted stem. Reach into the center of the flower and pinch the center with two fingers and give a twist in the direction of the turns. This will separate the layers slightly and give a pretty effect to the center of the flower. Gently position the leaf, and the rose is ready.
