A Small & Simple Desktop Floral Arrangement

As I write this, it is -7 degrees outside. -7! It’s been a rough, bitter-cold winter around here, but there are some glimmers of hope that are getting me through. First off, January is almost over and February is a short month that will fly by with the Olympics to keep us occupied. That means March will be here before we know it. My other glimmer of hope is that spring bulb flowers have been popping up at the flower shop recently. I used iris in my last arrangement, have some yellow tulips on the kitchen counter, and this arrangement features some freesia (which smells SO good). I made this arrangement for a project at work and then left it on my desk for the rest of the week. A bright and fragrant arrangement can really liven up a drab office cubicle, and this little one is the perfect size for a desk. Plus, it’s simple to make!

You will need: 3 pieces leatherleaf, 3 stems white larkspur, 4 stems freesia (I used 2 purple, 2 yellow), scissors or a knife, a small vase with water and flower preservative.

1. Green the vase with the leatherleaf.

2. Add the tallest piece of larkspur.

3. Add two shorter pieces of larkspur on either side of the tall one.

4. Add a yellow stem of freesia making it a little shorter than the tallest piece of larkspur.

5. Add a purple stem of freesia making it a little shorter than the first yellow stem of freesia.

6. Add another yellow stem of freesia making it a little shorter than the purple stem.

7. Add the last stem of purple freesia lower than the last yellow piece.

It’s as simple as that! A pretty little reminder that spring is on its way.

A Touch of Spring Floral Arrangement

Now that the holidays are over, can we please fast forward to spring? While Christmas is one of my favorite times of year, January through March has to be my least favorite. With nothing but snow and freezing temperatures in sight, I went with a springlike look for my latest floral arrangement. A girl can dream, right? Spring blooms in pretty pink, purple, and yellow are brightening our bedroom dresser and giving me a glimmer of hope that spring is somewhere around the corner…..

You will need: 2 white lilies, 2 purple iris, 3 pink wax flowers, 2 pink larkspur, 3 pink carnations, 2 yellow mini carnations, 4 leatherleaf, 3 myrtle, 2 lemon leaf, a vase or bowl, water mixed with floral preservative, clear waterproof floral tape, scissors/clippers/or knife (I use Oasis brand scissors and this knife).

1. Mix floral preservative with water and fill container. Tape a tic-tac-toe grid on top of the container with the waterproof floral tape.

2. Build a grid with pieces of leatherleaf and lemon leaf. Use the “lacing” technique by criss-crossing the stems and working from the outside in. This will create a base so your flowers can stand up where you want them.

3. Establish the arrangement’s height with a long piece of larkspur. Also drape larkspur on the left and right sides of the arrangement, going over the side of the container and toward the table.

4. Group the iris on one side.

5. Group the lilies on the opposite side.

6. Group the carnations on the lily side at varying heights.

7. Fill in on the front with yellow mini carnations. Fill in across the top with wax flowers.

8. Balance the wax flowers out with myrtle.

9. Fill in with any small larkspur laterals and mini yellow carnations.

The final product:

Who else is ready for spring?!

DIY Winter Floral Arrangement

Happy New Year’s Eve! I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that 2013 is coming to an end. Between a new job and the house, it’s been a wild ride! One thing I’m really glad the year brought was my floral design classes. I’ve discovered that arranging flowers is something I really, really enjoy doing.

This tabletop arrangement is one I made before Christmas. It graced our table through Christmas week and was a centerpiece for the gatherings we hosted. Pine makes wonderful greenery all winter long, so this is an arrangement you could recreate through February. Here’s how I made it:

You will need: 2 green hypericum berries, 2 yellow snap dragons, 3 red carnations, 2 white mini carnations with laterals, 1 white lily with buds, 2 myrtle, a few sprigs of pine (I had 2 different kinds), scissors or clippers, knife, soaked floral foam, round shallow container, and water.

1. Place your soaked foam in a container. Add water.

2. Add candle to center of foam. I used a floral foam candle holder, but you can stick the candle right in the foam.

3. Start greening your foam with pine. Add to all sides, corners, and a little on top.

4. Add your focal point lily, front and center, and the two snap dragons on either side of the candle. Stagger their height.

5. Give the candle a backdrop with the sprigs of myrtle (myrtle smells amazing, by the way!).

6. I added a shorter myrtle lateral in front of the candle to break up the height.

7. Space your red carnations around for pops of color.

8. Separate all the laterals on your mini carnations and start placing. I filled in the back with these.

9. Add your lily buds.

10. Lily buds on the back of the arrangement.

11. Separate hypericum berries and fill in with them around the arrangement.

12. Fill in any spots you can see foam with the berries and pine.

The final product:

Eventually, three of the lily buds bloomed, so the arrangement has evolved a bit over time. I’ve had to move some pieces around, pick out dead flowers, and add some new ones. It’s like a living piece of art!

Have a safe and fabulous NYE! See ya next year 😉

Road Trip!

It’s a quiet week here on the blog. We spent our weekend out of town visiting family, and we were having too much fun to take too many photos. Our first stop was my mom and dad’s house in Kentucky. It was a super low-key visit. My mom made a big pot of soup, and we relaxed and chatted. On Saturday, we headed over to Chris’ parents house to celebrate his and his mom’s birthdays. Here are the pictures that we did manage to take:

Road tripping outfit.

This past weekend was prime for bright fall leaves.

My mom and dad’s cat, Bella.

The sun was SUPER bright when we we took these.

Visiting East Fork Lake with Chris’ parents!

Feeling rebellious because I didn’t wear…

A life vest!

Chris, the hedge apple juggling extraordinaire!

And at home…

We’re enjoying the orange tree we got from Chris’ parents.

It has little oranges all over, and it smells divine. There’s nothing better than getting a whiff of orange blossom while sitting on the couch!

And last but not least, the flower arrangement I made in floral design class this week.

Fundamentals of Floral Design, 5/5

First things first: There are three more days to enter my Sven Clogs Giveaway! 

Monday was, what I thought would be, my last Fundamentals of Floral Design class, but we got a surprise that they’re extending the class one more week. Although this totally messes up my plans to watch The Bachelorette season finale next Monday, I’m glad to get an extra week of class! (Speaking of, I predict Brooks is going to return to Des next week, but they won’t get engaged. Thoughts?)

This week we learned how to make one-sided floral arrangements, which you might set against a wall or on a buffet table. Mine ended up kind of crowded at the bottom, but I’m really pleased with how the top turned out. Next time, I’ll extend the sides farther out so it’s a bit more airy at the base.

Black magic roses
Purple liatris
Pink mini carnations
Daisies
Green button mums
Leather leaf

I’m already registered for Intermediate Floral Design, which covers current trends in floral design, as well as design principles like line, depth, and color. It starts this fall, and I cannot wait!

Previous Class Recaps:
Fundamentals of Floral Design 1/5
Fundamentals of Floral Design 2/5
Fundamentals of Floral Design 3/5
Fundamentals of Floral Design 4/5

Fundamentals of Floral Design, 4/5

I think my arrangement from Monday’s night class is my favorite to date! We learned how to make contemporary L-shaped arrangements this week, and I started out the night with a total left-handed moment. (This is like a blonde moment, but only happens to left-handed people. I’m left-handed AND blonde, so that’s just asking for it.) I started making my L-shaped arrangement going toward the left, because that just felt more natural to me. But, you can imagine I felt like a dummy when the instructor came around and told me my L was backwards. Anyway, moving on…

Yellow spider mums
Sunflowers
Mini carnation
Blue delphinium
Aster
Aspidistra
Finger palm
Leather leaf
Salal
Horsetail
Midilino sticks

We had a guest instructor on Monday, and she gave us all kinds of random tips about flowers that I thought were interesting. For example, did you know that daffodils are toxic to other flowers in an arrangement? If you want to put daffodils in with other stems, you need to put them in their own water for 24 hours first so they seal off on the bottom and can’t poison the other flowers. Also, if your tulips are drooping, then put a penny in the water, and they’ll stand up.

Previous Class Recaps:
Fundamentals of Floral Design 1/5
Fundamentals of Floral Design 2/5
Fundamentals of Floral Design 3/5

Have a great Saturday!

Fundamentals of Floral Design, 3/5

Isn’t my arrangement from week three of floral design class a beauty?! This week, we learned how to make long and low centerpieces, which are great for long tables at weddings or dinner parties. Our instructor gave us some tips for making table centerpieces. For example, you don’t want your centerpiece to block views across the table, and you also don’t want to use really fragrant flowers that might bother people while they’re eating.

• 1/2 water-soaked foam block
• 1 Handy Andy (The name for the candle holder that sticks in the foam. Who knew there was such a thing?!)
• 1 taper candle
• Leather leaf
• Viking mums (the ones that look like mini sunflowers)
• Sunflowers
• Asiatic lily
• Spider mum
• Red carnations
• Alstromeria

Now I just need to have some people over for a candlelit dinner party!

Previous Class Recaps:

Fundamentals of Floral Design, 1/5
Fundamentals of Floral Design, 2/5

Fundamentals of Floral Design, 2/5

For week two of my Fundamentals of Floral Design class, we worked with floral foam. We were each given a block of water-soaked foam and a shallow gold pot for our arrangements. We were shown how to make a round arrangement and then set loose to try it for ourselves. Our instructor showed us how to make a modern round arrangement that is airy and trendy.

Here is my creation:

• 1/3 soaked floral foam
• Lavender daisy
• White daisy
• Queen Anne’s Lace
• Asiatic lily
• Delphinium
• Leather leaf
• Buplerum

It’s not perfect, but I’m pretty happy with my arrangement! The pink lilies are SO pretty, as is the delphinium! And I’ve always been a Queen Anne’s Lace fan, even though it grows as a weed around here — I even had it in my wedding bouquet.

Happy Thursday, everyone!

Previous Class Recaps:
Fundamentals of Floral Design, 1/5

Fundamentals of Floral Design, 1/5

Way back, I shared that I signed up for a floral design class, and I’m excited to report that I finally had my first class on Monday. My class will meet each Monday during the month of July, and I plan to share little recaps on here each week of what we learn, as well as photos of the arrangements I make in class.

We get to bring our arrangements home each week, and I’m excited to have fresh blooms on a weekly basis! This arrangement, which I think looks a bit patriotic and is perfect for Independence Day, features:

• Pink & white alstromeria
• Purple sweet William
• Red carnations
• Pink miniature carnations
• White daisies (which we learned are actually mums that look like daisies, but are much hardier for arrangements)
• Purple statice
• Leather leaf

We learned the basic lacing method to make this arrangement, which is basically crossing the stems to keep the flowers secure in a pleasing shape.

I’m pretty pleased with my first arrangement!

PS – If you’re near Indianapolis, this class is offered through IUPUI and takes place at JP Parker Flowers in Franklin.

Sunday Best

What I wore: Express Military Jacket, Saturday Sunday Dress from Anthropologie, Sam Edelman Flats, Sunglass Warehouse Sunglasses

Where I wore it: To church on Sunday. Sunday Best is a new blog series that will document outfits that I wear to church. I hope you enjoy!

How is your week going? It’s been dreary and dull around here, and I’m itching for the weekend to arrive. I was looking at the calendar yesterday, and I have so many good weekend adventures coming up. From out-of-town friends visiting to a concert, a getaway for my birthday, and graduation parties, I have a lot to look forward to! And the fun all starts this weekend with friends coming over to see our new house.

Do you know what else I’m looking forward to? I registered for floral design classes with a local college! It’s no secret that I love having fresh flowers around, so I decided that I’d like to learn more about this interest of mine. I took floral design in high school, and I was even awarded “Floral Design Student of the Year.” What an accolade, haha! Have you taken any floral design, art, cooking, or other hobby classes? I’m curious about what I should expect!