Flower Power: Easy Valentine Floral

With Valentine’s Day just a week away, we thought it might be a good time to bring you a floral post. Giving flowers for Valentine’s Day is very traditional. Somewhere along the way roses became the flower of choice.  Many florists know that and jack the prices up to outrageous levels.

I submit that most Valentines wouldn’t care if you sent/gave long stem roses or daisies. This truly is about the thought and I have yet to meet anyone who is not cheered by flowers of any kind. Beyond that, I fully believe that something you make with your own hands will almost always impress more than pre-made. 

I am no florist, but I do have a few tips that will produce good results and look professional. As with most things, a little information and the right tools are all you need to be on the right track. In addition to being heartfelt, your arrangement will go easy on the pocket, too.

savour… spreading joy for less

EASY VALENTINE FLORAL

For our first floral project, we chose just one flower, the hydrangea. This bloom is great because you get so much bang for your buck. With just three large stems we go a full bouquet. It looks like so much more. We placed the arrangement in a vintage enamel coffee pot for character and added a handmade tag.

For the second arrangement, we kept it simple. The main character is the garden rose.  We supplemented with some contrasting color, then we found both colors in the small waxflower.  It tied all of the colors together and added some texture.

Before you start:

Don’t throw anything away until you are finished. For example, the greenery in the rose arrangement comes for leaves I clipped from the hydrangea.

Subscribe to the motto the fewer, the better when it comes to color. Unless you are skilled at floral arrangement, fewer colors will be easier for you to manage successfully and result in a cleaner, more modern look.

Be creative.  Look around your home for interesting vessels. If you don’t have anything take a trip to an antique store or thrift store. Flaws are fine. They will make your arrangement more interesting.

For heartier stems like hydrangea, be sure to smash the end with a hammer or split it lengthwise a bit with your pruning snips to open up the bottom to accept water better.

The bigger the inside vase, the less candy you will have to use.

Be sure to clean and dry the vases inside and out before you begin.

You will need 2-3 times as many medium sized blooms as you do big blooms.

There are other methods of holding the flowers in place and frogs are not required, but owning one will make your life easier. I would get one small and one medium to large for starters.

The materials:

• Flowers
• Cool water
• Flower food
• Pruning clippers or florists’ scissors
• Florists tape, string, or long twist tie
• Floral frog
• Ribbon
• Vessels
• Gift tags/card made or store bought
• Candies

The steps:

For the candy filled vase:

1. Find 2 vases that will fit together with enough room between to fit candies.
2. Place one vase inside the other and fill with your candy of choice.
3. Fill all the way to the top.
4. Place floral frog (if using) in the bottom of the inside vase.
5. In a pitcher add water and flower food.
6. Pour from the pitcher into the inside vase about ¾ full.
7. Arrange flowers in your hand by starting with the main bloom and then add the medium-sized bloom around it. Keep turning flowers in your hand alternating the big bloom and the medium blooms.
8. Place a long twist tie loosely around the arrangement to hold it in place.
9. Hold the bouquet up to your vessel to measure the appropriate place for cutting.
10. Cut all of the stems at an angle.
11. Insert the bouquet into the vase.
12. Retouch the arrangement to obtain the right balance.
13. Cut the smaller blooms into appropriate lengths and distribute evenly around the arrangement.
14. Rearrange as needed.
15. Tie a ribbon around the top of the vase if you wish to cover and overlap of the two vases.