Yesterday evening I attended the West Elm Spring Social hosted by wedding designer extraordinaire, Michelle Edgemeont, and made the cutest boutonnieres using tiny air plants and paper flowers sold at West Elm.
These boutonnieres are really easy to make and a perfect DIY for anyone getting married, going to the prom, or for those in need of some floral flair to spruce up an outfit. And if you're getting married you can make these several days before your wedding.
Here's what you need to make these stylish boutonnieres....
- Paper flowers from West Elm (they are sold by the bunch online but you can buy individually at the store)
- Air plants (sold in the West Elm stores only; $4-6 each)
- Floral stem tape
- Floral wire
- Fabric ribbon (optional)
- Floral wire cutters
- Filler foliage (optional)
And here's how you make them....
First you want to attach some floral wire to your air plant by sticking the wire through the base of the plant and twisting it (don't worry you won't hurt the plant).
- After you do that you'll want to wrap floral tape around the wire. You can see photos of how to attach the wire and tape here. We only used one piece of wire but the example I've linked to uses 2
You then need to add the rest of your foliage and once you figure out your combination you just wrap more floral tape around it all and finish off with some ribbon (this last part is optional though!). And don't forget to trim the wire - the boutonniere's base only needs to be a few inches long.
- I made one boutonniere with a smaller air plant, small white paper flowers, goldenrod, and eculyptus leaves, and a larger one with just a peach paper flower with brown paper leaf and an air plant
If you are making these for your wedding I suggest you make a few test ones to see how long they last (so you know how far in advance you can make them) and if you are using real live foliage in addition to your air plant/paper flowers, you should check the life span of said foliage since some are more durable than others.
If anyone tries making one of these please share your pics!