How to Make a Fresh Flower Bouquet

Choose the type of flowers you want in the bouquet. Flowers with strong stems work best, such as roses, tulips, daffodils or irises. Also include some greenery and baby's breath. Soak the flower stems in a vase filled with a preservative solution to help the flowers stay fresh longer.

Arrange the flowers for your bouquet. The most common way to arrange flowers in a bouquet is to have the middle flowers slightly higher than the outer flowers. To do this, start by holding four to five flowers; continue adding flowers around these lowering each flower slightly as you work outward. This forms a rounded look to the bouquet.
Stand in front of a mirror while holding the bouquet to see how it will look; adjust flowers as needed. Wrap floral wire around the stems to hold them together. Trim the end of the flower stems so they are even.

Wrap floral tape around the stems to secure. Start at the top of the stems, wrapping the tape around the end of the wire. Press to secure. Continue wrapping the tape downward around the stems until you reach the bottom, being sure to cover the wire completely.

Add ribbon. Hold one end of the ribbon vertically to the stems. Hot-glue the ribbon one inch above the end of the stems. Let dry. Pull the ribbon over the end of the stems to cover and start winding the ribbon upward over the stems, being sure to cover the tape completely. Wrap the ribbon diagonally as you work up the stems, wrapping tightly and evenly. Cut off any excess ribbon at the top. Hot-glue the loose end in place.
Optional--glue four to six ribbon pieces to the bottom of the stems before wrapping the ribbon around.