Today I’m excited to share with you one of my favorite paper-folding projects – the Kawasaki Rose! Created by Japanese origami master Toshikazu Kawasaki, this design has become my go-to flower model whenever I want to impress friends or add a touch of elegance to my home.
When I first discovered this model, I was intimidated by how realistic it looked, but trust me – if you follow along with my instructions, you’ll be creating beautiful blooming roses in no time!
Let’s fold together!
If you are new to origami, start here from our beginner guide to know the basics and how to read the step-by-step instructions.
- Folding time: 50 minutes
- Paper: 15×15 cm 12×12 cm 6×6 cm / 3
- Difficulty: Advanced
Material
Prepare a piece of 15×15 cm red origami paper for the rose part, 12×12 cm green origami paper for the stem part, and three pieces of 6×6 cm green origami paper, one for the pedicel and two for the leaves.
Step by Step Instructions
The Rose Part
Step 1
Place the paper with the red side facing down to begin folding. Fold it in half horizontally three times, crease it very well, and unfold the paper completely.
Step 2
Fold the paper in half vertically three times, crease it very well, and unfold the paper completely.
Step 3
Fold the four corners diagonally along the dotted lines, then turn the paper over from left to right.
Step 4
Fold the bottom left edge to align with the top right edge, then fold the bottom right edge to align with the top left edge. Finally, fold up the bottom corner to meet the intersection point formed by the creases, leaving a crease, and unfold it.
Step 5
Unfold the paper, and flip it over from left to right.
Step 6
Rotate the paper 45 degrees clockwise.
Step 7
Mountain fold the four creases on the center, and mountain fold the creases on the four sides. Next, based on these creases, press down the white part’s four sides, and push the left and right mountain creases toward the center to valley fold the center square’s vertical line.
Step 8
Rotate the paper 90 degrees from back to front.
Step 9
Press down the mountain fold to the right side, making it align with the red line, then flip the paper from left to right, and repeat this for the mountain crease on this side.
Step 10
Fold down the top edge’s left section along the dotted line, then flip the paper from left to right, and fold the top layer.
Step 11
Flip the paper from left to right.
Step 12
Slightly expand this paper, then create the mountain creases indicated by the red dotted lines on the four sides. These dotted lines are connected by two intersection points formed by the intersection of two creases.
Step 13
Return the paper to the shape it was before you expanded it in the previous step, making the small square in the middle more visible.
Step 14
Mountain fold the creases indicated by the white dotted lines on the bottom right side, and then repeat this for the other three sides.
Step 15
Take the mountain crease indicated by the white dotted line, lift it to form a flap, then press it down to the left side.
Step 16
Here, we can see a square formed by creases on this flap, fold its left point to meet its right point, leaving a crease, and unfold it.
Step 17
Expand this flap, then mountain fold the creases indicated by the blue dotted lines created by the previous step, valley fold the crease indicated by the white dotted line. Finally, push these two mountain creases to make them align.
Step 18
Fold up the bottom point indicated by the white spot to meet the other white spot (an intersection point formed by creases) along the crease shown by the dotted line.
Step 19
First, slightly expand the bottom left side, and push the small flap on the bottom to the right side [picture 1].
Then, fold up the indicated by the white spot to meet the other white spot along the dotted line connecting two intersection points[picture 2]. These two white spots represent the bottom right and top left corners of the small square formed by creases.
Fold the corner indicated by the white spot to the right side along the crease indicated by the dotted line [picture 3].
Step 20
Repeat steps 15 to 19 for the other three petals.
Step 21
Put the small petal of this rose close to the big petal.
Step 22
Rotate the rose 90 degrees from back to front, then fold the left petal to the right side, making the two white spots meet [pictures 1 and 2]
Next, we can see a square on the petal’s bottom, fold the right corner of this square backward along the center vertical line to secure these two petals well. [pictures 3 and 4]
Step 23
Repeat steps 21 to 22 for the other three sides.
Step 24
Rotate the rose 90 degrees from back to front, then fold down the top and right flaps.
Step 25
Fold down the bottom and left flaps, and finally, tuck the left flap under the top flap.
Step 26
Turn the rose over from front to back, and let’s shape the rose by curling each petal’s top corner.
Step 27
Rotate the rose 90 degrees from back to front, slightly curl the corners of each petal layer in all four directions, and finally rotate the rose back to complete the flower part.
The Rose Pedicel
Step 1
Take out a piece of 6×6 cm green origami paper, and place it with the green side facing up to begin folding. Fold it in half horizontally, leaving a crease, and unfold it.
Step 2
Fold the paper in half vertically, leaving a crease, and unfold it.
Step 3
Turn the paper over from left to right.
Step 4
Fold the bottom right edge to align with the top left edge, leaving a crease, and unfold it.
Step 5
Fold the bottom left edge to align with the top right edge, leaving a crease, and unfold it.
Step 6
Lift the left, right, and top corners, and push them to meet the bottom corner, flatten the fold to get a smaller square.
Step 7
Fold the bottom left and right edge of the upper layer to align with the vertical crease, crease them well, and unfold them.
Step 8
Mountain fold the creases indicated by the red dotted lines you made in the previous step. Open the pocket based on these creases. Then lift the top layer, and use your hands to flatten the pocket. Finally, fold the top corner to meet the bottom corner.
Step 9
Flip the paper from left to right, and fold the bottom left and right edges to align with the vertical crease, leaving two creases, and unfold them.
Step 10
As you did in step 8, mountain fold the creases indicated by the red dotted lines you made in the previous step. Open the pocket based on these creases. Then lift the top layer, and use your hands to flatten the pocket. Finally, fold the top corner to meet the bottom corner.
Step 11
Fold the bottom left and right edges to align with the vertical crease, unfold these two flaps, then open and squash them. Finally, fold up the upper flap on the bottom side.
Step 12
Turn over the paper from left to right.
Step 13
Repeat step 11.
Fold the bottom left and right edges to align with the vertical crease, unfold these two flaps, then open and squash them. Finally, fold up the upper flap on the bottom side.
Step 14
Fold the upper flap on the right side to the left side along the center vertical crease, then, fold the bottom left and right edges to align with the center vertical crease. Finally, fold up the bottom flap.
Step 15
Expand the last remaining face, fold the bottom left and right edges to align with the vertical crease, and fold up the last flap.
Step 16
Fold the upper layer on the right side to the left side, then rotate the paper 90 degrees from front to back. Next, pull the four flaps to the four sides to slightly expand the paper, and finally, cut a little off the top corner of the center part.
Step 17
Rotate the paper 180 degrees from left to right, and curl these four leaves.
The Rose Leaves
Step 1
Take out a piece of 6×6 cm green origami paper, and place it with the green side facing down to begin folding. Fold it in half horizontally from top to bottom, then fold the left and right corners to meet the bottom corner. Next, fold the right triangle’s bottom corner to meet its right corner.
Step 2
Fold the bottom corner of the left triangle upward along the black dotted line until it aligns with the red spot. Then, restore the triangle on the right, and fold its bottom corner upward along the black dotted line, making the folded part symmetrical to the left.
Step 3
Restore these two triangles and fold them back to the top side.
Step 4
Fold the top left and right corners along the creases indicated by the dotted lines, then fold down the right and left flaps.
Step 5
Fold the bottom left edge to align with the center vertical line, then unfold this flap, open it, and squash it.
Step 6
Rotate the paper 90 degrees from left to right, then open the pocket, mountain fold the crease indicated by the red dotted lines, and valley fold the crease indicated by the white dotted line.
Flatten the fold and rotate the paper back to the left side, and finally, fold the small triangle flap to the left side.
Step 7
Fold the bottom right edge to align with the center vertical line, then unfold this flap, open it, and squash it.
Step 8
Similar to the step 6.
Rotate the paper 90 degrees from right to left, then open the pocket, mountain fold the crease indicated by the red dotted lines, and valley fold the crease indicated by the white dotted line.
Flatten the fold and rotate the paper back to the right side, and finally, fold the small triangle flap to the right side.
Step 9
Flip the paper from left to right.
Step 10
Fold these two corners along the black dotted lines, crease them well, and unfold them.
Step 11
Rotate the paper 90 degrees from right to left, open the pocket, valley fold the crease indicated by the black dotted line, and mountain fold the creases indicated by the red dotted lines. Flatten the fold, and turn the paper back.
Step 12
Similarly, rotate the paper 90 degrees from left to right, open the pocket, valley fold the crease indicated by the black dotted line, and mountain fold the creases indicated by the red dotted lines. Flatten the fold, and turn the paper back.
Step 13
Turn the paper over from left to right, fold it in half vertically from right to left, then fold the right edge a little to the left side, crease it very well, and finally, fold the top layer of this leaf back to the right, this leaf is created.
Step 14
Make another piece of leaf in the same manner.
The Rose Stem
Step 1
Roll a 12 x 12 cm piece of green paper into a paper rod.
Assemble Origami Rose
Step 1
Assemble the pedicel and stem by passing the paper stick through the bottom of the pedicel.
Step 2
Assemble the flower part.
Step 3
Glue the two leaves on the stem.
What’s Next
That’s your stunning origami rose. You are free to choose different colors of paper to give your roses a unique personality: soft pink, bright yellow, classic wine red. Each one is incomparably beautiful, make them into a bouquet or put them into a vase, embellish your desk, or gift them to your friends.
Next, you can check out our other origami rose ideas. Happy folding!
If you want to experience more fun of origami roses and add a unique touch to your gift, you may try the following creative extensions. Easy Origami Rose: You can make a beautiful rose with just one piece of paper. It has no stems and leaves. The steps are simple but still elegant, suitable for beginners. Origami Rose Box: The box has a stable structure, featuring a rose on the cover. The final product is both functional and aesthetic.
Origami Rose
Origami Rose Box
