Contemporary Bling Bouquet

Building a stunning armature can take time but be as satisfying as it is completely bespoke. Erik shares tricks and techniques on building an armature with basic materials and then adds vintage jewelry to add the sparkle. Old meets new in this modern bling bouquet.

Materials used: Smithers Oasis bind wire, 6 – 12 gauge wires, silver metallic wire, silver spray paint, 6” metal ring, broches, crystal garland, corsage tape, short length of bamboo, Smithers Oasis floral adhesive, decorative pin, white miniature calla lilies, ornithogalum ‘star of bethlehem’, and lily grass.

Step 1: Crisscross 6-12 gauge wires and bind with silver metallic wire. Attach 6” metal ring to center with additional metallic wire. Begin creating armature “web” with bind wire starting at the edge of the ring and looping from one wire wrapping around completely and then extending to the next wire and wrapping around completely again. Continue around the armature multiple times. (I did 30 rotations around armature.)

Step 2: Spray entire “web” armature with silver spray paint. Insert heavy wires through center of disk and bend over center. Attach broches to the center of the armature using aluminum wire. Corsage tape over wires completely Insert wires into segment of bamboo that was tinted silver as well. Glue into position with Smithers Oasis floral adhesive. Insert decorative pin into bottom of bamboo and glue into place. Wrap bamboo with self-adhesive silver sparkle paper. Bind over the top of it with aluminum wire.

Step 3: Insert calla lilies into the armature in a layered fashion creating a sweeping movement through the left side of the design. Glue ornithogalum florets in the same area in alternating positions. To finish, add lily grass to enhance the overall movement in the bouquet.