Sock Bouquet

Thomas is reaaaaaally good at dropping hints for gift ideas. There's no subtlety at all when it comes to making his wants known. Yes, it makes gift-giving easy when I know exactly what he wants, but it kind of takes away the element of surprise. So when he said, "you know, I'd really love some fun dress socks for my birthday," I knew I had to go a little above and beyond to do something unexpected.


Rather than wrap them in a box for one of his birthday gifts, I decided to finally put some Pin-spiration into action and make a bouquet of dress socks. I've seen different Pinterest ideas with baby onesies or ties, so why not socks? Plus, he's always surprising me with beautiful flowers, so it seemed only fitting he get a manlier version of the same.

I purchased five fun pairs of socks for Thomas' bouquet. If I'd had more time, I'd probably go back and get one or two more pairs, just to make the bouquet fuller.

1) Start at the open end of the sock and start rolling towards the toe. Here's the kicker {no pun intended... feet... kicker... oh never mind}: the 1st roll needs to be at a slight angle away from you.  This gives the sock their layered flower shape, instead of being a plain ol' "jelly roll." See how the part of the sock closest to my hand is more narrow than the top? Kind of like a cone shape.


2) Continue rolling. If you're not happy with how the "petals" are looking, unroll and start over again, or tug on some of the layers so they stick out more. It definitely took me a few times to get it just right! When you're almost to the heel, keep one hand on the base of the sock flower, and with your other hand fold the toe away from you {toward the table, as seen below}. This is important! Then, go back and continue rolling, keeping the sock folded. The fold helps to add volume to the top of the sock formation. Just keep playing with it - a lot of my creation was done through trial and error. 


3) Once you're happy with the shape of your sock flower, find a good spot where the toe of the sock can be pinned to keep it all together. I started this project and then realized we had no safety pins, but bobby pins did the trick, too! I just made sure to hide that side of the sock when I arranged them in a vase.


Here's the top of another finished sock, and I really loved how these yellow ones turned out! Good rule of thumb - the thicker the sock, the fuller the flower. 


4) The last step to assemble each flower is to insert a wooden dowel for the stem. You can find multi-packs at Hobby Lobby or Michael's for pretty cheap.


Wiggle the dowel into the base of the sock flower and push it through to the top - I found it easiest to hold the sock like a can of hairspray. Wrap your thumb and middle/ring/pinky fingers around the sock, and use your pointer finger to hold the top of the flower in place. That way, you can be sure the dowel isn't pushing the sock out in the middle, causing it to fall apart.


Once all of your sock flowers are complete, arrange in a vase and you're done! Thomas was so surprised to find these waiting on the kitchen table last weekend when he woke up on the morning of his birthday.

Father's Day is coming up... you've got plenty time to find fun socks for your husband or dad. If you choose to make one for a man in your life, share photos - I'd love to see 'em!


Comments

  1. This is such a great idea Amanda!!!

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  2. How freaking cute are you? I love this idea, annnnd the fact that he likes to wear fun dress socks! ;)

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