How to Make a Bride's Bouquet Using Silk Flowers
Flowers are an integral part of most weddings--stunning arrangements at the alter, on the tables and in the bride's bouquet. Fresh flowers are expensive, can sometimes be difficult to work with and won't last more than a few hours out of water. The solution is to use silk flowers in the bride's bouquet. A nosegay arrangement, also called a tussie mussie, is composed of circles of flowers in a round, compact bouquet.
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Things You'll Need
- 16 large flowers such as roses, peonies or gerbera daisies
- 32 medium flowers such as carnations or marguerite daisies
- 12 small flowered sprays such as baby's breath, forget-me-nots, tiny daisies or lily of the valley
- Wire cutters
- Rubber bands
- 3-inch wide ribbon
- Hot glue
- 48 pearl, sequin, or crystal stick pins
Instructions
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Select flowers in the colors you prefer for your bouquet. Cut all the stems of the flowers to 12 inches. Silk flowers often look crushed when taken from the crafts stores, so fluff each flower by gently opening the petals. Smooth each one with your thumb and forefinger. Open each of the 32 medium-sized flowers and hot glue a pearl/sequin/crystal stick pin to the center so the pearl is visible when you look down on the flower.
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Hold one large flower in your non-dominant hand. Arrange three medium-sized flowers around the large flower, using your dominant hand. Wrap wire around the four flowers, twisting the ends to secure. Don't cut the wire. Arrange five large flowers around the medium flowers. Wrap wire around the nine flowers and twist to secure the ends. Again don't cut the wire. Arrange seven medium flowers around the small bouquet of wired flowers. Each group of new flowers should circle the previous circle of flowers. Continue the circles until all the flowers are used or the bouquet is as large as you would like. Fill any gap with sprays of the small flowers, pushing the stems into the bouquet to secure them. Finish the bouquet with a circle of the spray flowers. Wrap once more with the wire, twist to secure and cut the wire. Bend the cut end into the bouquet.
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3
Wrap the stems of the bouquet with rubber bands in three places: at the top, midway down and near the bottom. Use a bit of hot glue to secure one end of the ribbon around the stems under the flower heads. Wrap the ribbon around the bunch of stems, securing every few turns with a drop of glue, until the stems are completely covered with ribbon. Cut the ribbon, fold the cut end under and secure it with a bit of glue.
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Decide which will be the front of the bouquet. All sides should be equally pretty, so it doesn't really matter. Insert a row of stick pins topped with pearls/sequins/crystals into the ribbon down the front of the bouquet. Dab a tiny drop of hot glue under the pearl/sequin/crystal to secure it. The stick pin should be angled downward so it doesn't come out the other side and prick the bride when she's holding it.
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Tips & Warnings
Work slowly, checking all sides of the bouquet for evenness as you go.
Use a glass jar to hold the bouquet upright when you need to take a break.
Slightly bend each flower out from the center for a more natural look.
Hot glue burns. Keep a glass of ice water nearby to dunk burnt fingers.
