How to Make a Brooch Bouquet

While reading a blog a while back I saw this amazing idea for a wedding bouquet. It was to use pins and brooches that looked like flowers to create a bouquet instead of real flowers. I thought this was sentimental and unique, not to mention the perfect craft for DIY brides like me. So if course I set out to learn how to make a brooch bouquet. First up was inspiration.

I’ve seen a few of these online.  Here are some of my favorites. It’s helpful to see them so you know what I’m talking about. I love both the autumn tones of the one on the left and the classy black and white on the right.

Since my sister was getting married in February, I thought I could make her one as something special for her day, not to mention it would be good practice for making my own for my fall wedding. Here is what her bouquet turned out like.

It was pretty small because that’s how I wanted it. But these can be made any size. I decided to try and make one of these after seeing them online {and getting a quote from a professional in a range out of my budget} and I hope this tutorial helps you make one. And now, a run down of supplies you will need and a tutorial for to make these on your own. Stick with me, this will be long! {But fun I promise 🙂 }

Supplies You Need

Brooches, pins and other pieces to use as the “flowers”. Some ways you can get them are at thrift stores, ebay, and jewelry stores like Claires. Friends and family might start giving them to you if you ask. Remember though if you want to keep this bouquet forever and not take it apart, be sure to ask friends if you can keep the jewelry. I also plan to order some for my own bouquet through the bridal salon where I got my dress. They have a jewelry section and can order pieces for you.

Since I had started collecting my own pins, I already had some to use for my sister’s bouquet. She was having a civil ceremony and wanted to keep things simple, so I made hers on the smaller side. Once you start assembling the pins you can basically make the bouquet any size you’d like. A headband, some clips, a ring and other pins. You can use all of these things. {I didn’t end up using the butterflies, but aren’t they cute?}

Wire. I tried differnt types of wire, which can be found at craft stores and home improvement stores. The lower the number on the gauge, the thicker the wire is. At first I tried 16 because I wanted to make sure the “stems” of the flowers would stay, but it proved to be too difficult to wrap around the pins. I ended up using 19 gauge silver wire.
 

Pipe cleaners. I got some packages from the dollar store. They came in packs of 45 so I got the black and white since I wanted the white to blend in to what was going to be my flower stem. These were 12 inches long.

Floral tape. I also got this in white, although you can find a lot of green. The flower tape is from Joanns.

Wire cutters and wire tools. You can also find these at craft stores. Check the floral aisle, the tools there were cheaper than in the jewelry section for some reason. I had some tools but ended up buying a combo cutter, pliers from Joanns.

Ribbon. In any color you would like. I used two colors of two widths, one about 1 inch and one 2 inches wide. One to wrap the stems, one to wrap the total “handle” of the bouquet.

Glue gun and glue sticks. These items can also be found at craft stores. I used this to glue the ribbon on to the stems. Miscellaneous supplies I used were clear tape, scissors and paper towels for the glue gun. Now that you have everything you need, let’s get started!

 

How To Make a Brooch/Pin/Jewelry Bouquet

  
1. First I cleaned all the pins. Since I got some online and in thrift stores, I wanted to make sure they were clean. A mild soap will work. Make sure you let them dry well. This is the group of pins I started with. I didn’t use them all. Depending on what size you want the bouquet to be, you can use up to 50 pins {as was recommended to me by a professional who makes them}.

2. Hot glue the pins closed. This is helpful so that when you are working with the pins, the clasps don’t open and you risk the wire falling off or the pin moving {or it stabbing you in the finger}. I literally put a small glob of glue over the closed clasp in the back so they were glued shut.

3. Wrap the wire around the back of the pin to create your “stem”. This step might take you the longest, but don’t give up! I worked with the wire a lot. It can get frustrating but it will work. Basically you want to secure the wire to the pin and make a stem.

First I started off with 18 inches of wire, but this proved to be longer than I needed. You can give yourself room to work with the wire and cut any length you need. Towards the end I was only cutting and using 12 inches of wire. This included the part I “wrapped” around the back of the pin.

Keep in mind all pins are different. I used a ring in mine set and I liked it because the extra ring part gave me something to secure the wire to so it was stable. You can choose any pins/jewelry you want and most will work.

Some of the wire I wrapped went on the top of the pin, meaning it was visible from the top. I tried to avoid this but some pins will not allow that. Basically you want to hide the wire under the pin so it’s not seen. Practice to see what works best for your pins. {Sorry about the blurry photo}

I made sure to wrap the wire tightly so it the pin wouldn’t wobble on the “stem”. This is tricky, but it can be done.

4. Next, wrap the stem with a pipe cleaner. This is to make the stem thicker and give it some support. I ended up using only 1 pipe cleaner for each flower. You don’t have to wrap it tightly, just wrap it as it allows.

This is what it will look like after it is wrapped with pipe cleaner. That is about 8 inches of pipe cleaner total length after it is wrapped.

5. Wrap the stem with floral tape. This is to cover the pipe cleaner and again, provide support to the stem. You can tape the end of the floral tape to itself at the bottom. I covered my stems to the end of the pipe cleaner.

6. Hot glue ribbon to the stems. This was the part that makes the stems look like they belong in a bouquet. This is to cover the floral tape and provide something pretty if your stems show when you finally assemble the whole bouquet.

In some photos I saw of these online, I didn’t see stems at all. Obviously that can be done, but this small bouquet came out differently. Depending on how you are assembling these, you might be able to skip this part. You don’t want to pull the ribbon too tight, but you want it to be closely around the stem without any gaps if possible. Here is a photo of steps 3-6 from left to right. Wire, pipe cleaner, floral tape and ribbon.

Soon you’ll have all your “flowers” all ready to go. There are a lot of steps, but they go relatively quick. {Except for the ribbon gluing part – or is that just me? Shortcuts are welcome!}

7. Assemble all the “flowers” you have made into a bouquet. This part is also tricky because you will feel like you don’t have enough hands. If you can hold the bunch in one hand and add to it with the other, you will start to see what the flowers look like grouped together. Don’t worry about making this perfect but do take the time to put items together that you may want together or look good and fit well next to each other.

Once you do this you’ll have all different lengths of the stems. I just cut them off with wire cutters and scissors.

8. Next I simply used First Aid clear tape to tape the bunch together. You can use anything that you feel is strong enough. First I tried to use the wire to hold it together but that wasn’t the best option in my opinion.

Sorry for the blurry photo – again! At this step you will see just how much or little pipe cleaner/floral tape/ribbon you need to use on each “stem”. If most of it is covered, it can be a waste of material and time. It all depends on how your “flowers” fit together and how you want it to look.

9. Next I glued ribbon onto the handle to cover the tape. Fist I made little tufts at the top.

Then I cut two short lengths to over the bottom of the handle.

Finally I started gluing the ribbon around the handle to totally cover it up. The glue didn’t bleed through my ribbon, but be careful of that, it could happen. Be careful with this part too, because this is the final ribbon you will see on the outside of the handle. You want the wrapped ribbon to be even. 
After that dries and your bouquet is all together, you are done.

Feel free to add your own additional ribbon or embellishments. Those can add a special touch.

I had a fun time making this and welcome questions and suggestions on improving the process. {After all I have to make mine soon, it will be lots bigger!} Some of these pins were my grandmothers and mom’s so my sister really liked using it and we got lots of positive comments.

We also thought this could be something you keep around your house as decoration, since it won’t die like real flowers.

Thanks for reading! See more photos of this process here.

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