How to Make Baby Sock Roses

Baby sock roses make a cute and special gift for the mom-to-be. Instead of giving her a bouqet of real flowers that will end up in the trash in a week, why not make her a baby sock rose bouquet?

They last until she is ready to take them apart and use the socks. They are so cute she might not even take them apart (the bouquet I received is still in my daughter's room). A friend made these for me for my own baby shower, so I had her show me she made them. Now, I am sharing the tutorial with you.

These sock flowers also make adorable baby shower centerpieces for the tables. They look like real flowers and make a great conversation piece. We'll show you step by step, with pictures, how to make your own.

What you'll need:

• Baby socks (6 pair for a dozen roses)

• Green pipe cleaners

• Floral wire

• Floral tape

• Vase or container for your bouquet

• Greenery, baby's breath, etc. to fill out the bouquet

Instructions:

Lay your baby sock flat on a hard surface with the toe facing towards you.

Fold the toe of the sock over like this:

Then continue to roll the sock up until you are about a 1/2 inch from the top. Roll tightly and hold the roll in place. This is the bud of your flower. If you are not happy with the way it looks, re-roll until you get your desired look.

If you want your roses to look like a closed bud just roll the sock all the way to the top and skip the next step.

While holding the top part of the bud in place, take the opening of the sock and turn it inside out and bring it up around the bud. Adjust as needed again.

Take one of your pipe cleaners and insert inside the bottom of your baby sock rose. Make sure you go in far enough to support it, but do not let it poke through the sock.

Take your floral wire and wrap tightly around the sock, starting at least halfway up the sock or right under the cuff. Continue wrapping all the way down to the pipe cleaner. Intertwine the floral wire with the pipe cleaner, but you don't have to do it as tightly as around the sock. Cut the wire the same length as the pipe cleaner.

Now, wrap the floral tape around the base of the sock (to cover the wire and hold everything together) and continue to wrap the floral tape all the way down the pipe cleaner.

If you have never worked with floral tape, it can take some getting used to. Make sure you stretch it tightly as you go, and overlap it over itself so it will stick. Once you get going, you can spin it around the stem and it goes a lot faster. The thicker you make it, the more sturdy your flower will be.

Here is what your finished sock rose will look like:

After you have made all your sock roses, put them in a pretty vase or container with some greenery, baby's breath, or other flowers.

This centerpiece above was used for a clothesline baby shower theme. We put a baby skirt around the vase, pinned it with a safety pin to make it tight, and put some double sided tape on the inside of the waistband.

You could also wrap them in a receiving blanket or burp cloth and tie with a ribbon.