How to Make Your Own Wedding Topiary Decoration

If you really want to save on wedding reception expenses, than consider these cute, inexpensive decorations. You can easily spend over $50 PER topiary when buying them premade, but with a little effort you can make your own for much less.

Materials

You will need a variety of materials, some of which you may already have sitting in your craft drawers. The base materials are a clay or plastic flower pot (plastic might need to be weighted in the bottom with marbles so it doesn't tip over), floral foam, moss, a dowel or stick, and a foam ball. The sizing of these items depends on how big you want your topiary; so buy accordingly. You will need paint and a paint brush if you need to paint the flower pot a different color than it comes in originally. Purchase silk flower bouquets in the spring when you can get them for half their regular prices; you should expect to pay about $3 dollars for a bouquet of silk roses in any color. You will also need a wide ribbon in organza or satin for finishing.

How to

If you need to paint your pot, do so before proceeding; don't forget to pain the inside of the pot as well. Be sure to let it dry and use the appropriate paints and paint sealer for the kind of pot you are using. Next, place the floral foam at the bottom and secure it into a shape that will stay where it is. You can even put a bit of hot glue to secure it inside the pot. Insert your dowel (if you need to change the color of this you should do so when painting the pot and allow to dry) or stick into the center of the floral foam, securing it down inside. Cover the floral foam with moss.

To make the topiary top, you can either make it with the stick or dowel attached or insert it and take it out. Either way you must have a reference as to where it will be so you don't cover the base. Take the silk flowers off of their stems and glue them into position onto the foam ball. If you don't feel that your hot gluing job will be very successful, than you can clip the floral stems one inch below the flower bud and stick them into the foam; this is sometimes harder to secure because the foam may make a clean hole where the flower can slip out again. Either way you will need to glue it a little to keep its shape. Be sure to place the blooms VERY close together so that the petals of each flower are back to back with the petals of the surrounding ones. You don't want any gaps or holes where the foam can be seen.

To finish, simply place the foam ball onto the stick or dowel and insert it into the floral foam. Tie the ribbon in a bow at the base of the foam flower ball, making the bow loops just slightly smaller than the width of the foam balls diameter for balance. You can make a set of these to place around for decorations and still pay less per decoration than you can purchase them pre-made for. Try different wedding color combinations or stick with all white.