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This is the first of five videos that will look at how to make an origami bonsai rose bush. So to begin
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with I went out around the Internet for pictures of bonasai rose bushes. I came up with this one, and
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this one, together the inspiration for the design we're going to look at here now. Get yourself some 20 gauge
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cooper wire, nice and flexible. It does not necessarily need to be cooper. Create a frame. In this case its got three large branches. Wires
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leading off it for flowers and the leaves. And a good bit of extra wire down at the bottom so you can tie it off once
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you've based it in a bowl. So here's another design with a little different looking trunk. Lots of possibilities for trunks. So to start
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get your paper mache gear together, some strips of paper, your frame, and your paper mache glue. The
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glue consists of one part flour, to five parts water. Brought to a boil then let cool before using it.
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Here's the wire frame with the first layer of paper mache applied.
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So build up the paper around the based first. For the first pass there are about six or seven layers
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of paper around the bottom. You don't want to go to thick otherwises its not going to dry. This is what
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it looks like after the first pass. Six or seven layers on the bottom. Four or five for the midsection.
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And, one or two layers for the exterior branches.
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So let it dry, next day come back and you have something that looks like this. Nice and hard ready to
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put another layer of paper mache on it.
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So, get your paper mache glue out of the fridge. You may want to toss it in the microwave to warm it
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up a little bit, but it works just as well cold. Apply some of the paper mache glue to the dried model
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just to soften it up a bit, and then apply another six of seven layers to the bottom section of the trunk.
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[high speed applying paper mache]
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Pay particular attention to the joints of your model, and make sure that they're secured well.
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[applying paper mache to the first joint]
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Work all the bubbles out as best you can. The later layer its not so critical because it will smooth
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out as you apply more layers. So let it dry, come back the next day and you have something that looks like this. In this particular
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case I've probably put too many layers on the bottom so it still a little damp, so I'm going to leave
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it for another day, and experiment with some different roses, in this case a paper rose, with a 10 inch
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piece of paper. This one is a black tissue foil rose. This one turned out quite nice. So, I think I'll go
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with tissue foil for the roses, perhaps red though.
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So, next day, got back, had to add a couple more branches in for leaves. There was a bare space up in
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top corner then applied another layer of paper mache and ended up with something that looks like this.
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So you let that dry for a day, or maybe two, and then you apply the bark. So, this is a fine wood grain
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type paper that I bought at a local paper shop. Soften it up with some water first, get it nice an pliable
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so its easy to mold onto the base of your model. Apply some paper mache glue to the model, again to soften it up
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And, then apply your bark paper.
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So you'll want to make cuts in places where there's a corner so that
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you can wrap the paper around. You'll want to try to keep the overlap of the paper in the back
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where its going to be less noticable.
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And cut off any excess.
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[high speed applying the bark paper]
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So in this case the paper is a little thin. You can see the newsprint, so I'm going to put a second layer
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on. So after the first layer is applied, you let it dry for at least a few hours, maybe a day.
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And then you apply a second layer.
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[high speed applying the second bark layer]
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So once your second layer's applied, work all the bubbles out so that you are not left with little divots
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where that air works its way out. And, that's it. The trunk for your origami bonsai rose bush.