How to make a light-up Christmas ornament wedding bouquet
Fashion DIY
By
on January 26, 2009
37
A few weeks ago, I featured Naomi's crafty/punk wedding, and there were lots of folks who wanted to know more about Naomi's illuminated christmas bulb bouquet, which her mother made for her. Well, I got the information from Naomi! Here y'all go…
Supplies Needed:
[Editor's note: all these supplies should be available at craft stores, but I've linked to online providers as well]
- 30 medium-sized shatter-proof Christmas bulb ornaments in two to three textures such as shiny or glitter coated
- Florist tape and wire
- Wire cutters
- Fast drying glue
- Tulle
- Matching bead sticks/picks (found at craft stores, probably in the floral aisles…)
- Styrofoam bouquet base
- Ribbon, 4 inch
- Battery operated LED lights… 10 per string
Prepare the Christmas ornaments:
- Cut about 4 inch pieces of florist wire
- Bend the wires in half and stick them into the bulb tops
- Glue wire into bulbs
- Use as many as you need to fill your bouquet, about half shiny and half glittery bulbs
Prepare the tulle & lights:
- Cut ten 4-inch tulle squares
- Tie the tulle in the middle with the florist wire
- Twist the wire to make a stick
- Stick the tulle sticks in the base
- Attach the LED lights to 10 of these with craft wire
- Cut bead sticks to about 4 inch lengths
Build the bouquet:
- Starting in the center of the styrofoam bouquet base, first insert the Christmas bulbs on wires, filling the entire bouquet
- Then, add the tulle and lights between the ornaments
- To ensure things are filled in, add plain tulle picks without lights as necessary
- Add the bead picks as embellishment
Hiding the battery pack:
I made a bag out of the 4 inch ribbon and inserted the battery pack. I attached the battery pack to the handle of the bouquet by wrapping tulle around it and tying it off. I also covered the bottom side of the bouquet form with ribbon.
Read more posts about: christmas, diy bouquet, diy wedding, non-floral bouquet, tutorial« Previous post
About Ariel Meadow Stallings
Author of Offbeat Bride: Creative Alternatives for Independent Brides, Ariel acts as the publisher of all the Offbeat Empire websites. She lives, loves, and dorks out hard in Seattle, WA.
Helen said
Oh! Oh! Thank you!!!! Since seeing Naomi's bouquet I became totally fixated on making one just like it and now I don't have to figure it out myself by breaking things
Thank you again! And I have to say, her mum is awesomely talented 
Nikki said
How fun! And that would be so great in white and silver for a Christmas or winter wedding. Winter solstice – light returning to the world – oh, I love it!
Alie K said
EEEP! That is awesome! I recently went to Michaels and bought a BUNCH of clearance Xmas decor stuff and this would be super! Thank you Naomi! This might just be the perfect thing for my Vegas Wedding Posse…
Rachel said
This is totally making me rethink the lantern idea!
Mariah said
Those aren't just bouquets, those can be centerpieces, too! Thanks for sharing!
un-bride said
Thanks for posting this! I found myself looking at the pics from this wedding again last night. Such a gorgeous, young, obviously fun couple. Congrats &thank you, Naomi.
Kelli Ann said
Such an AWESOME idea!
@~>~~
Cate said
Tulle – "Tie them in the middle and make sticks out of them" ?? Can't visualize that step. How do you make sticks out of tulle?
Kim Kelley said
I've made many wedding bouquets, and if you get the wood picks with the wire on the end, you would take the wire and tie it around the center of your 4" tull square. Kind of makes it look like a bow tie. Then when you have enough of them filled in around your bouquet, they will look like the photo.
Ariel said
Cate, that confused me too … but I assumed it was just my lack of DIY-ness. I've asked Naomi for some clarification.
Melissa said
I love this bouquet. Thanks for posting directions. I'm going to do a black and white tulle bouquet.
angelwifey24 said
i love this idea.. is it easy enough to make a bunch of them??
Nikki said
Hi Cate, my guess is (and it's only a guess) is she means that you tie the tulle in the middle with the florist wire, then twist the wire to make a stick, then stick it in the base. That's what makes sense to me, at least.
kristy said
this is amazing it is beautiful it is makin me re think my bouquet at my wedding. it is gorgous
Autumn said
Oh my god wow. Drooling as usual.
Naomi said
Nikki
January 27th, 2009 · 11:24 AM · #
Hi Cate, my guess is (and it's only a guess) is she means that you tie the tulle in the middle with the florist wire, then twist the wire to make a stick, then stick it in the base. That's what makes sense to me, at least.
Exactly what Nikki said. THANKS!! i was having a hard time trying to type that up:o)
Nikki said
YAY! Glad I could help! I want to make one of these, just for the heck of it!
Quelyn said
Wow, this is really helpful. Ever since I saw the first picture of this I thought it was so cute. I might just try it out! Thanks so much for sharing the secret!!!
Heather said
Okay, too cute. But, I'm stuck at the beginning with -
1 – Bend the wires in half and stick them into the bulb tops
2 – Glue wire into bulbs
Where do we glue? my wire continuously falls out of the bulb or the bulbs are all floppy. Help?
Mindy said
I just made a red and black one! argh! its so awesome! thanks for posting it, however i cant find christmas lights in brisbane atm (if anyone knows anywhere pls let me know!!) or more christmas decos. wah! i'll have to go raid my friends decorations! teehee!
also i can get them to stop falling out either,(out of the foam thing) but i'm going to try hot glue gunning it!
Thanks again!
Mindy said
yep heather, use the hot glue gun! it worked!
Kellie said
I'm putting these bqts together for my friend's wedding in green and purple and also including some knitted flowers! I've seen this bouquet somewhere once but it's great to now have the directions for making it! Thanks! I'll take pics of our finished bqts and share if anyone is interested!!
Mindy said
I'm planning my Christmas wedding and was trying to come up with an alternative to flowers, because there just aren't many good blue flowers (at least not in royal blue). I love the shininess of ornaments and started the hunt for an ornament bouquet .. and this is exactly what I want! Amazing! And I can make it months in advance and it won't wilt or die.
Tess said
Hey Mindy,If you want wedding/christmas lights – try Christmas Alight at Everton Hills. They have the battery operated white LED lights.
Cheers.
Cynzilee said
wow great idea for a bouquet that can be used as decoration item after the wedding!! If anyone had made one in different colors, is it possible to post a picture just out of amazement on people crafty talents? thanks great tips!
Sharon said
Thank you so very much!!!!!!!! My husband to be did not want any flowers this is our answer. Again thank you so much.
Ravyn said
I aboslutely love this and my mom and I are helping my soon to be sister in law make one for her wedding. The only thing we aren't sure of is the size of styrofoam ball to start with??