DIY Sola Bouquets & Centerpieces - Step 1: Dying Process

Some things I did/learned that may help you if you dye your own flowers:

- I used the acrylic paint and water mix method. A few people recommended using more water to get a lighter color. It may have been the paint I was using, but I found using that technique made my flowers a bit splotchy. I got much better results using the exact color I wanted, and using the whole tube.

- I used the whole 2oz tube in a small tupperware bowl (bowl size was 5x5x2.5in) and mixed well.

- I used Martha Stewart acrylic paint and I felt it mixed much better than the FolkArt brand (bought at Michaels).

- I was reading to only leave them in for 1-3 seconds, but I was leaving them in a bit longer to make sure I got all the areas. They will get softer the longer you leave them in, so you shouldn't soak them, but just be mindful. The thinner the flower, the shorter amount of time you should have them in the water.

- On my mint flowers, I only used about 2/3 of the tube, but it was a bit splotchy and not quite the color I wanted. I decide to let them dry a bit, and then dipped them again to do a second coat. This does take them longer to dry.

- To get in the crevices in the flowers, I "scooped" up some paint inside the flower petals and turned to get everything coated then turned the flower back over to get the extra paint out. I bought paint brushes to get the crevices and didn't even use them.

My inspiration for my bouquets:

I can't wait to see what your finished product looks like! I just ordered a few samples for my centerpieces, and I can't wait to start playing around!

Oh, I will be following this. I've been playing around with the idea of sola flowers since I heard about them here. What will you be using for the fillers? Did you get fake baby's breath?

I'm really interested in how this turns out and final cost of your bouquet! I'm debating between doing a sola arrangement and buying flowers and doing my own the night before.

I'm doing dried, bleached baby's breath and dried caspia for fillers. I was worried about the bleached baby's breath being too yellow, but it compliments the ivory color of the flowers well in my opinion.

So far I've spent about $200 total for all the supplies I need, assuming I have enough flowers and filler. $90 was sola flowers, $50 on fillers, $35 on supplies (floral tape, wire, twine, lace, pearl pins, paint), plus shipping costs and taxes

Looks great! I can't wait to see the bouquets and will definitely be watching for your post!

I have ordered mine and are waiting for them to come in the mail. I'm super excited! Thanks for the tips!

Also, where did you buy the flowers from?

I love this! I am also wondering where you bought the flowers from.

These are beautiful! I'm curious to know how you will attach the flowers to a stem?

I bought most of them from save-on-crafts.com so I could get my filler in the same order (also bought my wire as it was the cheapest I found). I definitely wanted gardenias in my bouquets, so I ordered those special from Superior Craft Supply on Etsy. If I need more flowers, I'll likely just buy from the etsy shop, as flowers are about the same price, but the etsy shop has more variation and different sizes.

@TheRascal - I've attached a photo kind of showing how I might be doing it - just as an example, I won't be having wire poking out in the final product . I basically wrap the wire around itself for a couple inches to make it stronger (I bought 20 gauge wire) then I poked that end into the back of the flower to make a hole. The stem actually stays in there pretty well initially, but I'm taking the stem back out, placing hot glue near the hole I made, and putting the stem back in. I hope that makes sense haha. I might try a few other methods to see what works best and I'll update you

I added a darker pinky peach color for a couple more pops of color. I just re-dipped some of the pink ones in a coral color mixed with my baby pink. Here are daylight pics that shows how colorful they really are. This was so easy!

Thanks for the price information. One second thought, it's probably out of my price range ;( So grocery store flowers it is. Can't wait to see your final product!

Do your centerpieces include flowers as well? All of my cost is for my bouquet, 6 BMs bouquets, 6 boutonnieres, 2 corsages, and 12 centerpieces. The filler was more expensive than I thought it would be, and you could likely find something cheaper.

Thanks @Kim0423! I've been thinking about a mixture of sola flowers and flowers made from book pages (I've made a few on my own already). This post is really helpful!

Thank you. This is extremely helpful. Your flowers look great!

That is so interesting! I have never seen anything like that before! I love your inspiration photo!

This is great! the first time I've heard of these type of flowers... I'd love to see the final product!!

I finished arranging all my bouquets and centerpieces, and they look even better than I imagined. I can't wait for you guys to see them!! My bridesmaids helped a ton, but it still did take quite a bit of time, so I didn't get the finishing touches in (the handles) so I still have work to do until I can show them off. Maybe in a couple days!

Following!!!

All these flowers are adorable!! You ladies make me wish I was super crafty!! ;(

Great job! Love them!

So excited to see someone else doing this! I dyed mine the exact same way.