Can't afford a dozen long stemmed roses this Valentine's Day? Well how about some artificial roses to dress up your dinner table instead. I picked up mine for just $2-50/bunch from Crazy Clarks.
To pad the bunches out I added some hessian (burlap) ribbon from Joann's and some red picks - mine are a combination of Christmas decorations and party picks from decorations that I'd stored away from parties past, but you can pick these up from your local party store for just a few dollars. Here's what I did.
Firstly, I cut lengths of hessian ribbon, placed the ends together and threaded a length of 26 gauge wire along the edge. You want to make sure you're about a centimetre from the bottom edge so that it doesn't fray.
Pull the wire to gather the hessian and then wrap it securely around the base of the loop.
Insert a length of 20 gauge wire through the base of the loop and then wrap it around the stem of a rose.
Create 5 or 6 loops for each bunch and then add the picks to fill in any gaps. I created 3 separate bouquets and placed them in glass jars, added some marbles to balance them and then trimmed them with hessian and jute to tie the theme together so that you don't even notice that each of the bouquets is slightly different.
So, a dozen long stemmed roses might be the symbol of romance but there's no reason why you can't enjoy your roses long after Valentine's Day with these artificial bouquets.
Happy Valentine's Day!
If you can't get enough of My Tutorials and you want even more inspiration, click here to find my books and printable pdfs
