A Sock Bouquet - Plus!

A large part of a newborn baby's layette is several dozen pairs of little baby socks to cover those fast growing feet and keep those little toes warm and toasty. A sock bouquet is a terrific addition to the nursery and the little sock flowers can just be unrolled from their flower shapes and used as needed. What a thoughtful and practical gift to give the mommy-to-be instead of a bouquet of real flowers that will wilt after a few days or a bouquet of candy flowers that will just add unwanted pounds.

The sock bouquet is put together with just a few simple materials: a set of baby socks, a roll of floral wire, wire cutters, floral tape, artificial flowers of your choice, a clear glass or acrylic vase, and little baby toys like pacifiers and rattles.

First of all, unpack and separate the socks. Take one baby sock and lay it out flat on your table. Roll up the sock from the toe all the way up to the heel rather loosely then give it a quarter turn and continue until you've reached the end of the sock. Open up the elasticized end of the sock and fold it back over itself.

Open up the layers to create petal and arrange into a flower. Repeat with the rest of the baby socks.

After you've finished turning all the baby socks into rosebuds, cut the wires into suitable lengths for the arrangement you need. Turn one part of the wire down into a hook shape so it won't stick or through any part of the sock and make a hole. Push about an inch or so gently into the sock rosebud.

About half to a third of the way from the end of the rosebud, start wrapping the sock with the floral wire. Take about five or so turns around the sock to secure it and then start working your way down the floral wire, taking care to overlap the edges and make the stem neat. Be sure to wrap a large part of the sock in the floral tape and have quite a bit of wire inserted into these tiny sock flowers. They could unfurl otherwise.

If the rosebud is bigger or heavier than you expected, take two or even three lengths of wire and twist them together to make a sturdier stem. You could incorporate a few rose leaves into the stem while you're covering it with the floral wire.

Arrange the sock bouquet in the clear vase. Add some artificial flowers to flesh out the arrangement.

To hold the flowers in the vase, fill it up about halfway with a few baby toys like pacifiers and baby rattles as an extra gift for the mommy-to-be. The baby toys do double duty at hiding the stems of the sock bouquet as well.

To add a little bit of dimension to your sock bouquet, choose different coordinating colors of socks. Blend them into artificial roses of about the same colors and fill them in with neutral fillers like baby's breath and orange blossoms.