Corsages & Boutonnieres

It seems that this corsage and boutonniere deal is becoming a thing.  I have made them for two weddings recently!  This first group of photos is from my Aunt Kelley's wedding over Christmas.  She decided not to carry a bouquet and asked for a large pin on corsage.  There was another wrist corsage for my grandma and boutonnieres for the groom, grandad, and my Aunt's three boys!  These fun sparkly pieces came from Michaels!  I loved getting to contribute to this happy family occasion!!

This group is from a wedding this past weekend.  A friend of mine asked if I'd make some for her sister's wedding... my first paid job!  I felt so official. ;)  I also stumbled across a nifty way to stabilize the wrist corsage band... use a cooling rack!!  It made the job SO much easier! 

I found all of these flowers and accessories at Hobby Lobby.  Their white roses were beautiful and felt so real!  I also got to make a simple halo for a little 4 month old baby girl!  I ended up attaching a clear stretchy band to go under her chin to keep it stable!

Getting Crafty - Boutonniere

A high school friend of D's is getting married later this month and he asked if I would make some boutonnieres for his wedding.  I had made some for our own wedding three years ago and he remembered thinking that they looked cool.  Of course I said I'd love to help out... now I just have to make them cool ;)

Supplies:
Some lovely flowers!  (I found these at Hobby Lobby)
Scissors (or wire cutters if the stem is real thick)
Floral tape
Hot glue gun
Ribbon
Fray Check (helpful so that you can manage the ribbon easier, but not totally necessary)
Fancy pins

Use your scissors or wire cutters to select pieces of the flowers, about 5 inches long works nice.  It's easy to handle and you can trim the bottom later if necessary.  I don't like the boutonniere to look too top heavy.  After you have an arrangement you like, I find it helpful to place a little dollop of hot glue somewhere along the back just to keep everything together while I wrap the stems in the floral tape.

I love working with floral tape.  The warmth of your hands makes it kind of sticky so that it clings to the stems and itself making a really sturdy wrapping!

You could stop here, but I like to add some ribbon that matches the flowers, just for a little more color.  I secure the ribbon with a dot of hot glue at the beginning and end of the wrap.  Here they are completed! 

I go ahead and stick the pins through so that there is not extra hassle on the wedding day!  A little bloop of hot glue on the end of the pin will keep the guys from getting pricked!

Here are the ones I made for our wedding, ah, memory lane!

Groom's

Groomsmen