For the Next Time You Need a Wrist Corsage: a Little How-To

Okay, so a wrist corsage is not one of those things you’re going to need everyday. And possibly you’ll never need one ever, but for those of you who think there may come a day when a how-to like this might come in handy, this is for you.

You may have read about how my sister and I planned a reception for my parents’ 40th Anniversary last month. Well, amidst the planning, we decided Mom needed a corsage for the day to match the decor. And like most DIY-ers, we were pretty sure we could do it ourselves, so that’s just what we did. And with a little trial and error, plus a little help from Google, we pulled it off. And for just a few dollars, we had a custom corsage!

Here’s what we used:

• 4 flower stems (we used orange roses and daisies)
• 1-1/2 inch-wide elastic (approx. 10 inches)
• 22-gauge floral wire
• green floral tape
• wire cutters
• scissors
• ribbon

I started by cutting one of the rose stems to about 2 inches long. Then, I cut one of the18″ lengths of wire in half and, using the 9″ piece, pierced the wire into the rose bloom just above where the bloom and stem connect.

Then, I folded the wire down and wrapped it around the stem to reinforce it.

Then I just repeated those steps with the daises and the other rose and created a little bouquet by putting the 4 stems together, wrapping the wires around the stems to hold them together.

Once the little bouquet was arranged the way I wanted, I wrapped the stems and wire in floral tape.

For the wrist band, I cut a piece of the elastic to fit my wrist and then sewed the two ends together.

In order to attach the flowers onto the band, my sister had the great idea to create a little “pouch” on the top of the wrist band by cutting an extra piece of elastic around 1-1/2 inches long and sewing the two sides of it onto the wrist band.

Then, we just slid the stems of the bouquet into the “pouch”. The stems should fit very snugly, so they don’t slide out or flop around.

Once that was done, we just added a fluffy ribbon bow with a little hot glue onto the wrist band to hide the stems. I’m sorry I didn’t show how I made the bow, but you can click here to see a great how-to from Better Homes. I only used 4 loops on this one, but it was made the same way.