How to Make a Cheap Brooch Bouquet

• Batch of fake flowers (your colors and type of flower)
• 6-10 brooches (old, new, any style you like)
• Hot glue gun + glue
• A few feet of ribbon (any color or style)
• Floral tape
• Thin & thick green metal wire

During the many months of planning my own wedding, I realized real flowers were not going to fit into our budget. Bummer, right? Not so much. Personally, I was somewhat relieved that I would not have to spend hundreds of dollars of something that wouldn't last. At the same time, I knew I would be making bouquets for myself, my maid of honor, and my bridesmaids...Whoa! So, I saw some pictures of brooch-accented bouquets on Pinterest and decided I had to do that.

First, where did I find cheap fake flowers? Dollar stores! The stores actually had a large selection of fake flowers. Each stem had about 4-5 flowers on it and they were $1 each. I bought 8 (4 red, 4 white) sets of flowers. Okay, so now I had a basic bouquet. I also bought more for my girls.

Next, I got on eBay and Amazon to look for brooches that I thought would go great with my colors (white, red, black) and style. I (and my family) found a couple batches on these sites and also some in craft stores. The prices vary, so just work with your budget. I believe I used around 10 brooches in my bouquet.

Now the hard part!

1. Put your flowers together the way you like and use floral tape to hold together.
2. Start wrapping the thin wire around your brooches in a way that is not very noticeable. Then use a thicker wire as a stem for the brooch and use thin wire to attach to thick wire. It should look like a brooch flower.
3. Insert brooches where you would like them in the bouquet. At first they will move and wiggle...
4. Once you like the placement, hot glue the brooches to other stems and flowers. If you do this correctly, no one should notice the hot glue.
5. Add any tiny decorations with more hot glue...Let dry!
6. Wrap the stem of your bouquet with the ribbon of your choice. And then hot glue it.
7. You're done - Enjoy!

I also used small red beads and tiny black bows in my bouquet. I just hot glued them to different flowers. I think it looks really pretty and I am really happy with this project. I did the same thing for my maid of honor and my bridesmaids.

Another Pinterest Possibility, a hand-made bouquet that will last for years to come - check!