Wednesday, April 23, 2008

How-to: Bridal Party Flowers

There are many ways to save money when planning a wedding. Making your bridal party flowers is one of them. Here are some tips and how-to instructions on making them.


Boutonniere


Items needed:


Rosebud (s) or other type of flower. You can use any type of small flower


Baby’s breath, heather or other embellishment


Floral Tape


Floral Wire


Glue Gun/Sticks or other type of craft glue


Wire Cutter


Decide what type of boutonniere you would like to have. Single or multiple flowers. Do you want other type of embellishment.


Cut stem of flower to about 1 ½ inch. Candy Cane a piece of wire down the stem. If you want more than one flower cut one stem a little longer and place them together one higher than the other (slightly) then wrap wire around to hold them together. Now take a sprig of leaves and place behind the flower and use a small amount of glue to hold in place. If you would like at add an embellishment or baby’s breathe you can also glue it with the flower. For my Christmas Wedding boutonniere’s I added small berries that were on wire. Now starting at the base of the flower wrap the stems of the leaves, any embellishments and the flower stems. This will also be done in a Candy Cane fashion. Wrap beyond the flower stem about an inch. For a vine effect clip wire about 2 inches beyond flower stem and wrap. Coil the wire around the end of a pencil.


Corsage


A corsage can be made using the same techniques as above only adding ribbon or lace. You can glue a finished boutonniere to a gathered lace circle. Instead of using a rosebud you can use a full bloomed rose or other type of flower.


Flower Basket


Wooden or wicker basket


Gathered Lace of any type (also can use gathered sheer material with beads sewn on edge)


Glue Gun/sticks


Small flowers


White Paint (craft or spray)


You can either use a small wicker or wooden basket. If using wooden you paint it white with a craft type paint and drying over night. Measure the outside edge of basket and add 2 inches for excess.


Using glue gun or other type of craft glue place lace around outer edge of basket. At handle base you can add small flowers and ribbons of your choice using small amounts of glue.


Ribbon Bows


To make ribbon bows for corsages and flower baskets you will need ribbon in the desired colors. I prefer using the ¼ inch – ½ in widths.


Measure out your desired length of tail and pinch between thumb and finger. Make a loop on each side of your hand. Continue to pinch center between fingers. The size of loop depends on how large of a bow you want to make. Continue making two more loops on each side. Make a center loop by bringing the ribbon toward you, up over and around the thumb. Make four more loops on each side of hand. Cut off a 4-inch length of chenille stem or floral wire. Bend in half and insert through center loop. Bring the wire ends to the back of the bow and twist to secure the bow. Trim tail of bow at an angle.

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