11/21/08

Do you want to learn how to make some simple flower arrangements such as centerpieces, and wreaths? It is actually very simple to quickly and professionally arrange flowers, and this article will give you some good tips.

First you should start by choosing the colors you want to work with. Try something like yellow, red and blue for a cheery spring arrangement, or burgundy, brown and orange for a rich fall one. Once you have the colors it is time to decide whether you want to work with fresh flowers, dry flowers or artificial flowers. Fresh flowers are available through any florist and from outside if you live in the country or have your own garden, and dry and fake ones at craft stores, and sometimes at places like Zellers and Wal-Mart. For either type of flower you will need the floral sponge.

If you work with fresh flowers, place the sponge into warm water, with some flower food dissolved in it. Wait until the sponge submerges itself completely, don't push it down since that will cause bubbles in the sponge and the flowers will die if they don't have water. Now take the sponge out and put it into a container you would like to use for your arrangement. Make sure the container doesn't have any holes since you should be able to water the flowers. For the dried and artificial flowers you don't need to wet the sponge, just use some glue to make the sponge attached to the container.

The first step is to cover the base with foliage so the sponge can't be seen. Now your arrangement will look more professional already. Make sure you use short pieces of greenery, preferably bushy so you don't have to use too much of it and you still have room for the flowers. If you use artificial flowers, you can use wooden stakes, wire and floral tape to lengthen the stems and for extra security for large or heavy flowers. The floral tape is usually green or brownish green to hide the wire after attaching it and the wooden stake to the stem of the artificial flowers.

When you start arranging, use the largest flower along the bottom of your arrangement since that is natural, in nature the large, heavy flowers are usually at the bottom. Work with one flower at a time, don't bunch the same flower together at one place, but rather try to spread each flower out over the whole arrangement. Don't just stick the flower in, make sure you have a shape in mind such as a pyramid, or a ball shape, and shorten the stems accordingly. It is more professional if you have a nice smooth shape and not whisks of flowers sticking out everywhere. Make sure the flower faces outward and that it is at the right angle for your shape, it's face should line up with the shape you picked. Then you can use the next flower and continue the same way. When using fresh flowers use a sharp straight - edged knife and cut the stem at a slant before sticking it into the sponge. Make sure you use up all the flowers putting it into the spaces and don't bunch them too closely together - then you can fill up the holes with some long greens later. Make sure the greens don't stick out either, they should just come to where the shape of your flowers ends. Now you can use baby's breath to fill in the rest of the holes. It makes the whole arrangement more elegant and breathtaking. The dried and artificial flower arrangement should last you a lifetime, if you occasionally dust it slightly. The fresh flowers should be watered every few days, using plant food if you want to prolong the flower's life. If some of the flowers die earlier then the others you can remove them and replace them with some other fresh flowers to prolong the arrangement's usefulness.

Some flowers that last a long time are carnations and roses. If you pick roses, make sure when you gently press their heads, it feels hard since then the flower is still fresh and young and will open up in a week or so. You can also use fruits, berries, corn, wheat, even grasses and much more in your arrangements - most of the materials are widely available in nature and even free. So have fun arranging flowers!

If you want to make a wreath use the same techniques, but use artificial or dried flowers, buy a wooden wreath and glue each flower in. You can also use pinecones, which you can color golden, or whatever color you like if you would like to make a Christmas decoration. You can also use glitter-spray, bows and ribbons. Even stuffed animals look cute in a wreath, and artificial, real looking fruits especially.