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Rosy Arc is a small business that provides quality silk flower arrangements at an affordable price.
DIY Cemetery Bouquet
Learn how to create a DIY silk flower cemetery bouquet in just 4 steps. Follow our guide to select your flowers, choose the right vase, create a foam base, and assemble a beautiful memorial bouquet.
- Hotwire Tool
- Mod Podge Outdoor
- Plastic Cemetery Vase
- Polystyrene / Floral Foam
- Silk Flowers
Step 1: Select Your Flowers
View flowers online from your favorite local craft stores. Pick out the main colors, and the types of flowers you like. Roses, Gerber Daisies, Tulips, Carnations, Lilies, and other fillers you may want to add to your bouquet.
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Step 2: Select Your Vase
Decide which color, and type of vase you would like to use. Plastic green vases are the most common cemetery vases you can find.
Keep note of the height, and the diameter of the vase as this will play a role in how many flowers you can fit together.
Look out for vases that come with the foam inserts. When purchasing these vases, some may come glued to the vase, making it more difficult to transfer your bouquet if you need to in the future.
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Step 3: Bouquet Base
You’re going to need a base to hold your flowers together. You can buy premade floral foam inserts, or you can make your own using polystyrene circle discs.
Both can be bought at your local craft store or online. When buying polystyrene, also look at the depth. We suggest, and use polystyrene with a 2-inch depth.
If your insert, or polystyrene does not fit your vase, you’re going to need to cut the foam with a hotwire tool. The inserts don’t have to be perfect, but tight enough to hold your flower arrangement in place.
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Optional: Cutting With Hotwire
The 2 main tools for creating or shaping your base are handhelds and tabletops. Handhelds are usually found in crafting stores, whilst tabletops usually have to be bought online. There are also plenty of YouTube videos on how you can create your own version of these tools if you prefer a custom solution.
Using Handhelds
With a hotwire handheld kit, you can shape the size of your circles. There are plenty of affordable options in crafting stores like Hobby Lobby.
These hotwire tools are sufficient enough for this project, but may take more patience when first using.
A common issue with these tools involves the lack of tension control they may have. As you’re cutting polystyrene, the hotwire may loosen and slide down the tool, or even break.
This can lead to accuracy issues when cutting polystyrene. Also, having to stop and readjust the wire constantly can be very frustrating.
Always make sure your wire is tied tightly before you start cutting by wrapping each end of the wire around the tool, and then checking the wire tension.
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Using Tabletops
A hotwire tabletop is a more long term option. If choosing a tabletop we suggest you use polystyrene squares or blocks to make your circles. You can buy a sheet of polystyrene, and cut small squares when you need to make a bouquet base.
Some hotwire tabletops come with an attachment that lets you create perfect circles easily. This attachment is placed on an adjustable guide arm (dimension ruler), and has a spike to hold your polystyrene.
Place the piece of polystyrene on the attachment. Move the guide arm and the attachment close to your hotwire pillar. Turn your hotwire temperature up, wait until it heats up, then slowly rotate your polystyrene completely until your circle is done, turn your hotwire off. The spike keeps the polystyrene in place, whilst the hotwire is cutting off the unnecessary ends.
You will need to cut multiple circles for one bouquet. For example, you may need one circle with a 2.6 inch diameter for the bottom of the vase, and another that is 3 inches for the top of the vase.
Remember a circle's radius is half the size of a circle. If you need a circle that is 3 inches long, it must have a 1.5 inch radius. From your hotwire, measure 1.5 inches, and move your guide arm to this spot.
Make sure your polystyrene is centered on the spike, and start cutting. Depending on your measurements, and how much your hotwire takes off, your circle should be around the desired 3-inch length.
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Step 4: Glue Your Flowers
The final step is to separate each stem, and glue each flower into your bouquet base. Use an outdoor glue like Mod Podge Outdoor since it is made to resist outdoor conditions.
You can also use Mod Podge Outdoor to seal your bouquet base. This will give your bouquet base an extra weather barrier.
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Conclusion
By following these steps, you’ll be able to craft a meaningful cemetery bouquet that will stand as a lasting tribute. Whether for personal use or as a gift, this arrangement will provide a beautiful way to honor a loved one.
Article by: The Rosy Arc
Last Updated: 10-21-2024