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Sunday, April 10, 2011

Prom 101

So prom season is upon us! In our house you aren't "allowed" to date until college (if interested, I can tell you our reasoning behind this) but you are permitted to hang out with friends and go to social functions a.k.a. "the Prom".
All of our kids have taken full advantage of this.

Most of you know that a prom can require a serious chunk of money. With Megan we were able to find all of her prom dresses at the thrift shop. Her Sr. year she decided she wanted a "Mall dress" so we went shopping, but after seeing what was out there and the price tag attached, she decided to check the thrift shop and lo and behold there was the perfect dress in just her size!!

The boys have been able to borrow tuxes - if you put the word out, the suits will come! It's amazing what people have hanging in their closet and all it costs us is dry cleaning!

But for years I would call the florist and order the compulsory boutonniere or corsage - gritting my teeth as I paid the price.

Last year I got smart - after once again paying way too much, I took a good look at the product and decided I could make one just as well. Why I have this overconfidence in my abilities is beyond me. My Mom was a natural when it came to flowers, so I always relied on her for all my "arrangements" But since she is no longer with me, it was time to step up to the plate.

With my first "order" I lucked out - the girl wanted a hand held bouquet. She gave me a piece of her dress to match the flowers. It was a nice tropical print so I headed to Genaurdi's and picked out 2 bunches of flowers, cut a few bunches, wrapped them tightly with floral tape and wrapped the strip of fabric around the whole base - PERFECT!! I had offered to make Ryan boutonniere so it would match hers and that was even easier - put 2 flowers and a leaf together, wrap with floral tape and stick in the pins (which I asked for at the desk in the floral dept. - they gave them to me for free) I picked up 2 plastic containers from the deli dept. (the kind they use for take out) put in some shredded paper and viola - prom flowers.


This is Ryan's boutonniere from this year. His friend also wore a floral dress so we went to the grocery store, bought 2 bunches of flowers - 2 for $9, got our containers, and floral pins, but this girl wanted a wrist corsage - yikes!!

After 2 attempts, I got it just right - I floral taped 2 bunches of flowers together and then placed them end to end and floral taped that together. Next I added a gold ribbon bow, that I had saved from a gift. I attached this with a thin wire and this helped to hold the 2 bunches together. Last I made a wristlet out of elastic and sewed it to the flowers - I toyed with using a hair tie and might try that next time - it would give her a cute little memory from the night. I placed it in a box and stuck it in the fridge overnight. Success!! She loved it and so did the other mom's - they kept asking how we got it to match so well - easy when you do it yourself!


The bonus was I had plenty of flowers left over, so I made myself a little bouquet that I have by my sink - I had told Ryan to bring it to the mom, but he thought that was tooooooo much!


 And I also made a little arrangement to give to a friend at work who has a birthday this week.

So for $9, a little sweat equity and a willing child, prom doesn't have to break the bank. Creativity can make you cents and sensibility!

1 comment:

  1. Aren't you quite the Martha! :)
    My best friend is a florist though, so this is maybe your only idea that I will skip! ;)

    ReplyDelete

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