Corsage and Boutonniere- Jr Prom 2013

Hard to believe that Caiden is old enough for the right of passage known as the Jr Prom. Where does the time go??

 

 

I decided to make the corsage and boutonniere because after pricing all the fancy ones sold at the local florist ($20 boutonniere and $30 corsage!!??) and because it makes me crazy to pay for something  I knew I could make myself for less money and just as pretty, I took the plunge! 

 

 

 

I went to my local craft stores and picked up the following items:

 

 

Sparkly crystal stretch bracelet
$3.33- A.C. Moore


 

 

Black sparkle stretch corsage bracelet (notice the silver metal tabs on it)
$4.99- Joann Fabric

Black 20 gauge wire
$2.99- A.C. Moore



Green floral tape
$1.99 for 2 rolls- Hobby Lobby



Sheer white 1 in ribbon
$2.99- JoAnn Fabrics




Green floral wire
$1.99- Hobby Lobby

I cut up the crystal bracelet and the black wire in 8in lengths. Then bent them into submission using needle nose pliers to make some sparkly doo dads!

Early Saturday morning on the day of the prom I went to our local Wegmans and picked up a dozen coral/peach/pink roses.
$12.00

I didn't take any pictures of the "making progress", but if you go on YouTube and search for "how to make a corsage" about 300 videos show up!! 

 

 

 

I cut 3 roses leaving about a 1 inch stem on each. Then took a piece of floral wire and inserted it into the stem just below the rose, then bent the wire just an inch on one side and longer on the other. Starting were the wire punctures the stem, stretch the floral tape (stretching it before hand makes it stick to itself) while wrapping the rose to cover the bent area fully. Now your rose has a wired and taped stem. This part was a little nerve wracking but only one rose had to sacrifice itself for practice!

 

 

 

For the corsage I took 2 roses and taped a different sparkler to each one. Then taped the 2 roses together adding a couple rose leaves. I then made a bow with the sheer ribbon (also following a YouTube video). Attached a floral wire to make the bow and then taped the bow onto the roses. Every time I taped a new wire to the corsage I cut off the extra wire, once something is taped it's not necessary to have all these wires connected to it. So now there was one stem of taped pieces of different wires. I bent the stem of wires under and out of the way as not to catch on any thing. Then took the corsage bracelet and used the silver metal tabs which bend very easily and CAREFULLY bent the tabs around the the stem of the corsage. You want the corsage to sit evenly on the bracelet and not flop around so make sure it is attached to the heaviest part of the flowers.

 

 

 

 

 

 



Voila!

For the boutonniere the instructions are pretty much the same, minus the bow and bracelet. After taping the sparklers to the rose and adding a leaf, I bent the end of the taped wire around a narrow pencil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Finished boutonniere! I cut off that green leaf piece that had ripped in this picture.

green piece gone, stem squiggle detail.



The mess afterwards!! I did NOT want to pick this up! Anything not used for the corsage was returned to the store.

I trimmed the stems of the remaining roses and got to enjoy them for a whole week!!

Total cost of construction for the corsage and boutonniere was a total of $21.28! I considered the roses as $1 a piece and I got to enjoy the rest of them for myself....a gift for myself maybe?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two hours before the prom while I was making the corsage, Caiden called me and asked if I would write "Haley, will you go out with me?" on the ribbon........ how stinkin sweet is that?!! I told him I wouldn't couldn't write on the ribbon but would come up with something else.

 

 

 

 

 

 



I printed out this little tag onto card stock and attached it to the corsage container.


So cute.....she said yes!




And because I'm a crazy person that gets weirded out by having my son's picture on the Internet here is a cropped version of the happy couple. =)

(note: he is holding a Rock Star energy drink, not a beer! lol!) 
Caiden's step mom Christina used 2 different color dyes to make coral Chuck Taylors!! They came out awesome!

Feet!! Caiden and friends.

 

 

 





Eight couples rode in a beautiful 18 passenger white Hummer limo. This vehicle was nicer than the car his father and I used for our wedding!

 

 

The prom was at the high school and the kids had a wonderful night. They rode around in the limo after the prom and went to eat at a local restaurant. Then all the boys had a bonfire at Caiden's best friend Josh's house and slept over.

 

 

 

The morning after.....



 I will definitely make the corsage and boutonniere next year for the Sr. Ball and what's great is I have most of the supplies now!!

















 



A wonderful vintage surprise!!

This August I will have been a nail technician for 14 years. Hard to believe the time has flown by! My son was 3 years old when I started!!  Wowza!

 

 

Most of my clientele has been with me from day one. They see me every 3 weeks to get their nails filled, our appointment lasting for almost an hour. Every 3 weeks for 14 years is a big chunk of our lives together. We have lived through and talked about: school, sickness, death, family, fun, weddings, birthdays..... and the list goes on and on. My clients know things about me, for example: that I love to sew and collect old things and that I can name each English monarch in order since Edward V in 1483. =)

 

 

Well, anyhoo, one of my original clients Ann V. came in on Monday for her appointment and said she had something for me. She said that if I didn't want them she would understand. On my desk she plopped a gallon sized freezer bag of her mother's silver plate flatware...... I almost passed out. I also restrained myself somehow from hugging the life out of her!

 

 



 

 

 

 

She went on to say that she had no use for them because she already had real sterling flatware of her own and also her grandmothers sterling. Both her children are a touch older than me and very modern.... they see no need for things like silver plate flatware. Ann knew that in the past I have picked up mismatched pieces from the thrift stores for pennies and use them. They are just so much more prettier than the stainless steel flatware we usually use.

 

 

Needless to say I am over the moon excited to own them! Later that evening I went online to the website Replacements.com to look up the pattern and then realized that in the bunch were actually 2 patterns, both made by Oneida Ltd using the WM. A Rogers mark.

 

 

I have 10 pieces of "Meadowbrook" from 1936. A pretty vine like pattern of a few leaves on the handle.

 

 

 

www.replacements.com

 

Meadowbrook 1936

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ice tea spoon and sugar spoon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

teaspoons

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other pattern is 34 pieces of "Happiness" from 1940. Also a very lovely design. The oval shaped end of their handles are very similar to Meadowbrook that they merge beautifully.

 

 

 

 

 



www.replacements.com

 

Happiness 1940

the handles of the "new french hollow grille knives"

salad forks and sugar spoon

 

 

 

 

So now I have 44 pieces of lovely silver plate to use! I can't wait to polish them up, they have been stored well and there is little tarnish on them. They are actually worth a pretty penny to replace, so I have made my son swear to me that he will not sell them..... he has to pay it forward and give them to someone that will cherish them as much as I will. I may just make that my own mission, so he has one last thing to worry about when dealing with my collections. =)



I love that my clients think of me when they come across something in their home and think I might get better use out of it!

 

 



 

 

 

 





Randoms- May 13th

Morning all, I should be getting ready for work but my mind is racing a million miles a minute. Just thought I'd jot down what's on my mind at the moment.


Jeff and I saw "The Great Gatsby" in 3D Saturday night and I have to say that I absolutely LOVED it!! So much so that I am going to scour my friend pool and see who else wants to go watch it! I have read all over the Internet about some of the history snobs that have already written off this movie... how it will never properly represent the book, no one can replace Robert Redford and how the rap music and quasi 1920's/1930's mish mash isn't historically correct. Yes, I get that, 100%. BUT if you just go into this movie with an open mind and a thrill of seeing characters brought to life with a 2013 CGI flare, it is amazing. The opulence and excess that Fitzgerald writes about absolutely comes to life. It is beautiful to behold. I think Leonardo's Jay Gatsby is played wonderfully. You can see his sadness, his almost crazed grasp of trying to hold onto something that can not be replayed. Carey's Daisy is beautiful and shallow. Even if it isn't historically correct, I think the costumes are quite beautiful, the scenic backdrops grand and I can only imagine the great feeling of wealth that was going on in our nation for some people... before the great slap in the face of the crash of 1929 and our plunge into the Depression.

When the heck did Leo get swoon worthy?? Seriously! One minute he's a cutie in Titanic then BAM holy hot manlyness!



Busy week ahead.....

Friday night Jeff informed me that we have to have the house appraised again!! We are refinancing and I guess the old appraisal we did in the fall has expired. Ugh, so I have to really get my bum into gear and get the house ship shape, but my mind is in dress making mode.... not housekeeping mode. Booo. Hisss.



This Saturday night is Caiden's Jr. Prom. Very exciting! We pick up his tux on Thursday. For some reason I got in my head that I can make his and Haley's boutonniere and corsage.....uh huh...  sooooo, we shall see how that turns out,  on this very busy week......let's just add one more project to the mix shall we??! Mmkay. I will post about my flower arranging skills next week. Wish me luck with that one!

       1960's prom vieillemarde.com

I have many sewing projects that I am in the middle of and it doesn't look like I will have a chance to touch them this week. Ack, talk about depression!