DIY ~ Prom and Special Occasion Flowers
Have you seen what prom flowers cost these days? And that’s not for anything special, either. I set out to make some memorable prom flowers for my sweet grandson. And you can make special occasion flowers, too!
Depending on the time of year, come up with a floral and foliage combination that you like. The greenery base can be from your garden, such as ivy, camellia or dusty miller leaves. Pittosporum, eucalyptus or even thicker leaved houseplants will work. You don’t need many, I only used nine leaves!
For flowers there are many choices, such as miniature orchids, spray roses, carnations, calla lilies, wax flowers, baby’s breath, statice, poms (spray chrysanthemums), even succulents!
Gather or buy your flowers one or two days before you plan to arrange them. Make sure your flowers and foliage will hold up by cutting a few and leaving them out overnight (without water) to see if they wilt or not.
DIY ~Prom and Special Occasion Flowers
First of all, I am not a florist, just a pretty crafty grandmom who created prom flowers for our grandson and his date. To keep costs low, I used flowers I grew at home and purchased fillers from the grocery store. Even if you don’t have blooming orchids at home, you can buy blooming orchids fairly cheaply now, use the flowers and have a plant to enjoy! Or buy a small grocery store arrangement and improvise!
Before you start, make sure you have gathered all the materials you will need and that the flowers and foliage are hydrated in a vase of water. Scissors, E6000 glue, ribbon, a floral corsage bracelet and magnetic boutonniere base should all be at the ready. I found the corsage and boutonniere bases on Amazon. The E6000 silicone glue was purchased at the hardware store.
Have all your materials at the ready!
Secure your wrist corsage base by placing it on a paper towel over a rolled hand towel. This way you can see how it will look as you go, keeping the size appropriate for the wearer.
Put a big glob of E6000 glue onto the plastic plate portion of the wristlet. Now you are ready to start adding your florals.
Secure the corsage bracelet and put a glob of glue on the plastic base.
Add sturdy leaves such as lemon or camellia. You can even use leaves from outdoor shrubs. Just do a test first by leaving them on the kitchen counter for a day. You want leaves that hold up and don’t wilt.
Glue the leaf base onto the wrist base, then add more glue.
Position the main flowers (I used orchids here) in the middle of the leaf base you created. You will only need two or three main flowers. Put them in a good amount of the E6000 glue so they stay put. Don’t worry if some glue shows; you will be adding more flowers and it dries clear.
Place the main flowers in the glue at the center of the corsage.
Tuck in additional flowers to fill out the arrangement to your liking. You can dab some glue on the stems as you add them in. Make sure all flowers are glued so they will stay in place. Add the final touches of some ribbon loops tucked under the orchids, if desired. Here I added a few Hoya flowers that look like little pink stars.
Add the final touches of filler flowers and ribbon.
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Here’s the finished wrist corsage! All the flowers used held up nicely for the big event. Do put your florals in the refrigerator to keep them fresh, preferably in a plastic box. I recycled a couple fruit boxes from the grocery store for mine. Clear take-out containers would work great, too.
A beautiful wrist corsage ready for any special occasion!
The boutonniere was quick and easy to make using a magnetic boutonniere holder I bought on Amazon. Echoing some of the same flowers used on the wrist corsage and wrapping a little ribbon around the base made these florals a set without being too matchy. And the best part is that you can glue flowers onto the boutonniere holder and it is magnetic. No more poking pins or sagging flowers!
Boutonniere using some matching flowers
