DIY: Silk-Flower Ring Pillow

This lovely ring bearer's pillow comes straight from the Martha Stewart Weddings site. Because this is a DIY project, it gives you the flexibility to create the pillow to match your event beautifully. The technique used to create the flower on the pillow can also be used to make the flower girl's bouquet making your little duo perfectly matched. And because you wouldn't need real flowers, both become strong enough to withstand anything little girls and boys can throw at them.

How-to:

Crisp fabric is recommended for this project. The Martha Stewart team utilized taffeta, silk dupion, and shantung for the pillow shown above. To beging this project you will need to cut out straight sided ovals with scalloped shears. Recommended oval measurements are 4"x 8" for this pillow. You will need to cut a minimum of 9 petals of this size to achieve the look of the pillow above.

For the Pillow:

Create a 6" ring pillow in fabric of your choice. Stuff it to desired thickness and finish the seam to enclose the stuffing.

For the Flower:

1. Gather the center of one petal and hold it firmly.

2. Gather the center of a second petal and lay it on the first at an angle; continue holding the center gathers in place.

3. Repeat with a third petal, positioning the stacked petals so they make a complete rosette with no gaps. (If you want a fuller effect, make the rosette with up to 5 petals.) Wrap floral wire tightly around petals at the center, and twist underneath to secure. Excess wire becomes a stem.

4. Make 2 more rosettes (for a showier flower like the bouquets, make 4 total).

5. Stack rosettes, slipping each wire stem between the petals of the rosettes beneath.

6. Twist stems together; cover with floral tape. Fluff petals. For the ring pillow, cut stem short, sew flower into place through wires at center, and tie on a ribbon, threading it through wire on top.