DIY Cemetery Bouquet

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.

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.

So 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.

Other issues with these affordable hotwire tools are questionable durability, and a lack of safety features.

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.