Long living flower arrangements in golden boxes for the holidays …

I love having plenty of fresh, fragrant flowers all around the house for the holidays, but I don’t want to have to keep redoing them as the days get busier. This is why I’ve developed methods for making arrangements in the early days of December that will last all season long with minimal maintenance, and you can too.

You can make these arrangements using any colors of blooms your prefer, but I love the fresh look of white flowers with hardy greens.

When I make up arrangements I like to make multiples so I can use them to create a massive field of blooms as a group, or let them stand on their own.

I made these up for a friend. Knowing they were going to rest beneath this incredible yellow chandelier I knew they had to hold their own, but also blend in. It needed to be a natural looking table runner with a bit of a modern edge.

Yellow Chihuly Chandelier

This home has a lot of nice wood surfaces so I knew these 12″x12″x4″ wood boxes which come in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors, would blend in well. I spray painted them with a wash of gold for a festive touch, but made sure the natural beauty of the wood grain still showed through.

Even in a box, and even when using a combination of cut and living plants, my Splendid 3-step flower arranging system still works.

Here’s how I did it:

After fitting the box with clear plastic liners I put in a circle of oasis, which had soaked in water for a couple of hours for maximize hydration.

Step 1, The Greens

I filled the center of the circle with living greens, 2 frosty ferns, a small “European” Christmas tree and a white Kalanchoe and filled the open corners with fresh moss.

To create a full, verdant look I pushed cedar and bay laurel branches into the oasis ring.

Step 2, The Flowers

Next, I filled in any open spots between the greens in the oasis ring with white flowers. I trimmed the stems of the fragrant stock, white tulips, roses and peppery freesia at an angle before pushing them into the saturated oasis. You have to be especially careful when inserting tulip stems into oasis, hold on to the bottom {the cut end} of the stem and ease it into the oasis, if you just jab them in they may break.

Step 3, A Little Something More

For a final touch I added some full, bushy branches of Noble Fir to add volume, texture and that special holiday fragrance.

So here it is, a fresh floral kit ready to fill up a home. If/as the fresh flowers wilt, they can be removed and replaced. The greens and living flowers will last for weeks if lightly watered every few days.

This a great way to bring the beauty of nature inside during some of the coldest weeks of the year.

Each box will look splendid on their own, or en masse