My little brother’s senior prom was last weekend, and with ugly rose-and-baby’s-breath corsages selling for $50 a pop at local florists, I jumped at the opportunity when my mom asked me to make a floral wristlet for my brother’s date. I’ve never made one before, but after collecting some advice via Twitter (thanks, Jacin and Amy!) and skimming a few tutorials, I tried my hand at it. Even though it wasn’t quite sturdy enough to dance in, it looked really pretty and I was happy with how it turned out! Thankfully, my boyfriend was in town for the weekend and was a great sport about taking a few pictures for today’s DIY post. Here we go!

1. Gather up your supplies! Erik’s date wanted a white rose as the main flower, and I used a wispy purple flower (anyone know what that middle flower is called?) as a filler, and purple statice as a base. You’ll also need some sturdy ribbon (or a few, like I used), floral wire, floral tape, and scissors.

2. The first step is to make a large boutonniere, starting with arranging the flowers that will lay against the wrist. I used the statice in the back, since the back of the flower is flat, and used the wispy flower to fill in the spaces.

3. Wrap floral wire around the arrangement nice and tightly. I’m wrapping it a bit low in this picture–I would recommend a little bit higher since you’ll need to trim the stems later.

4. It should look something like this. :)

5. Wrap the stems in floral tape to cover up the wire. Again–higher than shown here. I ended up chopping quite a bit off!

6. Put the back arrangement aside and grab your “main” flower, if you’re using one. I wired some of the wispy flower to the rose so that it would meld with the rest of the arrangement better.

7. Wire it all together, and then floral tape the whole thing. Trim if necessary.

8. Ta da!

9. Now, make the boutonniere into a wristlet. I used three ribbons tied together at the ends, with the thickest ribbon longer than the other two, to tie onto the wrist.

10. Tie your ribbon to the top of the stems, nice and tight.

And that’s it! Tie the ribbon around your wrist and you’re ready to go. I made two wristlets, and the total cost (two roses, that wispy purple flower, statice, floral tape, floral wire, three types of ribbon) was about $30, and making one wristlet took about fifteen minutes.  Wristlets are commonly worn by mothers/grandmothers of the bride and groom, and you can follow the same tutorial, minus the ribbon part, to make boutonnieres. Order flowers in bulk and get together with your bridesmaids for a fun, floral DIY night!

Love,

Lisa