Our Favorite F Word…

Our Favorite F Word…

Flowers! Spring is finally here and with it comes colorful blooms and fresh greenery. Adding flowers will liven up any room and bring a natural freshness to your home. Even if you’re not a pro florist, you can still create a beautiful floral arrangement for your home.

We’ll walk you through some 5 easy steps to help you craft a beautiful floral arrangement with minimal stress or effort.

Step One: Choose Your Flowers

Before you can begin, you need to select the flowers and foliage that you’d like to include in your arrangement. You can choose flowers of the same color for a tonal effect, or choose contrasting colors for something a bit more bold. 

Choosing flowers can help you determine the type and style of vase that you want to use, but we’ll talk more about vases in a moment.

If you’re not really sure what will go together, purchase a premade bouquet to add to your favorite vase! We always recommend shopping local to support small businesses and here in Laguna Beach, we LOVE French Buckets Florist.

For a long-lasting—and low maintenance—arrangement, you could use faux flowers or dried flowers. We offer an assortment of dried flower bouquets to take the guesswork out of your flower selection. You can also see our tips for drying your own flowers!

Step Two: Find the Perfect Vase

Maybe you already have a favorite vase in mind, or maybe you’re looking for a statement piece to add some flair to your room. Consider the flowers you’ve selected to help you determine the size of vase you’ll need. For example, if you’re making a very large arrangement, you may want a sturdier vase. If your arrangement will be a centerpiece on a dining table, you will want a short vase so you can still look at your guests while you converse.

For something smaller, we recommend our Classic Terra Cotta Vase. There are two size options, both under 5” tall. The dark glaze will contrast beautifully against bright colors or neutral tones, making this vase truly versatile.

For larger statement pieces, we love our Leather Wrapped Vases and Tumblers—available in multiple colors and stitch patterns. The simple, clean lines of these vases will compliment your floral arrangement without detracting from the natural beauty of the flowers you choose.

Step Three: Add Foliage First

You might be more focused on the flowers you’ve chosen, but it’s important to start with the foliage. Particularly with larger arrangements, the foliage will create the structure to support your flowers. Trim not just the stems, but also any foliage that will be below the rim of the vase because if there are leaves in the water, it will sour.

Spread the foliage pieces out and put them in the vase at different angles, not just straight up and down. They’ll brace against the side of the vase the criss-crossing pattern will help support the flowers you’ll be adding later.

Step Four: Flowers!

Now it’s time to add the real stars of the show. One at a time, trip the stems and leaves before inserting flowers into the arrangement. How you choose to place your flowers can vary. If you’re using multiple types of flowers, you might want to group them in clusters or you might want to spread them out.

As you continue to place your flowers in the arrangement, take a step back and look for any gaps. If the arrangement will be some sort of centerpiece that will be viewed from all sides, remember to walk around or turn the arrangement. You don’t want to have a huge gap on one side of your centerpiece because you forgot to turn it while you arranged the flowers!

Step Five: Finishing Touches

Once the foliage and flowers are in place, you can consider adding additional details to add texture to the arrangement. This could be “filler” like Baby’s Breath or Queen Anne’s Lace. For a rustic, organic look, you could also add dried seed pods, cotton, or grains of wheat.

Last, but certainly not least, if you’re using fresh, cut flowers, be sure to top off the water in your case. If you purchased a bouquet of flowers, it likely came with a packet of “plant food” that can be added to the water. Otherwise, you can add sugar or a small amount of bleach to the water. Make sure to trim back dried or dying foliage and flowers and change the water every couple of days to keep cut flowers fresh longer!

Now you’re ready to get out there and make your own floral arrangements. Connect with us on social media and share your beautiful creations with us!