Just in time for Easter, Janene brings us a simple "how to" on how to create interesting and unique floral arrangements that are sure to brighten your table, desk, or counter top!
For a new spin on floral arrangements, considering unusual containers as "vases" to display your farmer’s market finds in all their glory. Most any vessel can be turned into a container for your bouquet with just a little work. Scour flea markets, thrift stores, country shops, or even your own cupboards or recycle bin for objects that catch your eye. Some possibilities include tea cups and pots, old shoes, your childhood lunchbox, tarnished silver creamers/sugars, wire baskets lined with moss, glass light fixtures turned upside down, old tins or toy cars.
First, set a block of florist’s foam (for fresh flowers, not dried arrangements) to soak while you’re prepping the rest of your materials, so that it is fully saturated by the time you’re ready to use it. Next, simply line the inside of your container with plastic from a plain black trash bag, trim off the excess so it doesn’t show. For the flowers, I like to purchase a dozen stems of some sort of large showy flower, like roses or daisies, then I also pick up a bouquet of mixed flowers in colors that I like from a local farmer’s market to use as filler flowers. You could also purchase some likely looking smaller flowers like baby’s breath, greenery, little bachelor buttons or mums.
When you’re ready to begin, place your floral foam into the container, trimming and sculpting with a knife until it fits. If you’re using a bowllike shape, such as a teapot or urn, place a large chunk of foam inside, then trim the top so that it gives a nice rounded shape sticking a few inches out of the top of the vessel. If you’re using a box-like shape like a tin, cut pieces of foam to fit inside, then cut strips of waterproof floral tape to make a grid along the top. You may also use torn strips of masking tape like I did, if you don’t have the floral tape - you’ll just have to be sure to place your flowers so they hide the tape.
Now comes the fun part! Starting with your large showy flowers, trim the stems to about 3-6 inches below the blossom (depending on the size of your container), then begin placing them evenly into the foam. By placing the flowers closer to the base so that they are more horizontal, and the flowers closer to the top more vertical, you will end up with a nice rounded shape that shows off its pretty flowers from all angles. If using flowers such as roses, you may have to trim off some of the lower leaves so that they’ll fit into the foam, and watch out for those thorns! Next, start selecting some of your filler flowers from your bouquet, trimming them down, and filling in around the larger flowers.
This is where you get to be artful - choose the colors you like, which compliment each other, and place them evenly around the bouquet. If it doesn’t look right, pull them out and move them around - the foam is rather forgiving. Be sure to make use of the leaves - they are great for filling in gaps, hiding bits of tape, and making the arrangement more full. Voila, that’s it! You now have a nice arrangement that should last for a week or more if you keep the foam moistened, depending on the age of your flowers.
