Vintage Inspired Bouquet

Inspired by this: Mine started out like this.

Then this weekend MOH Cassie and I started really putting it together. I've been collecting buttons and random baubles from Aunt Cheri's Button Jar, the button jar of MOB, and various other places. I had clear jewels and rhinestone buttons and white buttons and buttons I'd previously painted a silver color for another project. I had a lot of OTHER stuff I thought was going to go into it (peacock feathers, green buttons, etc.), but it turned out looking awesome-er with all the bling! We attached each individual button and bauble to a strand of wire, pulling it through the back of the button and twisting it back down, then adding a dab of hot glue so that it would stand up and not flop around. Like so:

Then, it was all arranged into one beautifully awesome bouquet and we wrapped strands of wire around the "handle" area to keep it all together for the binding part.

Then we* binded (is that a word?) it all together, just wrapped white fabric around and around and around using hot glue to keep it taught and in place. After there was plenty of cushion, and it looked thick enough, we added the real fabric around it (same fabric that the flowers came from, which honestly pretty much matches my dress!). We added green lace (which I also used on the cardbox months ago) around the top with hot glue, just underneath the "blooms", to cover up the wire and the stems.

I added a cameo brooch that's tarnished gold, a little copper, and some green to the front, and oila! One Vintage Inspired Bouquet - coming up!

Jealous??! :)

Of the bouquet, not of my awesome sweaty hairstyle (no AC downstairs).

-C
xxx

*From this point on "we" basically means "Cassie" while I supervised/made us dinner.

Last Week's Secret Project Was...

...a faux fabulous bouquet for Bridesmaid/Bride-to-Be Amanda! MOH Cassie and I joined forces to make it all happen. She made the flowers and I did the arranging and decorating of it. Amanda's going to use it as her bouquet for her wedding rehearsal (I hope!).

Here's how it was done:

MOH Cassie made the flowers (I'm trying to get her to do a guest post tutorial!) and glued stems onto the blooms. The stems are bound together using floral wire to form it into a bouquet.

I decided to add little tulle circles inbetween each bloom.

I think it adds a little something, don't you?

I wanted the "handle" to be thick and cushy, so I started with some scrap fabric to bulk it up a bit. I wrapped and hot glued, wrapped and hot glued, wrapped and hot glued...

...and then I wrapped and hot glued lots of navy fabric around it as well. I added the white lace at the top and bottom (hot glue again) to class it up a bit.

I only had a little bit of some shiny navy satin, so I cut it into strips and glued it on in a spiral, then added navy buttons on there. Want to guess the first thing that popped off when I gave it to her? Yeah, one of the buttons! Lol, but I was well aware that this could happen. Her nickname ain't "Hot Mess" for nothing!

People kept asking her to pose with the bouquet all day, so I guess it looks pretty good!
I'll fix the button before the rehearsal... :)

-C
xxx

Vintagey Bouquet

And it's not going to be green! Ok there might be some green in there because I bought some peacock feathers at MOB's urging. She really had to twist my arm. Not. I heart everything peacock! How can you not? So many colors, beautifully pulled together by nature/machines. But I suppose it will be green in the "I'm reusing some materials I already own and not throwing it out after one day" sort of way, though. Anyway, after we found out one of my MOHs has the secret talent of making fabric flowers, I came across this:

and decided she/we/she needed to make something like it! Alright, fiiine, it'll be a combined effort... but my secret plan is to be the designer and have her put it all together :) ok not so secret anymore... So I found some really great fabric that pretty much matches my dress and sent it to her to make the flowers. I also have some ivory feathers, antique rhinestone buttons and brooches, and lots of other fun little things. Here are the finished flowers!

They're so pretty! The pics really don't do them justice, like, at all, so trust me on this, they're awesome. MOH Cassie's pretty talented, eh? Yeah, that's why we asked her to sell her fabulous flowers on our Etsy shop. What? Oh yeah, Bridesmaid Amanda, Bonnie and I are starting an Etsy shop! Not ready just yet, but it's coming soon! Don't worry, you'll be the first to know when it's ready :) so if you love DIY but... well, can't DIY, then our shop's for you!

-C
xxx

Fabric Flowers Everywhere!

One of my two MOHs, Cassie, needs to start a fabric flower making business. Or at least an etsy shop. I also think I should get some of the profits. I am, after all, the reason she realized she had this hidden talent. I had a tutorial I'd been trying (and FAILING MAJORLY at), and when I took it to her, lo and behold, she had the magic touch. And now she's making them for everyone!

Some are for herself...

Some for her friends...

and she's got orders pouring in from others as well!

Here's the first batch of mine!

Did you have any doubt they'd be green? I don't have a set plan for them yet, but as of right now I wouldn't care if I ended up just scattering them around as decoration at the wedding. I just loooove them!

It's really funny... I like getting flowers, I like gardening, but I don't really care for having real flowers at my wedding... so I'm not. (Well, except for the planted flowers in the backyard. Those don't count.) For some reason, and I'm talking mainly about for my wedding here, I am obsessed with faux flowers. The faux flower section at Dollar Tree rocks my world. Pop those buds right off the stems and you can put them anywhere!

Stay tuned for a sneak peek at my bouquet next week. Yes, my bouquet is going to be faux fabulous as well!

-C
xxx

PS Dollar Tree in itself is pretty much the bomb. Everything is ACTUALLY a dollar, unlike some places, and they have some pretty awesome stuff in there.