DIY Wedding Decor: Sola Wood Flower Pomander Balls

{Update: we are thrilled to be featured on the WeddingBee boards!}

Flowers are expensive. Ok, now I'll tell you something you don't know. Sola wood flowers are not expensive.

I'll tell you a few other things I've learned recently:  Sola wood flowers are actually made of wood from tapioca plants. It's like a really thin version of balsa wood - made into FLOWERS! And they look incredibly realistic.

My discovery path looked a little like this: Pinterest > Etsy > Google > Saveoncrafts.com > Pinterest > theknot.com.

Here's a little tutorial on how to make your own sola flower pomanders! They, and these instructions, could be used to make so many different decor items. I can't wait to search out and DIY some other creative ideas for them!

1.    I purchased hundreds of sola wood flowers from saveoncrafts.com. Most of them were the natural wood color, except for a few that I ordered already dyed orange. {our colors are a peachy orange, gray, and lots of white and blush pink} They cost approximately $.25 each.

2.     There weren't many color options available, so I decided to make my own. I bought a couple of craft paints from Michael's Crafts.

3.     And mixed them into some water in old tupperware dishes. When I first tried, I underestimated the amount of paint I'd need. I kept mixing until it coated the flowers nicely when I dipped them in. I'd say I used about half of each bottle with the amount of water you see below. 

4.      I just held onto them from the bottoms, dipped them in, swished {technical term} them around a bit, and plopped them on some paper towel to dry. I didn't soak them in the paint at all - in fact, I never let go of them, the whole process for each flower took approximately 3.786 seconds.

5.     Aren't they pretty?!?!?!  I'm in love.

6.     Then I pulled out this styrofoam ball. One of the twelve I purchased. We'll talk later about why I'm returning 11 of them...

7.      And I also bought this fun little gadget - a glue stick melter. It's like fondue, for crafters! It's better in theory than in practice, though. When I make the rest of these poms, I'll go back to my trusty glue gun...

8.     Back to the poms. I dipped the ends of the ribbon in the melty glue, and set them on the styro ball. I'd estimate I used about 20 inches of ribbon. Then I tacked it in with some stick pins, just to triple-secure that they won't fall apart if it gets windy on wedding day!! 

9.      Then I started gluing! I used the natural colored, the purchased orange, and my new DIY-dyed flowers in a random pattern. 

10.  Ta Da!!  I'm completely, ridiculously in love with how well this turned out! And how real the flowers look. So much better than silk or other fake blooms....

{oh yeah, and about the styro balls I mentioned returning - it's because they were so large, they took over 60 flowers each to make, and were about 3 inches bigger than I expected. you know, because the flowers add circumference once you add them....clearly I didn't anticipate that. so I'm buying less expensive, smaller ones that will require fewer flowers, meaning this project will cost EVEN LESS!!}

How would you use these fun, wood flowers? In a bouquet? Just like this? What colors would you dye them? 

     

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