Spring Garden Flowers For Prom

My statue couple's names are Larry and Donna.

When the first hint of spring is in the air, I always rush out to my front flower bed to see if the peonies are awakening from their winter sleep.  As I brush back the dried leaves that have accumulated in the garden, I smile and breathe in a deep breath of satisfaction, for they never disappoint.  How excited I am to see their ruddy, tender leaves already standing 3-4 inches tall. Only 4 more weeks and my garden will be filled with their beauty and fragrance.  

Oh, how I love Spring!

Of course, with spring comes Prom.  Since there are ten years between my daughter and the next child, which is my son, we have had a long break from proms.  However, my son is a sophomore now - which means we are back in the game.

As my son attends a very small, private school, he was allowed to attend prom as early as his Freshman year.  Being the Loverboy that he is, he decided he really wanted to go. Now, I could complain here about how I thought this was supposed to be easier with boys.......and it really wasn't.......and blah, blah, blah.......

But I won't

Because my son usually looks like this

But for one night, he looked like this

Oh, so handsome!

Anyway, the point of this post is to say that as we looked for flowers to go with his date's dress, we were surprised that there was not a better selection to choose from.  I mean for $30, I couldn't believe that's all you could get.

We decided in the end that I would practice and try to put together a corsage.  So, I bought some ribbon from Hobby Lobby that was on sale for 50% off, a wrist corsage form and some carnations from Sam's Club, and a calla lily plant from Lowes.  Everything else was cut from plants and greenery in my garden. 

It took a little bit of work and research, but this is how it turned out.

It was so much fun making a corsage that complimented her dress.  I must admit, however, that I had nightmares the entire evening imagining flowers flying off of her corsage as she danced.  I was so relieved when we picked them up after the dance and everything was still in place.  Whew!

The cost for the corsage was about $10, but that is not why we chose to make one.  We wanted something with a little more style than just a few carnations and a rose, and I guess making our own was one way to get that.

I'm not sure if he is going to prom this year or not, but if so - I can't wait to learn the colors of his date's dress and start thinking about flower combinations.  If we should do this again, please don't tell her her corsage is homemade!

Thanks for stopping by,

Ellie

PS, here are some tips I learned while making the corsage:

You do not need many flowers at all, and with the exception of just a few focal flowers - small flowers are better.

Take the time to wire and floral wrap all of the flowers to keep them looking nice when they start to droop.  When using flowers from your garden, cut some samples a few days ahead and leave them sitting on the counter to see how quickly they wilt.  Some flowers will not hold up for even a few hours out of water.

Keep the proportion in mind.  This corsage may have been a little big for her tiny arm.

Make sure the wrist form fits.  Although I adjusted it, I should have taken it in a little more.  I've since seen the adjustable forms that allow the girl to fit the corsage to her own wrist.  That's a much better idea than just an elastic strap.