Today we’re introducing the second part of our new How To series, the “Crafty” part. If the “Lazy” crafts are ones that a blind monkey could do in its sleep (What? Sometimes I consider myself the blind monkey of crafting!) these are projects that are 110% do-able with a little instruction and effort. (Even if you are a blind monkey.)
Today we’re making a wildflower bouquet, the kind you’d buy from a really expensive florist. Can you do this yourself? Totally! But you’ll want to read the tutorial carefully, and possibly do a dry run like I did, if you have little-to-no experience with flowers. Also: full disclosure. This bouquet is more expensive to make because you need to buy more types of flowers (though making it yourself is still usually going to be significantly cheaper than having it made for you). The technique of today’s bouquet is exactly the same as last week’s (create a base, wrap with floral tape, and fill in as you go), but you’ll need to use your creative eye to create something that works.
The real key to this bouquet comes in the shopping. We bought the flowers from the San Francisco Flower Mart, so we could have access to as big a selection of flowers as possible (this bouquet has the blackberries I dreamed of having in my bouquet, sigh). We selected flowers all in the same color story, with a wide variety of textures. But if you’re going to use a variety of colors, keep the textures similar. Select six to ten different types of flowers and filler. (Yup! That’s a lot, but you’ll need it!) Remember to always pick a few highlight flowers from across the color wheel, to make your main colors stand out and not fade together. Here we used green (including a truly strange alien pod thing that somehow totally works).
Start with your basic construction technique, as covered last week: Build your base with three flowers, continually wrap the flowers with floral tape, adding a balance of main flowers, and occasional accent flowers. Pro-tip: Create groupings of the same textures, interspersing softer textures with harder textures. If you’re going for a wild look, select a wild looking filler that is longer than your main flowers. When you’re done, prune back any extra leaves. Then cover with a neat wrap of floral tape, anywhere you want your pretty wrap to go. Wrap yarn (you can use anything, but we used a hand died yarn in the same color as the main flowers). Secure with pins or hot glue (in tiny dots).
Remember to remind yourself how talented you are before rewarding yourself with a drink.
Good job, ladyfriend! You’re taking this wedding by storm.
Photos by Emily Takes Photos, Crafting by Lowe House Events, Graphic Design by Michelle Edgemont
