How to Preserve a Corsage to Wear Again
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It's that time of year again! Time for proms and weddings galore! Today I am sharing with you how to make a boutonniere for that special guy for prom or a wedding day. For more floral designs see my Flowers page.
Basically, a boutonniere is a small tight bouquet with a flower and a couple of sprigs. With a little practice, you can make these little arrangements if you're in a pinch.
These days, boutonnieres are made in many not-so-conventional ways, using anything from fruit to feathers. You can use silk or fresh flowers to create them. Of course, using silk flowers would make a great keepsake.
Where to Purchase Flowers for a DIY Boutonniere?
When purchasing your flowers, your local grocery stores usually have a great selection of bouquets, single flowers, and greenery.
- My personal favorite is Costco's floral section
- Trader Joe's flowers coming in a close second.
- If you have a Bristol Farms store in your area, their flowers are amazing too.
- You can also order smaller roses or flowers at your local grocery store in the floral department.
I have found that in the spring, stores have a great selection of smaller flowers already on hand. This is because they make a lot of boutonnieres at that time of year.
When should you purchase your flowers for Boutonierer?
You should purchase your flowers the day of or the day before you are to use them if they are fresh. When you get home with your bouquet, the first thing you should do is maintain the freshness of the flowers.
Flowers that have been out of water for even a short period of time seal on the cut ends, so you must trim them again to open them up and keep them fresh.
This will allow them to be able to absorb water and the flowers will last longer. Trim your stems on an angle one inch from the original end with a sharp knife on a cutting board; submerge the ends in cool water and store them in a refrigerator.
How far ahead of an event can I make a Boutonniere?
Fresh wedding boutonnieres for the groom and groomsmen should be made the night before the big day, you just need to keep them refrigerated. Let's make a boutonniere!
How to Make a Boutonniere
Supplies:
- Flowers: You will need one small-medium flower blooms or two small flowers for the base, a small filler flower, and/or filler greenery
- I used a medium white Rose, 1 small green chrysanthemum, some random leaf filler, and leather leaf filler
- Floral tape
- 22-24 gauge floral wire
- Stem cutter or scissors
- Wire Cutters and/or Heavy Duty Scissors
- Optional: 1/4 inch ribbon, Flower Preservative Spray.
- Corsage pin
Step Instructions:
Clean up the blooms by removing dead or brownish petals. Remove thorns from roses.
The first step is to strengthen real flowers so the buds and stems will not be weak, break off or droop, you need to wire and tape the stems. You will create a new boutonniere stem with pieces of floral wire.
If you are using silk you can skip this step or you can wire and tape them too. You should do this if the plastic stems are too thick, bulky, or not flexible.
Cut your flower stem one inch from the bud.
Take an 8-inch piece of wire and stick it straight through the top of the stem of the flower.
SILK FLOWER TIP: To get the wire to go through a hard plastic stem base of a silk flower, heat the tip of the wire in the wick of a lit candle. Then quickly push it through the plastic base! The heat melts the plastic and the wire will go throw with ease.
Fold the wire down and wrap with tape making a faux narrow stem. Stretch your tape as you wrap, this activates the stickiness of the tape for a firm hold around the wire.
Group your filler flower and greenery around the main base flower.
If you are using two smaller flowers go ahead and tape them together, this will be your main base. Tape the greenery and filler to the base. Trim or tear off excess tape.
Trim the excess stem wrapped wire down to around 2-3 inches to balance the arrangement or you can leave a little length to twirl the ends around for a cute pigtail look.
Make sure the ends of the wires are covered with tape or turned under so they will not snag the fabric on the jacket lapel.
To finish with a ribbon, {I used a sticky-backed ribbon} fold over the end to cover the end of the wires first and wrap tightly around the end of the base wires up to the top. Twirl wire around a skewer to make a pigtail.
How to Pin a Boutonniere onto a Lapel
For best results and no drooping, pin your boutonniere to the jacket horizontally with a corsage pearl pin, weaving it in and out through the fabric. You can also insert it in the buttonhole of the suit and secure it with a corsage pin. And that's it! Good luck! I'd love to see your creations!
How to preserve a Boutonniere
- Make the boutonniere the day before but ideally the day of the event for the best freshness.
- Mist your flowers with water or a flower preservative spray if you like. There are a lot of recipes for flower preservatives on the internet. {FYI~ I just used water and everything was fine}. Place the boutonniere in a plastic container and place it in the refrigerator overnight. Be careful not to mist the ribbon it may change the color or ruin the look of the fabric.
- Keep it in the box as long as possible
- Refrigerate the flowers especially if it was made the day before. Make sure it is in the front of the refrigerator shelf so the petals will not get overly cold or freeze near the back.
- To preserve the boutonniere as a keepsake, hang it upside down and let it dry out. They should be completely dried out in a few days and will keep for years undisturbed.
More Floral Craft Projects:
- How to Make a Corsage
- Stunning Navy and Pink Tropical Flower Wreath
- Effortless Oven Dried Flowers for Crafts
- Hay House Wedding in Macon, GA by Intelligent Domestications
Love this idea but have no time to make one? Try one of these Ideas
Love it? Pin it!
Check out more of my Floral Projects~
And so not to leave the ladies out~ see my tutorial on How to Make a Corsage!
Prep Time 5 minutes
Active Time 30 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Difficulty Easy
Estimated Cost $10
Materials
- Flowers: You will need one small-medium flower blooms or two small flowers for the base, a small filler flower, and/or filler greenery
- I used a medium white Rose, 1 small green chrysanthemum, some random leaf filler, and leather leaf filler
- Floral tape
- Pearl Corsage pin
- 22-24 gauge floral wire
- Optional: 1/4 inch ribbon, Flower Preservative Spray.
Tools
- Stem cutter or scissors
- Wire Cutters and/or Heavy Duty Scissors
Instructions
- Cut your flower stem one inch from the bud.
- Take an 8-inch piece of wire and stick it straight through the top of the stem of the flower.
- Fold the wire down and wrap with tape making a faux narrow stem. Stretch your tape as you wrap, this activates the stickiness of the tape for a firm hold around the wire.
- Group your filler flower and greenery around the main base flower.
- If you are using two smaller flowers go ahead and tape them together, this will be your main base. Tape the greenery and filler to the base. Trim or tear off excess tape.
- Trim the excess stem wrapped wire down to around 2-3 inches to balance the arrangement or you can leave a little length to twirl the ends around for a cute pigtail look.
- Make sure the ends of the wires are covered with tape or turned under so they will not snag the fabric on the jacket lapel.
- To finish with a ribbon, {I used a sticky-backed ribbon} fold over the end to cover the end of the wires first and wrap tightly around the end of the base wires up to the top. Twirl wire around a skewer to make a pigtail.
Clean up the blooms by removing dead or brownish petals. Remove thorns from roses.
The first step is to strengthen real flowers so the buds and stems will not be weak, break off or droop, you need to wire and tape the stems. You will create a new boutonniere stem with pieces of floral wire.
If you are using silk flowers you can skip this step or you can wire and tape them too. You should do this if the plastic stems are too thick, bulky, or not flexible.
Notes
SILK FLOWER TIP: To get the wire to go through a hard plastic stem base of a silk flower, heat the tip of the wire in the wick of a lit candle. Then quickly push it through the plastic base! The heat melts the plastic and the wire will go throw with ease.
Source: https://madeinaday.com/how-to-make-a-boutonniere/
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