Wednesday, October 26, 2011

DIY wedding flower bouquet

For our wedding, I made my own flower bouquet. I was absolutely crazy. I very much underestimated the time it would take me because I also decided it was a good idea to make my three bridesmaid bouquets as well. Which, I do think makes a nice keepsake. I definitely wanted to have something to hold on to forever with my bouquet. There was a lot of trial and error since I'd never made one before, but I'll give you a brief overview.
Photo by ee photography

Basic supplies:
1. Bouquet holder-This is from Save-on-crafts. I got mine at Hobby Lobby. I just used a plain straight one since I was planning to cover it.
2. Floral picks and sprays-This is the exact one I used from Hobby Lobby. You can split each of them up in a couple of bunches of three.
3. Fabrics-The white one is Nylon Chiffon from Amazon and the purple one is Satin. Nylon is very flammable so keep away from heat! I bought my lace from Joann's. It was definitely my priciest fabric, but it was so pretty I couldn't resist.
4. Satin ribbon-This one is from Joann Fabrics. Hobby Lobby has a great selection too. 

Extras: Boutonnière pins, floral wire, matte acrylic spray, ostrich feather sticks (from Hobby Lobby!) and vintage jewelry.

I used three types of flowers:

1. A pretty multi-layered white "rose" using satin. I got the template from Martha of course. I did about 7 layers for each flower, bunched up the bottoms and sewed them around a wire floral stem.
2. For the purple ones, I cut out a circle. You can find a template online or use a glass to trace. Then I cut lines starting from the outside to the center. Don't cut all the way through the circle, but you can round the edges if you want. Then, we used a heat source to roll up the edges a little bit. This step isn't really necessary if you don't have the patience! Then, I stuck them in the foam with boutonnière pins. I used "diamond" top ones from Save-on-crafts. We made the flowers in various sizes. Here's what the basic template looks like:


3. The white ones with lace I made the same way as the purple, just larger. However, I used layers of chiffon and lace. I also used a "diamond" floral stick as my center. I just stick that through a hole in all the layers. No sewing on this one. I did spray the flowers when they were done with a sealer to stiffen them and then I hung them upside down to dry.
Now, here's my big secret:
This is your average everyday toilet paper holder! I wrapped satin ribbon around it and glued underneath the last edge. Then I wrapped a strip of lace around it and glued. Last, I added a vintage earring for a little sparkle. Again, hot glue it.

9 comments:

  1. Beautiful! It looks like something you would buy in a wedding shop!

    www.AllThingsTangled.blogspot.com

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  2. Wow! It's really pretty! You did a great job.
    ~Kim
    from Blogging Buddies team

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  3. Goodness me, that really looks great - your patience must be endless. To make one version would be enough for me, but 3 others as well!

    Still as a keepsake, it will be valued by all 4 of your I'm sure.

    Have just "met" you on the Blogging Buddies forum site, and will be following your posts: hope you'll do the same for me, once the wedding is over! You can find me at www.ColdhamCuddliescalling.blogspot.com, where I post about making, mending and otherwise creating toys (which I then try to sell at www.coldhamcuddlies.etsy.com). Hope to see you at one or both (hopefully) sites soon.

    Meanwhile, have a really wonderful day - if it's not yet arrived!

    All the best. Isobel

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  4. Thanks everybody!

    Isobel-Thanks for stopping by! I'll be sure to check out your blog real soon! It was so much work, I was pulling my hair out by the end.

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  5. That turned out just lovely and I love your tutorials + pictures ! Nicely done - well worth the time :)

    Kate (via BYW ! )

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  6. Stunning! I love these kinds of bouquets because you can keep them forever. If I could do it again I'd probably make a brooch bouquet.

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