Your First DIY How-To!

I know, I know it has been forever... I guess that's what happens when you get married. Life gets even busier because all the things you put on hold for your wedding come creeping up on you. So here it is your first Do-It-Yourself Wedding Day How-To... Boutonnieres for the special men on your wedding day. With my wedding I had a vintage/natural feel to the day and the boutonnieres that I made fit right in made from all natural items found around the yard (not to mention fitting into the budget as well costing $0). So here is a glimpse of what these boutonnieres looked like on my wedding day and a little How-To, to get you started on your own.

List of Materials:

Recycled Brown Paper Bag

Wood Skewers or Popsicle sticks

Feathers

Acorns

Small Pine Cones

Wheat-grass (and other wild weeds)

Birch Bark (or whatever is around the yard)

Moss

Floral Tape

Corsage Pins

Scissors

Strong Glue

Instructions:

To create this earthy addition to the wedding party attire, begin by spending a romantic afternoon with your fiancé in your backyard or a nearby forest. While enjoying the beauty around you collect fallen acorns, small pine cones, stray feathers, broken off tree bark, moss growing on rocks, and trim pieces off of wild wheat-grass and other roadside dry weeds.

When you return home get together the supplies needed to put together this natural project.

You will need:

- wooden skewers or Popsicle sticks

- scissors

- strong glue (wood glue)

- a recycled brown paper bag

- floral tape

- corsage pins

To start think of how many boutonnieres you want to make. Cut out a rough leaf shape out of the paper bag about 3 inches in length. Trace the shape to make enough leaves for the number of boutonnieres you are making (2 per boutonniere).

Trim your skewers or Popsicle sticks to 3 inches in length, you will need one per boutonniere.

Place one leaf on the table and run a line of glue down the center, this is where you will place the skewer for stability. Make sure you place the skewer 1 inch from the top of the leaf so it sticks out at the bottom a bit. Then run glue along the edges of the paper leaf and place the mirroring side of another paper leaf down on top. Repeat this for the remaining boutonnieres.

Now, for the individually creative part. Place the collected items in any arrangement that you like depending on how they fit with one another. Once you decide on placement start gluing the items down onto the paper leaf base.

Let this dry well before picking it up. Once the items are on solid, twist some floral tape around the base where the skewer is sticking out. This is where you will place the corsage pin through to attach it to the jackets of the handsome men in your wedding!

This is a great way to add a natural DIY touch to your wedding and it costs $0! If you are crafty or have kids you can usually find scissors, glue, a brown paper bag, skewers or Popsicle sticks around the house. If you have been making other DIY wedding projects you might have floral tape and corsage pins around the house as well. If not you can pick any of the items up at a craft store or even cheaper the dollar store. All of the items to decorate the boutonnieres are free courtesy of Mother Nature!