I’m going to go ahead and put soup in a bread bowl up there next to the internet as best inventions.

So there.

Boutonnière is a fancy-pants word for “stuff dudes wear at prom or weddings that they would normally never agree to wear.” I would normally forgo this, but then I was reminded that they would all kind of look like a gang of maître d’s without some sort of accoutrement, so I caved.

I plan on doing my own flowers for the wedding,so I figured that I’d just take care of the bouts myself (especially after taking my floral design class this summer and hearing all the professional florists in there cackle about how much they’re charging unwitting brides and grooms for something so simple). Yet, there is one very big problem with bouts and corsages that I won’t have with the bouquets: they tend to travel and keep very poorly, leaving people with crushed and/or wilted flowers within hours of an event. Sad, since they are so pitiful and tiny. You could put them into corsage “boxes”, which are plastic and keep them from getting smooshed, but then you also have to keep them chilled. May be a tad bit hard when you’re chasing after seven different members of a wedding party.

I did come across some pretty awesome silk ones on Etsy (of course), but after some back and forth, it only inspired me to make them myself after seeing the price tags ($14 x 7 = ouch for something I have little interest in). I’m cheap? So yeah, here we go:

1. Cut florals & decor into small pieces as desired (if using silks, then they just snap off the stems - easy peasy).

2. Attach to floral wire. Pull the floral tape to make it tacky, then wrap around wires and secure florals.

3. Continue wrapping tape down to cover wire. Add more floral/decor if needed, using same technique.

4. Cut wire to desired length.

5. Wrap ribbon around taped stem, securing with hot glue along the way.

Messy workspace:

Finished product:

Ta da! I made the bulk of these sitting in Trackside, drinking a Guiness, and hanging out with the girls. It’s really that easy.

Supplies & cost breakdown:

feathers from a Native American farm in Wisconsin - $3
pack of corsage pins - $2
various silk & dried florals - $14
2 spools of ribbon - $5
floral wire & tape - $4

Stuff I already had:

wire cutters - $0
glue & glue gun - $0

Total = $28 for total of seven (7) = $3.25 per boutonniere.

Having read the 2340918724671 feeds & news I’ve missed in the last couple of day, the only thing I’ve gleaned from it is that Dooce and I have the same flip flops.

The moons must be aligned just.so. because in 2 days, I’ve managed to be denied.

Yesterday Mr. and Mrs. P’body, the Mr., Dave, and myself were going to do a Junior’s reunion of sorts after work. There we were, getting ready to grab our baskets and wave chicken tenders in the air, until we found out that Junior’s closes after lunch because of summer hours. Yeah, the Tech grads and Tech employee didn’t remember that. Doh! It was fine, though, and we continued our fest over at (where else) Rocky Mountain, where we had buffalo pizza and electric blue colored shots before throngs of undergrads swarmed the place. We had grand plans of hitting the Highlander afterward, but grease + beers + colored shots in plastic cups did me in, and I was the sensible adult who went home and packed for her flight. Whose old?!

Today we wanted to have our last cuban with Kool Korner, only to realize that the previous sign saying that it was staying open until July 31st no longer applied. SIGH. We then had a memorial lunch of fried chicken and cornbread at Bobby & June’s.

I hope they don’t plan on going anywhere, either.