I’ve fallen in love with pomander flower balls since the day I saw a trellis decorated with them. But boy, that’s a lot of flowers. And for someone who’s planning a wedding on a tight budget, I’ve since wondered if there’s a way I can afford them without breaking our piggy bank.

I especially love those made of button mums. They look so soft I can use them as pillows when I sleep. Button mums are considerably cheap. But even if they are inexpensive, the number of flowers a big ball requires will still command a hefty price tag. But I really want them, at least 10-20 of them, gracing the aisle during the wedding ceremony or hanging above our heads during reception. What to do?

Do-It-Yourself!

There are a number of DIY pomander instructions available online. Oncewed has this, made up of scrapbook paper, pins and styrofoam ball. But most instructions involve the use of silk flowers as alternative to real flowers. They look just as nice but using silk flowers is still a bit expensive for me. So I have to come up with something much, much cheaper but still beautiful.

Note: D always reminds me that whenever I’m doing DIY stuff, I have to make sure that the cost will be cut by at least 50%. Otherwise, if I will factor in all my efforts and hardwork, having it done professionally might end up to be more practical and a lot less stressful.

Then I found this from Nole’s (of Oh So Beautiful Paper) Planning Our Wedding: a DIY pomander made of tissue paper. So that got the ball rolling for me and my very own DIY wedding pomander.

Ingredients:

• 5 sheets of tissue paper (of your preferred color). For those unaware, tissue paper is also known as tissue wrapper and is available in most gift wrapping shops.
• needle and thread (color doesn’t matter)
• 2-3 sheets of  newspaper (or any paper)
• scissors or paper cutter, ruler, pencil

Procedure:

1. Cut tissue paper into strips of about 1 inch to 2 inches.

2. Sew a running stitch on one side of the strip. Gather the paper on one end as you go.

3. Once finished, close both ends to make small flowers that look like these. Make as many as you need.

4. If you think you have enough flowers, roll sheets of paper into a ball. Wind thread around the paper ball and make two intersecting circles that will serve as framework and path for the flowers. Sew the flowers on the thread. Once the thread is covered with flowers, then sew the flowers in between. Make sure to lock each flower by winding the thread on every adjacent flower. Try to achieve an even space between each flower. (This part, the sewing of the flower on the ball, can be very tricky. But don’t worry, you’ll find your own way of doing it once you’re already doing it. I know I have.)

5. Make some final adjustments. Tighten some loose threads. And marvel at your masterpiece!

Taste:

For this approx 8~9-inch diameter pomander, we needed about 80 1-inch flowers. It took the three of us (niece, househelp and me), 3 days, with a maximum of 3 working hours a day, to finish sewing all 80 strips. Took me about an hour to put everything together in a ball. I even got 5 spare flowers which I turn into a mini pom.

Cost per Serving:

• 1 sheet of tissue paper =( P10~P15*) x 5
• needle and thread = ~P0-10 (you might have a few in your sewing box)
• newspaper = free

Total Cost: P50~P75

*Price of tissue paper in Divisoria when you buy 25 sheets per design.

Verdict:

If you plan to make 10 or more, like I do, do it months in advance. It can be boring and tedious so it’s best to do it while watching TV. But the finished product is guaranteed to cheer you up.

But then again, I wonder how much a flower pomander of this size would cost? ‘Coz I admit, making 10 to 20 of this could take forever. Will the savings offset the time and effort? Hmm…