If there's a moment in the year when you can be a little more daring with your flowers on the table it has to be the holidays.
This is the moment when I like to use flowers plus .... other things. A lot of you have told me that you are decorating with white, silver and fresh green this year, so I tried to put together an idea that may fit in, using materials that most of us have in the home already or that are inexpensive to buy.
To make these centrepieces, I used two urns I already had, some florists foam (either already ball shape or cut into a ball from a new brick); wooden barbecue skewers; a bunch of cuttings from a box hedge; a bunch of small white roses, some small Christmas baubles and a bag of ... brussel sprouts!
Start by soaking the balls of foam in water, the wetter they are the longer your arrangement will last. Actually you can increase the lifespan by putting these out into a cool garage each night. Stand a straight branch in each recipient or urn, and make sure they are firm using stones, foam, even plaster if you wish.
Push each ball down onto the stick to create the hole, then take them off again to start building up the arrangement.
After you have put small lengths of box all over the ball, prepare the brussel sprouts. I use these because I love their colour, their small tidy shape and because they last for a long time, even if the roses need changing. Peel off any discoloured leaves, then push a short length of skewer into the base of each, position on the ball of foam.
Start building up the ball, using the sprouts, roses and baubles, with some more box if required, until the foam is completely covered and you have a nice round shape. Push the ball back onto the 'trunk' and check the shape, then cover the base with some beautiful green moss. Voila!
The same idea works just as well with red roses and tiny apples or lichi. Pine cones are good too, but can be more difficult to fix to the foam.
The same idea works just as well with red roses and tiny apples or lichi. Pine cones are good too, but can be more difficult to fix to the foam.
While I was already making a mess I also popped a few white hellebore with some baby ivy into an old soup tureen and surrounded it with moss. Doesn't look spectacular for the moment but it will grow during the holidays.
Hope you enjoyed that, I'll be back tomorrow with something else!
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