Flower-Pen Centerpiece

So last weekend we threw a big birthday party for my step-mom, Donna. We rented out the banquet room at the restaurant where my sister works, and decorate it in purple, because that's Donna's absolute favorite color.

I was tasked with doing centerpieces, favors, and that sort of thing.

Because it was Mothers' Day weekend as well, I was able to pick up some pots of mums that were purple and very inexpensive. I also made a centerpiece out of "Flower Pens".

These were so much fun! I bought $1-each10-packs of pens at Meijer, several bunches of clearance flowers from Joann's, along with the glass vase, the ribbon, florist tape and, yup, a bag of rice.

So forgive me for feeling like a genius here, but I think the rice looked really nice for the whole $1.50 it cost to fill the entire jar (with some left over). I was actually going to use white beans, but I thought the rice would hold the pens better. I thought this would be a great idea for you girls planning a budget wedding.

Anyways, I plucked the flower and leaf off the wire stem, and I cut it so that the little loop part cam off the leaf, and the bottom of the flower was as flat as possible. Hot glued flowers to all my pens, and leaves to about half. Once the glue set, I wrapped the pen in florist tape and stuffed them into the vase. It took some time but was ridiculously simple.

Guests were each given a card that had 2 holes punched in the top, and asked to share their favorite memory of Donna. After that, they could take the pen home if they wanted. At the end of the night, Donna read all the memory cards, and we strung ribbon through the holes so that they made a memory book for her to keep.