As the weather cools and we are spending more time indoors, flowers and other natural elements in the home are even more appreciated. So, I’m going to be sharing a few more ideas and “tricks of the trade” I’ve picked up over the years, to help you make beautiful arrangements for your abode. If you look around, you may find you have everything you need to put these notions into action right away, wooden boxes, scotch tape, bottles, jars, fancy glasses… by repurposing a few basic items and taking a little guidance from Mother Nature you too can have flower power.
In the past 2 posts I’ve shown how leaves and greenery can add complexity and structure to a bouquet and create a harmonious backdrop for flowers and accent pieces. But there is also something very powerful about a bouquet made purely of flowers, and not just the fragrance.
I was at a dear friends birthday party in California last weekend. The party started with drinks by the pool, which was a little chilly, even for the PNW contingent, so we were all ready when they announced it was time to go into the tent that was set up on the lawn. The tent was made with clear sides and ceiling so it looked like an elegant conservatory. Once inside, the conservatory theme was played out, two long tables ran the length of the tent and down the center of each table was a row of wooden crates loaded with deep pink and purple blooms. The space was warm and cozy and the smell of fresh flowers, especially the hyacinths was positively intoxicating.
I felt so honored to take a seat before this breathtaking display.
To make these arrangements the florist created a grid with scotch tape over the box and then filled each cell with flowers, supported by the invisible tape. I believe these boxes had plastic liners. At home you could line boxes with foil to keep in the water.
So gorgeous and lush looking!
Another way to make a power flower statement is to put 1 or more stems into small individual vases or bottles to be lined up or scattered on a table.
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Here I put ruby colored hydrangeas and deep red dahlias into bottles and cordial glasses I had around the house.
Mother Nature always gives the best advice on color and displays.
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To recreate her look, I added Quince and Hedge Apples to the table scene as well, imitating an autumn landscape of scattered leaves and dropped fruit.
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These tarnished silver goblets were a lovely wedding gift, but I don’t think I’ve ever sipped anything from them. However, they were ideal vessels for offering reflective light to the scene when filled with tea candles.
The greens and tans in this tablecloth were the perfect autumn toned backdrop for the rich colored blooms. In the spirit of full disclosure, I’m going to share a little secret with you, the “tablecloth” is actually a bedspread! One year for Christmas I was entertaining 20+ people and couldn’t find enough matching tablecloths that I liked. When I saw these bedspreads at Anthropologie, (they have a ruby velvet trim you can’t see) I thought they were perfect. As an added bonus the other side is a pretty, pale sage green color that looks great in my dining room in the spring. Everyone always thinks they are antique French quilted table cloths…. please, don’t let them know the truth.
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Back to the conservatory, and mother natures color schemes, this green patterned tablecloth combined with the blooms evoked feelings of being in a lush green meadow bursting with spring flowers.
Cheers! I hope you have a beautiful weekend.
Emily, I love that you were attending this fine celebration and casually poking your finger into the centerpiece to discover the florist's structural secrets.
Those plastic liners are sometimes available at craft stores like Michael's. Or instead of foil I would recommend stapling heavy black plastic cut to fit the wood "vase". My foil tears so easily….
Happy they planned on the tent – it does cool off here when the sun sets!
sear Emily, I can picture how beautiful the setting must have been, Inside a conservatory like jewel box
xoxo
Karena
2013 Designer Series