Prom Flower Power

It's thick in Prom season right now. Many of the schools around have had their proms, but some are still coming up. I've heard some kids say that Prom is overrated, and any more I think it is. But it doesn't have to be. To have a great Prom you don't need the limo, the exotic flowers for your corsage/boutonniere, the super expensive skimpy dress (isn't funny how the less fabric there is on a dress, the more expensive it seems to be?! It pays to be modest I guess), tickets to the after-prom (and after-after-prom), etc. Don't get me wrong, those can be fun...but they aren't essential to making Prom memorable and fun. For Prom, I drove 2 of my cousins and our dates (6 of us total) to Prom in our family's brown Astro van (complete with saggy running boards). Each of us girls had a home-sewn dress (our mothers are awesome). We spent the evening dancing with our dates (it is a dance after all...too many kids forget that's kinda the point...not to make out and get friendly), catching the tablecloth on fire when the centerpiece got knocked over by accident, taking pictures, laughing and just having a ball. After the dance we had 30 minutes to visit and then we had to leave in time to drop everyone off by our 1 o'clock curfew. It's not the image many high school kids dream of for their Prom (and we got a few snickers), but it didn't matter. I still think we had way more fun at the dance than many of the other kids there who just sat at their tables, waiting for it to be over. 

Ok...sorry, I'll get on to the point of this. Prom doesn't have to be insanely expensive or fancy to be fun and full of good memories. I was excited by an email we received from Ashley about part of her Prom. Rather than spend the money on a corsage and boutonniere (do you know how expensive those can get? It's ridiculous!), she decided to make her own. 

The Original Pin

http://www.papervinenz.com/2012/01/wedding-tutorials-day-2-giveaway.html

Ashley says, "I found this pin when I was browsing Pinterest, and thought to myself, 'Well, that looks pretty simple, I could totally do this! In fact, I want to do this for my corsage for prom!' So I got to making these twisted paper flowers, and indeed they were pretty simple. (I made mine out of sheet music) I made about 14 of em to be on the safe side, in case I messed some up. Well, I decided that they were a little bland, so I tried to paint one blue (to match my prom dress) and it ended up kind of folding on its self and getting very icky."

The Pinstrosity

"This could be either because the paint just didn't work well, or because I used REALLY cheap paint. (I attached a picture) I wasn't going to give up yet though! I got to thinking about tea-staining them, but didn't think it would go well with my dress, so I got a better idea. Koolaid! I dipped my paper flowers in blue and green koolaid and they came out SPLENDID! I then crafted my flowers into not only a corsage, but also a boutonniere for my boyfriend to wear, and they as well, came out simply adorable! It's amazing what some hot glue can do."

The Pin Spin

I personally love these. I love the DIY flowers, the music notes, the Koolaid staining effect, everything. Way to go Ashley! And these will save much nicer in a keepsake chest than real flowers will. I love Ashley's resourcefulness and ideas. I would have never thought of Koolaid to dye the flowers. 

Any other Prom DIYers out there? What did you do?