A dozen red roses for $120 might be off the table this Valentine’s Day as pocketbooks are shrinking. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have a romantic day with style — and on a budget.

Try “recessionary chic” with San Jose floral designer Jose Ibarra, who drew inspiration from Chanel’s spring collection to create whimsical red and pink flowers out of tissue and construction paper.

Add some rock salt, Kool-Aid and winter branches from your garden, and watch out Karl Lagerfeld! All it takes is a rummage through your cabinets or a quick trip to Michael’s for some inexpensive supplies, Ibarra says, and your Valentine’s Day table will be beautiful and won’t wilt in three days. It’s quick and easy and for a family dinner, the kids can help, too.

Ibarra, the son of a seamstress who learned early how to create with his hands, has decorated many Silicon Valley homes for the holidays and for special events. He offers these tips to set a gorgeous table with paper roses:

Making Tissue Paper Roses in a Vase:

1. Cut tissue paper in the shape of an “8″ or a basic butterfly.

2. Take a length of floral wire and bend in half.

3. Slide tissue cut-out between the wire “arms” to the apex of the bent wire. The flower takes shape as you repeat the process, sliding and scrunching tissue “petals” to the top of the wire.

4. When flower is made with six petals, twist the two arms of wire together, which secures the tissue petals and finishes off the “stem.”

5. Wrap wire with green floral tape.

6. Stick flowers in a clear glass vase filled with rock salt.

Making Construction Paper Roses:

1. Cut construction paper into 12-inch by 12-inch squares for large flowers that can lay on a table or rest next to a cake, or 4-inch by 4-inch squares for little rosettes that can be glued to branches.

2. With a pencil, draw a spiral nautilus, beginning at the center and emanating out to the edge.

3. With scissors, cut along the spiral line. The length of paper will curl and cascade.

4. Start rolling from the outside end of paper, and crimp or fold back and forth every so often to give extra texture to the flower.

5. When you reach the center of the spiral, add hot glue to the end spot, then push the spiral flower down to meet the glue.

6. Hot glue the little rosettes to branches. Put branches in clear glass vases filled with red Kool-Aid.

Jose likes to cover his table with white construction paper for a crisp, clear canvas, then dress it with a red velvet cake (Duncan Hines out of the box!) with a white frosting covered with shaved coconut. Stunning.

Contact Jose at Ibarrajavelez@yahoo.com.

Related stories:
GIVEAWAY: “Girl Seated in Garden #2″ by Sonya Paz
Love and Valentine’s Day Gifts: Rae Dunn Clay
Everyday is Valentine’s Day at Debbie Marie’s Gallery in Campbell
Delightful Thanksgiving Banners and Signs

Update:

This post is featured in the San Jose Mercury News Home and Garden section here.

Here’s the complete slideshow:

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 1:40 am and is filed under Decorating, Dining Room, Food and Drink, Home Decor, Home and Garden, Julia, Q & A, Q and A, San Jose. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.