A great time was had by all.
As a sister, I knew my gift to her had to be unique.
And crafty.
Funny how much people expect from you when they hear you are crafty.
And you can only imagine the expectations I have of myself.
So, I decided to take on her bridal bouquet.
Let me start by saying that I know nothing about bouquets. Or flowers, for that matter. I have planted some in my front yard before. But they died.
I guess you could say I have a black thumb.
So, live flowers were not my weapon of choice for this particular project. Even though I know that is what a "bouquet" is made of.
I used something a little different to make her bouquet.
Brooches.
I know, I know. Pins. For a bridal bouquet. It doesn't seem like it should work. But I had seen it before. And my sister had seen it too.
Actually, she was with me when I found the idea online.
So, we began our brooch hunt. We started this summer. We hit every thrift shop, City Wide garage sale, and antique store.
Let me start by defining brooch:
a clasp or ornament having a pin at the back for passing through the clothing and a catch for securing the point of the pin.
How could this possibly work, you ask?
First I had to have the tools. We had shopped so much for brooches, I didn't think I could look at another one. So, I put them all in a bag in my craft room and ignored them for about a month.
And when I pilfered through the bag a few weeks ago, it was very fun, almost like another shopping trip. I wa amazed at what we had found. There were vintage brooches, new brooches, family heirlooms, and gifts from friends.
There was plastic, metal and precious stones. The selection was unbelievable. After hearing what we were doing, everyone contributed.
And then I got started.
I pinned them all to a styrophone ball. Then I glued them in place.
Sounds easy, right?
Well, it was. Mostly. More challenging than anything. Almost like a puzzle, getting each brooch to fit together to make the perfect bouquest.
I filled in the blank spots with earrings, rings, necklaces and tiny flowers. Each had to fit exactly to cover every square inch.
I finished it off with a wooden dowel covered in a vintage brown velvet ribbon.
The end result was absolutely gorgeous, if I do say so myself.
Seeing my sister carry it down the aisle in her wedding dress, made me burst with pride.
She said she is going to keep it as a decoration in her home.
When cleaning up after the wedding, I seriously considered stealing it away for my own home.
Would she notice? She would be on her honeymoon, after all.
She really should lock it up......
