Making a boutonniere / Boutineer / Butoneer - Do It Yourself - DIY

Princess Five had her first date and was very excited to be going to a formal dance for her first date. In the 12 years since her sister went on her first date, things have changed. 

Kids styles have changed and the once long dresses have changed to short dresses and so we weren't sure if corsages and boutonniere's were only for prom of for Homecoming dances as well. 

You wouldn't think things could change so much in such a short time but they have. Several of her friends didn't get flowers and her date wanted to do flowers so if you recall, I shared about what a horrible week I had a few weeks ago. 

I totally forgot about a boutonniere for the dance. I had been feeling so horrible that I completely spaced it. It was halfway through the day on the day of the date and I remembered. 

I prayed that Walmart had cream colored roses as that is a standard color so I knew it would go with anything. 

I rushed over and was very grateful they had a wonderful bouquet of five roses.

They were already opened so I chose one that was tight yet open for the date and show in a video how to make them. 

Basically, you cut off the rose about 1/2 inch below the base of the flower. You can keep the green at the bottom of the rose bud if it is going in the direction you like. You can see this more clearly in the video but you can remove them if it is easier.  If there are any browning leaves, you can remove them gently until you get to the fresher center but you don't want to take too many off or all the petals will then start to fall off. Be gentle as you pull them away tearing them at the base carefully.

Take some of the leaves and decide how high or low you want them to stick out. If you want one central large one in the middle and two to the sides, or if you just want two to either side etc. 

Making these is an art. There is no right or wrong. Basically, just add things, mix them up until you get something you like. You can add some fern type leaves if they come with the roses or a little baby's breath but once you decide what you want, make sure all the bases are even and then start wrapping floral tape around the base. You can purchase it at the dollar store or a craft store or even Walmart. There have many colors as you can see in the video but dark green is the standard. 

Make sure you start at the bottom of the stem, work your way upward to the base of the stem pulling the tape tightly and then work your way back to the base of the stem wrapping the tape under the base of the stem and leave the cut end of the tape towards the back. Floral tape sticks to itself and will hold everything together. 

You can purchase a package of decorative pins at a craft supply of I am sure you could save one from another dance or just call your florist and see if they have a few you could have. Always have more than one as if you pull hard on the top, it can come off and you would need another. That actually happened when we were pinning his on so I had to run and grab anther from my stash before they could leave. 

To present it to him, You can use one you have from anther time. A few of the girls had the "forever" fake flower corsages so we have a few boxes we could use but most of the time, the guy doesn't care about a box. 

To keep it fresh before the date, just moisten some paper towels and wrap it loosely and place in the fridge where it won't get squished. I put it in the door. The moisture of the towels will keep it fresh for a few days.

When he came, we just grabbed the flower in the kitchen and met him at the door with it. He was happy, it looked beautiful and I got some beautiful roses to enjoy for the week for the same price as a boutinniere. 

The last time I purchased one, it was brown, they had pulled off all the outside leaves trying to make it look good but all that was left was a little bud with some brown edges and I was NOT happy with the results so I started making my own after that all the time as I puchased one another time and it came without any pins. I figure with all those problems, I could save myself the stress and just make them cheaper. 

We have had good results. Here is a post I made 2 years ago about making one and in the end, she didn't use it as she didn't want to offend the dates mother as she made him his along with her corsage but the one I made sure came out beautiful. Check it out here.  

Here is one from five years ago where I share how I made one for Princess Three's homecoming date.