Christmas Bouquets

4 bouquets in the car

Red Roses with Green Spider Mum and Mardi Gras Beads

A few weeks ago, I was planning on making two bouquets. At the last minute, I realized I needed more vases because our group was getting bigger. So much for my careful shopping at Goodwill! The vases are often the expensive part of this venture.

I had already gone to every grocery store in town that night looking for decent flowers, but I stopped over at Michael's to see what I could find for vases. The small rectangular vases were a lucky find -- on sale!

The gold stuff was purchased two years ago in an after-Christmas sale -- also at Michael's. It's some kind of "ribbon" for holiday trees, I think; it's a loose mesh caked with gold glitter. You can see it a little better in last year's tutorial.

I like to float something in the water. Last year, it was cranberries. This year, I used Mardi Gras beads from a few years ago! I just cut them apart and dropped them in the water. They were the perfect size and now I want more!