My two little nieces, ages 3 and 1 1/2, are going to be the flower girls in my sister’s wedding this next Saturday. My sister-in-law was worried that Amara (1.5) would have difficulty throwing petals and so we decided to make wands with bells. We’re hoping she’ll be so excited to wring the bells that she won’t get scared by the audience staring at her.
They’ve been a hit so far – she was running around with it, waving it like crazy when she woke up from her nap.
I’m an advocate for fresh flowers but fake flowers are fabulous for things like this -especially when Amara starts dragging it on the floor. And you can make them a week ahead!
Supplies for 2 wands:
1 – 1/4in wood dowel cut in half available at Michaels ($.59)
white spray paint (already had)
glue gun (already had)
14 fake carnations ($.59 ea)
ribbon ($2.00)
tulle (already had for the wedding)
wedding bells available at Michaels or the Dollar Store ($1.00)
Total Cost: about $6.00 per wand
Spray paint the dowels.
Remove the carnation heads.
Cut 2 long lengths of both ribbon and tulle. (You can trim them after they’re tied on.)
Tie the tulle and ribbon onto the top of the dowel. Secure with some hot glue.
Take three of the carnation heads and attach one by one with glue to the dowel and to each other.
Attach the remaining four to the bottom -covering any green that might show from their stems. Make sure they are firmly attached! They’ll get waved around and smashed into things.
When the glue is dry tie on two bells to the tulle. Knot well. Add a dot of glue if needed.
(I’ll make sure and post a picture of the girls in their dresses with their wands!)
So apparently I made a bit of a faux pas by not realizing that my sister’s fiance is from Northern Ireland… And as I was quickly making flags late the night before the shower didn’t even think that I had grabbed the wrong flag! Mark thought it was pretty funny and so here’s the Flag of Ulster. Need to brush up on my geography apparently….

Last night we went to my sister’s bridal shower. The hostesses went with an Irish theme (being that her fiance is Irish) and made Guinness Cake, Pimms, and Irish Coffee Punch. All delicious. My sister-in-law and I made these flags to go with it. Really easy – double stick tape, toothpicks, and a quick print at FedEx Office. (The British flag is there since they’re going to be living in England.)
My sister’s moving to England right after they get married so her shower was a bit unusual in that the gifts were mainly pictures of what was being sent to her in England or money. My sister-in-law and I decided to donate money towards the cause. I thought of this, which worked so well, and decided to try and fold the money.
There are NO helpful money origami dress how-tos on youtube!
#11
(officially picked with the number generator by my one year old)
Congratulations Rowenna!
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