y DIY seashell-pearl-crystal bouquet and bout (pic heavy!)

I just finished my “hybrid†bouquet. It is seashell-pearl-crystal bouquet with some artificial tulips. That was my first DIY floral project and I’m quite happy with the outcome.

I wanted a bouquet that would mean something to me, so I had almost no choice but “building†it myself. I wanted to have tulips as these are the flowers my FI got me on the day we first kissed. I loved seashell and pearl bouquets I’ve see on the web, so I decided to put it all together. And I like how the spiky greens and soft feathers create a texture contrast.

Below are my step-by-step instructions. I’m not saying my method is the best and a correct one, but it worked for me!

1. Grow the stems

Glue the stems to the seashells. Clean the seashells and let them dry. With a hot glue gun apply a drop of glue on the seashell and press the wire stem to it for a couple of seconds.

I got a fairly large pack of seashells in Walmart and sorted out the lightest ones for my bouquet. I got the floral wire for the stems. Make sure your wire is thick and sturdy enough to hold the weight o the seashell.
 

2. Beading time

Bead the pearls and crystals onto the gauge wire. I borrowed the technique and idea on the web: http://diy.weddingbee.com/topic/pearl-bouquet-is-finally-finished

I used 10mm pearls and crystals beading 5 of them on a wire. I think I used a 25 or 26 gauge wire, and it felt like the wire could have been a bit thicker.
 

3. Tape it, tape it, tape it!

Once all of your items are prepared, assemble the bouquet. That’s where I got the most confused and didn’t know where to start with and how to move forward. I used the floral tape. It’s a bit tricky to work with, but after a couple of minutes you figure out how it “worksâ€. I started with 1 tulip and a couple of seashells and pearl stems as the center of my bouquet, then I was adding 3-5 stems at a time. Tape nearly every step to hold it tight.
 

4. Add some greens

I used the leaves of my artificial tulips to put around the bouquet to a) give it a more finished look and hide the stems and to add some color and give it somewhat a feeling of a natural bouquet.

I had to use hot glue gun there as it was the simplest way to hold it all together. And I used a string to tie it up to hold tight next to the “flowersâ€.
 

5. Wrap it up

Cut the stems to equal length at the bottom and finish off the handle by wrapping a ribbon around it. Hot glue a 1-2 inch end of the ribbon to the bottom of the stems pointing the ribbon down along the stems. Then wrap it around the bouquet overlapping and randomly adding some hot glue. Add a final tough with a white ribbon, and voila – it’s ready!

The boutonniere was a super-mini version of my bouquet. I will need to trim the edges of the ribbons to adjust the length and maybe I will stick in a couple of more feathers in the bouquet, but overall that’s pretty much a final look!

Your feedback?

Wow, that is amazing, well done. So unique and such a special keepsake.

Thanks for sharing!

Cute. Thanks for sharing!

Very pretty! I had a difficult time getting the wires together so I opted to use foam to hold seashells. I like yours though.

wow you people are so creative

Love them! Not that crafty so I had someone on Etsy make mine

Beautiful! Great job