Ribbon Flowers

I have been aching for spring lately. Outside my window is about 6-7" of snow and not a lot of color. Flowers have been really on  my mind. While these are white flowers, I added black and gold beads as accents for a more formal feel.

No, these don't really bring to mind fields of wild flowers, but with the tight budget we have been facing, I have to use the supplies I have on hand, and that includes a lot of white ribbon.

These may end up as part of formal black and white bridal bouquet before I am done. I don't know yet. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

MIA Crafter...

So for the last two weeks I have been MIA, but I have a good reason. We have a cousin who got married on October 28th. On the 15th she asked me to make her bouquets, six ribbon flower bouquets - bridal, tossing and four bridesmaid - and I couldn't meet with her until the 17th to actually pick out ribbon colors and discuss what she wanted. Once everything was figured out, I spent the following week and a half doing nearly nothing but sewing ribbon flowers and crafting bouquet embellishments. In all I ended up with around six dozen flowers and two dozen embellishments. 

It was stressful, my whole house suffered and my poor hubby had to deal with nearly two weeks of me being cranky. In the end it was all worth it when I delivered the bouquets and saw the bride's face. She loved them, said they were better than she could have expected even though she knew they would be beautiful. 

So here are three of the six bouquets that nearly cost me my sanity. :) I am very happy with how they turned out. She had a Halloween themed wedding, complete with guests being required to wear costumes (which was more stress considering I had to make a costume for myself as well) and her colors were a rich red, black and white.

Here you can see the bridal bouquet in the vase, the tossing bouquet to the right and the maid of honor bouquet to the left. The only difference between the maid of honor bouquet and the other bridesmaid is the sparkly black pendant set to the front of bouquet. 

The bridal had several accents that made it really stand out. The bride loves sparkly, blingy accents. Knowing that, I crafted some rhinestone accents out of cup-chain with clear stones and silver wire and incorporated a really pretty iridescent ribbon both in the bouquet and circling it. This bouquet really stood out in front of her dress. The bridesmaids bouquets were smaller but made of the same style flowers and accents. They did not get any rhinestones, but they did get some bicone accents in the wedding colors. The tossing bouquet was the smallest of the bouquets but still had some major impact. It was also the biggest pain the neck to make. Probably because it was the last and I was trying to hurry to get everything done to deliver the flowers in the afternoon, the day before the wedding.

I loved being able to do this for our cousin. The joy in her face when she saw them, the surprise when I told her she didn't have to pay and they were her wedding gift. It took a lot of stress off her - especially considering she gave herself a total of 28 days to plan the wedding! Naturally, her big day was beautiful and filled with family and love. And I'm happy to know I had a small part in making the day so special for her. 

Red & White Ribbon Flowers

I love making ribbon flowers. They are so delicate looking, so easy to customize and they have so many uses. Used them in my daughter-in-law's bridal party bouquets. Those bouquets really served as inspiration for future bouquets.

Like this one made of rich red and crisp white satin ribbon. Each flower is accented with a faceted, AB   acrylic bead at its center. The bouquet is criss-crossed with a delicate string of white faux pearls and is ringed with loops of glittery green ribbon. The bouquet is finished with its stems being wrapped in white satin ribbon.

The detail of ribbon flowers can be better appreciated in this close up picture.

This bouquet offers a dramatic touch of elegance that is sure to stand out against a lovely white dress.

I am currently working on several more ribbon flower bouquets, in more colors and using different techniques and styles. I am really excited about these, and if there is enough interest, I may even write up a tutorial on how to make these ribbon flower. So leave a comment and tell me if you want a tutorial!

For The Bridesmaids...

Yesterday I showed you the bridal bouquet from an important wedding last November. Today, I'm sharing the bridesmaids bouquets.

These arrangements were made in line with the bridal bouquet, each featuring a beaded lily centerpiece surrounded by ribbon flowers. The ribbon flowers coordinate with the the wedding colors and the bridesmaid dresses.

As you can see, the Matron of Honor's bouquet was just slightly different indicating her place in the bridal party. Her arrangement featured more the dark purple than the others.

The effect was amazing and the best compliment I received was when the photographer's assistant stated he didn't even realize they weren't real flowers.

All told, the flowers were a little tedious to make, only because I don't like doing the same thing over and over. But the end result was well worth the tedium.

Happy Crafting All!

Bridal Bouquet

When my step-son got in engaged, I was eager to lend a crafty hand to help the young couple out. Weddings are expensive, especially if you want something you unique and hand crafted to made the day special. He and his intended happily accepted my offer and I was asked to make several important items. I'm going to spend this week showcasing the items I made for them.

First up is the bridal bouquet. This is always a key accessory for the bride. Many times it's the only splash of color to be seen against the white of the bride's dress.

The only instructions I received from the bride was that she lilies and a cascading bouquet. So I decided to take the opportunity to try beaded and ribbon flowers. For the centerpiece of the arrangement, I made 3 beaded lilies using 3mm plastic pearls and gold seed beads for the stamens.

The remainder of the flowers were all made out of ribbon that followed the chosen wedding colors. The puffy silver faux-carnations were some of my favorites. They added a little sparkle while filling out the bouquet. To achieve the cascading look, ribbons in the same colors and textures as those in the bouquet, flowed down from the arrangement in varying lengths.

This was a great thing for me to make. It challenged me and offered the chance to try something new. I loved every tedious moment of it.

Happy Crafting All!