Baby Bumblebee Bouquet Tutorial

Just over a year ago many of my coworkers were popping out offspring! The same pattern has repeated itself this year... Must be in the water! Anyways, for one of my first grade team members I made a "Baby Bouquet" for her new arrival, and I was really happy with the way it turned out. I secretly want to go into floral design, as well as radio broadcasting, but alas teaching is my true super power. Anyways, back to the tutorial... Here is the finished product I made January 2011. I didn't think to document the steps when I made this one.

But I have recreated a second one and have now documented each step for your enjoyment!

Materials:
1 newborn onsie
3 newborn hats
2 newborn bibs
1 roll double sided tape
1 roll of regular clear tape
Flowers to match the baby cloths
Flower Pot
Styrofoam green floral thingy (That is the technical term)
Coffee filter
Push pins
Floral tape
Wire cutters (I couldn't find mine and subbed in a pair of medical scissors)
Wire

Step 1: Take the green floral insert and cover it with the coffee filter, pin it in place with the push pins. Depending on the size of your insert, it may not cover the whole insert. That's okay, just put the uncovered side into the flower pot. I use the coffee filter because as your push flowers into the styrofoam it sheds, and the coffee filter keeps the shedding to a minimum.

Step two: Fold the onsie and bibs into thirds and secure with double sided tape.

Step three: Place more double sided tape on the onsie and bibs and roll them into a bud. Tape the outside seam edge with regular tape to fully secure the buds.

Repeat Steps 2 and 3 with the hats, the only difference is you fold the hats in half, instead of into thirds.

Step 4: Cut the flower stems as close to the base as possible and strip the stems of their flowers and leaves.

Step 5: Cover the tip of the now stripped stem with floral tape and insert it into the bottom of each bud. The floral tape protects the clothing from getting ripped and it also is slightly sticky so it will provide some traction and keep the bud in place.

Step six: Cut the stems to a length you desire. I make the bud in the middle the tallest, and then the buds that surround it slightly shorter. Arrange the buds in your flower pot, pushing them into the floral styrofoam.

Step seven: Wire flowers and leaves together onto stems to make bigger bunches of flowers and prevent crowding in the foam. Be sure to cover any wire you use with floral tape to hide the shiny wire and prevent any unraveling.

Step 8: Celebrate Husband finding the wire cutters... even though you are almost done, but this saves you time and cursing because using a pair of medical scissors was not the best alternative!

Step 9: Arrange flower and leave bunches to fill in your floral design and hide the coffee filter. Once you feel your arrangement is full enough you can add further decorative touches. I like to add bees to my arrangements because I have an affinity for them because of a nickname I received from an old friend, Emblebee. I also recently found out bees are a symbol for industry and my name means "industrious"... Okay enough of that, you want to see the finished product!

~eem