Winter Arrangement
I picked up some flowers and greens at the grocery store this week and threw this together. I got the idea from a picture in an old Southern Living magazine. Here’s the how-to for an easy, wintry floral to brighten your mood. The weather has been pretty dreary here on the US East Coast.
I try to have fresh flowers in the house, as much as I can. In the summer, they usually come from the yard and gardens. In winter, several of our local grocery stores (Wegman’s, Fresh Market and Trader Joe’s) have beautiful selections of flowers. Many times, you can get a bouquet from them and add some foliage, branches, vines or berries from the yard and have a really pretty arrangement. Here’s what I put together this week…
Gather your supplies
I bought greens, tulips and granny smith apples at the store. I had the urn and the pinecones. The store did not have any pussy willow yet, so I used faux stems. (Not nearly as pretty - bummer!) You will also need 3 skewers, and 5 floral picks with wire.
I put a “frog” in the bottom of the urn, to help secure the stems. I forgot to take a picture of it so I’ve linked to an article for your info. Then I added the greens as a base for the arrangement. I always put the greens/foliage in first. A good rule of thumb is 1 1/2 times the height of your container.
Once you have your base, you are going to add the tulips throughout the greens. You want your eye to wander throughout the arrangement.
Skewer the apples with your wooden skewers, in different spots, so they won’t all look the same. These are just wooden skewers you get at the grocery store.
Insert your “apples on sticks” at the base of the arrangement, near the top of the urn. They can rest on it, and will give you a center focal point.
Next you will wrap the wired picks around the top of your pinecones. (You can make some out of cut skewers and thin wire!) Just weave it in and out of the scales of the cones. They will sort of hang from the pick. I did five on this one.
When you have the picks wired to the tops of your cones, you can stick the picks into the base, around the apples. It’s nice to have a few cones hanging down from the base, and then some are stuck in the base, higher up. (See below.)
I usually get a bunch of pussy willow branches at the store in the spring, and they will typically last for weeks. They didn’t have any yet, so I got out these faux ones that I use for a large spring wreath in March/April.
I stuck the willow branches throughout the top 2/3 of the arrangement - again you want your eye to wander throughout. PS - The tulips will not last as long as everything else, so next grocery trip, pick up some more tulips or lilies and replace!
I do spray bouquets and arrangements with this FloralLife Clear Crowning Glory, especially when using fruits/veggies/flowers from the grocery store or florist. (I think its the same/similar to the Wilt Pruf that you put on Christmas greenery to lock in moisture, but have not compared ingredients…)
