A special bouquet

A few years ago, I saw a really cool product in a SkyMall magazine. (Yes, seriously. SkyMall.) It was one of those things that I thought was cute, but I also couldn't see paying so much for it ... when I could probably make it myself.

I also knew that this was a project I wouldn't do very often because it would be tricky and time-consuming. When my friend Meghan found out she was expecting a baby boy, I started assembling a collection of boy-ish onesies, hats and shirts. As she decided on a theme for the nursery (primary colors), I pondered a "bouquet" container and ultimately went with a blue fabric box that could be used in the nursery.

I tried a few trial runs of making "blooms" out of the baby items, and to tell the truth, the only thing that I've found to make a cute "bud" so far are baby socks. Nevertheless, I decided to make larger blooms out of the onesies, hats and shirts - it is still the same basic idea.

I Googled several "Make a baby bouquet" sites and finally just set to rolling the clothes as tightly as I could with little flower-ish ends. Then I wrapped floral wire tightly around the top of the "stem" and incorporated some green ribbon (to give it a little more of a greenery feel). Many of the sites recommended using floral tape to simulate the bottom of the flower/top of the stem, but since these clothes were traveling from humid Florida to hot Arizona, I didn't want to take the chance that the tape would melt or gum up the clothes. Therefore, I stuck with the wire and ribbon.

"Blooms" wrapped in wire and ribbon.

And because the "blossoms" weren't the prettiest, and because it *is* a bouquet, after all, I sprinkled some artificial flowers in there, too, to fill the spaces between baby clothes and to reinforce the bouquet theme.

"Blooms" among the blooms.