The Paris Brocante Paper Rose Tutorial

Imagine. It's 1899, holiday time in Paris. You're entertaining the most stylish and gorgeous of Montmartre society this year and everyone knows your parties impress like no other. Proud of your Bohemian heritage, you look to the flea markets for unique finds that will leave lasting impressions and add vintage beauty to your holiday table.

shabby cottage printable favor box 

Ahhh! Are you there yet? Soft, muted pinks, lacy accents and aged texts give this holiday favor box a Paris brocante look I absolutely love. Roses are always a favorite with those of us who seem to be drawn to all things made in shabby cottage style so today I'm gonna show you how to make some out of paper.

cottage style paper roses front 

You won't need to purchase any punches for this so don't worry if you don't have any. I'll provide everything you need to make the double sided paper rose shown on the favor box. First, download the paper rose templates by clicking the images and saving them to your desktop. Print page 1 on 8 1/2 by 11 inch plain white paper.

cottage style paper roses back

Print page 2 of the template on the back side of the page you just printed making sure that it prints in the same area on your page as your rose templates did. When you are finished printing, the roses on the front should align in the center of the text you printed on the back. Once you cut them out, your roses will have text on both sides.

•  Cut your flowers into pieces as indicated in the above photo

•  Roll the single petal into a cone and adhere into place

•  Slightly curl the petals of the two petal piece and roll into a loose cone by overlapping the petals

• Form your other 3 pieces into cones by adhering the petals on either side of your cuts together

• Curl petals as desired

• Insert your rolled single petal into the two petal cone

• Build your rose by inserting the smaller cones into the larger cones until your rose is formed

Now you're ready to add some distress ink to the edges of your rose and find yourself some leaves. You can use punches or just cut a leaf shape out of green paper. I purposely didn't include a leaf template to allow your wonderful imagination to come up with the perfect leaf for your project.

Le Charmed Life patterned favor box template

I used my rose to embellish this adorable little Paris brocante favor box. I made a double bow using some seam binding, added a couple of paper curls and adhered the whole shebang to the box lid. Couldn't you just eat this up?! Enjoy!

Cottage Chic Starbucks?

Who knew an empty Starbucks bottle could look so good as cottage chic decor? The tinting trial and error process has actually helped give this blue bottle a more weathered look so my persistence and even my mistakes have worked in my favor!

cottage chic reclaimed Starbucks bottle ©Kellie Reynolds

Le Charmed Life has the first of what I hope will be many french vintage inspired home decor items just like this one. Visit the boutique for more views and to find out how little it would take to send this beauty home with you! Cheers!

Your Jam Wants Digital Collage

Are your jams, preserves, Halloween potions and elixirs looking a little stodgy these days? Why not dress em up with labels in french, cottage chic style.  Who says Halloween has to be full of orange and black anyway? I'm not particularly fond of fall colors so it's gonna be spring all year here at Kell Belle Studio. Yeah!

digital collage vintage inspired french labels

Okay, I may create a Halloween style corset or maybe even something a little vampire-ish but that's it! That's where I draw the line! (tee hee :) That said, I've created these digital collage vintage inspired french labels because I just know that brocante home of yours can't get enough pretty into it. Enjoy!

Shabby Chic French Armoire Part Deux

For all you experts of shabby chic, I have redesigned my armoire to a level I consider to be high class chicness. What do you think?

purchase prints in the Kell Belle Boutique

I was actually reading a blog post last week written by someone who audaciously stated her opinion that one can not buy their way to shabby chic.  . . . Really?

Kell Belle's looking très chic

Perhaps that is true if you come at it from the perspective that shabby chic style is a taste acquired over time to the point that purchasing decisions become a reflection of it.

Note: Armoire design is copyrighted by Kell Belle Studio and may not be reproduced in any way without my written permission. Day bed photo remains the property of Brissi save my ever so slight alteration of it. ;)

Free Standing Tim Holtz Dress Form

After two failed attempts at putting this together I now have a perfect, free standing, Tim Holtz dress form. From failure comes enlightenment as I found out in my struggle with the base.

decorative free standing Tim Holtz dress form

In the past, I was using a paper for my dress form bases only this time the stem and dress form were falling over. I couldn't stop it! In my frustration, I ripped the stem from the base as only I can and it was back to the drawing board.

wire base vs paper - I like the wire

Twisted, curled wire turned out to be my salvation that worked even better than the paper! Add some distress ink, a tiny tag tied with hemp cord and I've got the most divine, little vintage dress form with shabby chic appeal.

Altered Match Box Cabinet

This has got to be one of the most functional and clever uses for the altered match box if ever I've seen one!

Not only is this deliciously shabby chic, it is also inexpensive to make using an old cigar box and some match boxes. You could even enlarge your boxes to suit your needs.

Something like this makes great craft storage for those smaller items like brads, eyelets, buttons and other embellishments.

With some decorative paper, vintage trims or fabric and a little imagination, you can customize a box that is sure to add shabby chic charm to any craft space without breaking the bank.

So find an old, sturdy box, get out your matchbox templates and get creating! I may have to try this myself! ;)

Note: This post is reblogged from Viola's Vintage Home Decor and Art. Images associated with this post remain her intellectual and copyrighted property. 

Priscilla in French Blue - A Dress Form Doll Story

French blue, otherwise known as periwinkle is one of my favorite colors! I've just finished my latest dress form doll using, what else, shades of pretty french blue papers and ribbon.

pretty "Priscilla"

I think I must have lived a past life during some romantic time. I love the frilly, full skirts of ages past.

pleated paper and ribbon

It's not considered very practical to wear something like this unless you happen to be on stage or going to a costume ball.

piles of pleats and ruffles

Thank heaven for art because I can create these to my heart's content! Looking at them is sometimes better than having the real thing don't you think?

a view from the back

I don't have to spend a fortune to have a pretty dream wardrobe plus I can appreciate it more on a body that isn't my own.

pretty paper roses, my signature design

This luscious doll is up for sale in the Kell Belle Boutique on Etsy. Visit me there for more details about this piece. Hope you like this as much as I do.

Living the Shabby Chic Cottage Life

I've always wanted to live the shabby chic cottage life and now I feel like I'm beginning to move toward that end. Look what I found! Is this not the picture of shabby chic loveliness?!

shabby chic shelf purchased from cottagehomedecor on Etsy

Linda arranged this photograph so beautifully and made it look so appealing! I thought it would make a fantastic prop for my dolls and add that shabby chic cottage yumminess to my own photos. Yaaay!

altered vintage books to add cottage charm

I don't have the worlds most inspiring craft space at the moment so of course I purchased this stack of books as well. I'm now on the hunt for a ceramic creamer and some crochet doilies. Haha! Be sure to visit Linda at Cottage Home Decor for more items like these.

Note: Images associated with this post remain the copyrighted, intellectual property of Linda Smith and Cottage Home Decor.

Treasury Tranquility

Here is a romantic, beach treasury I posted on Etsy yesterday. I simply adore it!



Hope you enjoy it.

Saying Good-Bye to Spring

I posted this treasury on Etsy today as my farewell tribute to summer but I think I'm mostly saying good-bye to spring. I know, it's only temporary and what's not to look forward to in the coming seasons?



I've never been a huge fan of fall colors although I love the season, the spiced cider, warm nights by the fire and of course all the reasons to buy CANDY! Enjoy the spring greens if only for today. ;)

Unfinished Vintage Mini Dress Form Dolls

Introducing the unfinished mini dress form doll now available for your decorating pleasure. This is the first of what I hope will be many and the beginning of a long and deeply satisfying selling relationship.

unfinished dress form doll available on Etsy

You can find this sublime creature for sale in my Etsy shoppe aka the Kell Belle Boutique for the very reasonable song of $16.00. At this price you might even start a whole orchestra! Haha!

Paper Couture XI: Vintage Padded Clothes Hangers Shabby Chic Style

I thought it might be nice to cover how to make miniature, vintage, padded clothes hangers before we begin creating paper clothes. This will help give you a pretty way to display your finished dresses.

embellish your hangers in a variety of creative ways

The padded hanger template can be resized to suit your needs if a larger size is preferred. I have designed the template so it is pretty enough for you to keep with your ACEO collection.

click image for full download resolution

Please do not redistribute, alter or publish my templates without my permission. Direct your blog readers back to Kell Belle Studio to download.

I hope you will enjoy the video tutorial. Feel free to direct me to links of your finished work. I would love to see what you create.

Shabby Chic Vintage Dress Form Flapper

Ta da! My first shabby chic vintage dress form doll is finally finished. What better day to show her off than the official launch date of the Paper Wardrobe Project.

Shabby Chic Vintage Dress Form

The dress form is made entirely of paper using both paper machè and decoupage techniques.

Shabby Chic Vintage Dress Form

Wire was inserted through the length to create the stand which was then painted and shaved in places for a distressed look.

Shabby Chic Vintage Dress Form

Her drop waist dress is a double layer of gathered tissue paper with some loosely twisted silk ribbon tied with a big loopy bow and embellished with a spray of paper roses.

Shabby Chic Vintage Dress Form

Vintage lace and paper roses adorn the neck with just a little bit of gathered tulle added at the shoulders to give a hint of sleeve.

Shabby Chic Vintage Dress Form

The base of the stand is embellished with a hand made arrangement of paper roses. I love this doll and already have plans for the next one.