Flower Wands

Photo copyright Melissa Arroyo Photography

My husband and I got married this summer and we were lucky enough to have his cousin and my best friend's two daughters as our flower girls. In order to honor both of our faith traditions, we had two ceremonies in one day and neither church allowed us to sprinkle flower petals. I wasn't sure how long small bouquets would last with these girlies (ages 5, 3 1/2, and almost 2!) so I decided "Fairy Princess Wands" would be a cute idea. I spent a year scouring craft fairs, Renaissance Fairs, and toy stores looking for the right wands, but I just didn't find anything I liked. Finally, I decided to just make them myself.

This project was super easy and I think it turned out super cute. I bought everything at AC Moore and I think I spent about $15 total.

Supplies:
-Wooden dowels for wand "stems" (I choose flat balsa wood because I thought it would be easier to glue than round ones)
-Wooden cut outs - I used flowers, but they have all kinds of shapes
-ribbon - our wedding colors were purple and green and I added an iridescent color ribbon for sparkle
-acrylic paint
-glue (I used Gorilla Glue but anything that works with wood and fabric would work)

To start with, I took an old nail file and sanded down the edges of the flat dowels to make sure there would be no splinters. Then I painted the dowels and the flower shapes. (My bridesmaids were carrying carnations that were edged in color, so I tried to paint the flowers to mimic that.) Cut the ribbon to the lengths you want and when everything is dry, you can assemble it. I did it in this order: flower shape, ribbons, dowel, ribbons, flower shape.

My favorite part about these wands is that the girls were able to take them home as both a memory of being in our wedding and a new toy to play with!