With the Homecoming Dance on the horizon, I bet many of you are annoyed at the prospect of calling your local florist and ordering expensive boutonnieres and corsages. Well, fret no more! Creating your own boutonniere or corsage has many benefits and is really fun and easy. You’d be surprised at how easy it is to personalize your arrangement cheaply— At the Dollar Tree, my supplies for both the boutonnière and the corsage cost about 7 dollars! In my tutorial, I will be using fake flowers— a good option if you want to save your arrangement for years to come. This process is just as simple with real flowers, too. My tips and tricks will show you how to keep your flowers fresh to the night’s end. Let’s dive right in!

Materials:

• Flowers of your choice (If you are using real flowers, I recommend using something with a sturdy stem, like roses)
• Floral tape (or any gentle tape to bind flowers together)
• Thick ribbon (for decoration)
• Hot glue gun (A sewing pin can work in lieu of hot glue for the boutonniere)
• Scissors
• Floral wire (or any wire that is thin and flexible)
• Safety pin/sewing pin (for the boutonniere)
• Optional:
  • Accents of your choosing such as brooches, pendants, feathers, sequins, lace, etc.
  • For fresh flowers: tin foil and a moist paper towel
  • Cuff bracelet

Step 1: Group together and arrange your flowers. Cut the stems to about 2-2.5 inches long.

Step 2: Take your cut flowers and fasten them with the floral tape. Then, thread the floral wire through the stems to make sure it’s secure while you dance the night away.

Step 3: Wrap ribbon around the exposed stems and glue the ends down. Then, add your accents! For this tutorial, I tried two different styles: glam and bohemian. I used a regular bow, but you can take it a step further and use a floral bow. Since the floral bow is more intricate, you should attach it separately with floral wire if you choose to do so. I added the leaves at the end because I felt that the corsage needed more greenery.

Step 4:

Corsage- Finally, hot glue your corsage onto a wrist size piece of ribbon and tye it directly onto the arm. Or, hot glue it to a cuff bracelet and paste the edges of the ribbon down to the underside of the cuff to ensure it remains fastened.

Boutonniere- Put the pin in the middle of the bow or ribbon to be able to attach it to the suit, completing the boutonniere.

Tips For Fresh Flowers:

• Wrap the stems in a moist paper towel and cover the paper towel with aluminum foil or saran wrap to prevent leakage. Then, your flowers will be vibrant and beautiful all night long!
• Baby’s breath can be a nice accent flower to complement your floral arrangement.
• Cut the stems and craft your corsage/boutonniere the day of homecoming or prom to keep it fresh for as long as possible.
• Buy the flowers in full bloom at the store the day before and store it in your fridge all night to prevent wilting before your event.