Preheat your oven or smoker to 375 degrees F.
On a large cutting board, lay out one piece of bacon. Sprinkle liberally with the brown sugar and a pinch of the sweet rub. Starting at one end of the bacon, roll tightly until you form a rose shape. Secure the rose with 2 toothpicks, forming an "X" at the base. Repeat with all slices of bacon.
Cover a baking sheet with foil. Place a flat cooling rack on top of the baking sheet. Space the rolled roses evenly on top of the cooling rack.
Bake the candied bacon roses for 30-45 minutes, checking for doneness at 30 minutes. Most of the fat should be rendered, the roses should have tightened, and the edges will be nice and crisp.
While your bacon roses are cooking, prepare your rose stems. Remove the petals from a dozen fake roses, but leave the plastic base under the petals. Press that green base down about 1 inch on the stem so that the stem can act as a support for your bacon roses. Place the stems in a vase and set aside.
Remove the bacon roses from the oven or smoker and cool completely. Remove the toothpicks.
Place each bacon rose onto one of the fake rose stems. Nestle the candied bacon rose down the stem and into the plastic rose base.
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