As a rule, when I get a project in my head, I can't NOT do it. A few days ago, I had an idea for the bridesmaids' bouquets to have a sword hilt for a handle. I just finished the first one, version 1.0, and there are some things I want to tweak and change. But for the most part, this is it! Now, let me show you how I made it so that you, too, can wield your flowers on your wedding day.

Supplies

• A Dremel with a metal cutting tool or a metal cutting saw. I originally started to use my jeweler's saw, but this was taking way too long, so I moved to a Dremel.
• Flowers/leaves. These can be fabric, silk, or even real ones, whatever you prefer. Brooches might also work, with some tweaking.
• A sword or dagger with a hilt you like. The hilt is the only thing we'll be using, so don't worry about the scabbard or blade. I plan to use smaller daggers for my bridesmaids, and found some cheap options at this website, but feel free to use any sort. (Perhaps Machone's katana for a zombie themed wedding, or Link's sword for a geeky one? I personally plan to use a small version of Sting I think.)
• A ruler
• Safety glasses
• Safety gloves
• Styrofoam ball. I will probably get a bigger diameter ball in the future, for a fuller bouquet. I'd also recommend it be a whole ball or oval, as opposed to a half circle.
• Metal files/a sander tool for the Dremel.

Step 1: Cutting your sword

Now, this is not my first choice of sword. I would have much more prefered a T-hilted sword, rather than this one which has a finger guard. However, this was the only sword I was okay with cutting up.

We will only be using the hilt, so find one with a hilt you like. Take into consideration extra designs on the hilt that may interfere with your bouquet. This sword's hilt extended up into the blade past the hand guard at a weird angle, so that was kind of a hindrance, but once I added the leaves, you couldn't see it.

Now, we must cut the blade off, unless you'd prefer 8-30 inches of steel sticking out of your bouquet, which is totally fine if that's how you want to roll. On most swords, the sharpened blade is not the full length of the steel, like mine. You can see here how there are about 4 inches from the hilt to the sharpened edge. I chose to cut the blade off right before the sharpened part starts.

Start your cutting! Like I said, I originally started using my jeweler's saw, but after 20 solid minutes of cutting, I was only 1/4th of the way in. Clearly, it wasn't working. So, I got out my Dremel and, while my cut ended up being very icky looking, it only took about 10 minutes to cut the whole way through. Be sure to wear safety goggles and gloves. You're holding a blade in one hand, a Dremel/saw in the other, sparks are flying - be careful. Do not attempt this step if you do not feel comfortable with it. Seriously.

After you get your hilt off, you'll want to go back with either files or a sander tool on a Dremel, as the cut edge will be sharp. Please be careful here as well.

Step 2: Adding the Styrofoam

Okay! Now, we have a weird super short and useless sword hilt. Let us add Styrofoam.

Just stick the blade into the Styrofoam! Even when the blade has been sanded down, it was fairly easy to work the blade into the ball. Depending on the type and size of Styrofoam, this may be messy, and you may even break the ball in half. Once again, make sure your blade isn't too big for the ball. I didn't have either of these problems, but I was worried it'd actually split the ball in two, so be careful. I pushed the ball all the way to the hilt, so there is about two inches of blade sticking up from the ball, which in the end is hidden by flowers. Consider your blade height when cutting the blade, and compare it with diameter of your ball and how high your flowers will be sticking up.

Step 3: Adding flowers

Like I said, I made my own leaves and flowers out of fabric with a wire in the back that stuck into the Styrofoam. You can substitute anything though: feathers, silk flowers, even real ones if you get that special water-holding Styrofoam.

Just start sticking them in! I started at the bottom, by the hilt, and worked my way to the top. I personally put leaves on the very bottom, which draped and help hide the Styrofoam where the hilt meets it, then added flowers, then used smaller flowers as I went higher. Like I said, the blade was sticking up about two inches from the ball, but once my flowers were added, that was hidden and I don't plan to cut it shorter.

One more note: this is not terribly stable. If I shook my finished bouquet, I think the flowers would fly out. Try making your wire into a cork screw shape and screwing them into the Styrofoam, or once you are happy with your positioning, glue the flowers in.

Step 4: WIELD YOUR SWORD BOUQUET

You're done! Once I got my Dremel out, this took me about an hour from cutting the blade to finish. However, making the flowers has been weeks worth of work, but I'm making seven of these for my bridesmaids. I'll probably have one for myself as well, but bigger. Huzzah!