DIY Flower Cones

In regards to ceremony decorations, there is not much that I can do to compete with the natural beauty of Fort Popham and the Atlantic Ocean as a backdrop. So I decided to keep things simple. I have a personalized aisle runner to mark the aisle and to protect my dress from the ground, my mother is going to help me decorate a wedding arch for the ceremony to take place under, and I made flower cones to hang at the end of each row of seats for an added bit of decoration to my aisle. I opted to make flower cones because they are different from standard pew bows, and I think they add a nice touch. They are also extremely easy to make and cost effective. For eight flower cones, I purchased eight sheets of cardstock at 25 cents a sheet, and four spools of ribbon, on clearance, for 97 cents each for a grand total of just under six dollars. My inspiration for making flower cones is from this site, although I ended up making my own subtle changes.


For each flower cone, you will need:

• A sheet of cardstock
• Approximately 36" of coordinating ribbon
• Scissors
• Scissors that make a decorative edge
• Hole punch
• Hot glue

I started out by trimming my cardstock into 8"x8" squares. The cardstock that I chose is double sided, the side I have on the outside is ivory with a linen texture. Trim the top and right side with the decorative edge scissors. Next is the tricky part, roll the cardstock into a cone shape, I rolled mine with the left edge on top. I found it takes some fussing with the paper to get it to come to a point, but with patience it is possible. Once I made my cone, I ran a bead of hot glue under the overlap to hold everything in place.

The next step, once your cone is assembled, is to use your hole punch to punch five holes: one in the exact center of the front, one hole about 1/2 an inch away from the center hole on either side, and two holes on the back point. Now, take your ribbon, and run it from the inside of your cone to the outside through each of the back holes, leaving a loop for hanging. you want both ends of ribbon to be fairly even, so adjust accordingly. Now, wrap the ribbon around the outside of the cone, and go through the first hole, come back out the center hole. Repeat on the other side. This is where you can get creative. You can tie a bow in the ribbon and call it finished or go ahead an embellish it any way you want. I used a wide ribbon for my flower cones, so I opted to tie a knot and hot glue a seashell over the knot with the remaining ribbon hanging like streamers. Overall, the result is very elegant, and I like I said, easy to assemble.

My flower cones are going to be filled with green and purple hydrangeas. The white roses above were just added to the finished design so that I could get an idea how it would hang with flowers in it. I made all eight of mine in a little over an hour, minus the time it took to take an emergency trip to the craft store to buy more ribbon. I'm really pleased with how they turned out, I keep pulling them out of my wedding box to look at them, it's like I can't believe I made something that looks so elegant. The icing on the cake is that you can purchase handmade flower cones online through various crafting sites for upwards of $10 EACH. I didn't even spend a dollar each for mine, and they are custom for my wedding and theme. Until next time!