Christmas can be a very expensive time between gift giving, decorating, baking and all the extras that make a special holiday season. Adding floral arrangements to your budget can seem like an unwarranted expense. However, fresh flowers in your home adds a wonderful element to your holiday decorating. Today I’m going to share with you a way to make three different arrangements from grocery store flowers that are sold for three bunches for $10 – $12. Welcome, Friends, as I take you through the construction of these three floral arrangements for a total of $11 ($1 is for Oasis floral foam).
You will need containers of your choice. I’ll share with you what I used but I’m sure you will have something in your home already that you will be able to use. If not, you can go to your local Thrift Store or Dollar Store and probably find what you need.
Shop your garden for the greens or maybe a neighbor has some pine trees or evergreen foliage. They will probably let you snip a few branches here and there. I started with these and added a few more as I built each arrangement. I used pine, cypress and holly for these arrangements.
I used three different colored flowers….some red carnations and yellow and white miniature roses. When I brought them home I cut about 1/2 inch off the stems and put them immediately in water and added some floral food to the water. I let them rest overnight. There are two chain grocery stores near me that sell flowers for three bunches for $10 and $12, respectively.
Next day I assembled all my containers, foliage and flowers to begin making the arrangements
I started with the basket arrangement. I added a container with 1/3 of an oasis brick that had been soaked in water to the basket. Next, I began adding greens to give a base to the arrangement.
Yellow roses, white roses and red carnations in groupings were spread throughout the basket. With the greenery and flowers in place I added some Christmas picks and made a bow for the front of the basket. It doesn’t take a lot of flowers to create a nice arrangement. You want the basket to look quite full. You can also add some fat greenery to fill out the basket. You won’t be able to tell the difference once the arrangement is finished.
The second arrangement is what is called a “long and low”. It’s suitable for a dinner party centerpiece or a buffet perhaps. You can see from the picture that I incorporated some Nandina berries and some golden cypress as well as some variegated holly.
I started with a plastic tray and outlined the floral oasis with Leland Cypress. Two pieces of pine, one at each end are placed in the oasis to extend the length of the arrangement. Next I added a long spear of carnations to each end. Variegated holly anchored the ends closest to the oasis foam. Then the berries were added…one to each side in alternating directions. I added some golden cypress and began to place the flowers.
Here you see the centerpiece after a few more flowers and some additional greens are added to the arrangement.
This is such an easy and fun arrangement to work on. Just don’t overfill the centerpiece with too many flowers too close together. Leave some space between the different elements.
The third arrangement is a bouquet. Choose your prettiest vase. I chose one of cut crystal with a scalloped pattern around the edge. Then, in your hand, gather together the flowers and greenery you will use and arrange them in your hand first. Cut the stems even and of the appropriate height for the vase. Fill the vase with water and floral food. Then insert the flowers in the vase and let them relax. They will fall into the pleasing pattern you have created in your hand.
These three arrangements were all made from three bunches of flowers and greenery from the garden. They are very full and will be beautiful on any holiday table. Stretch that holiday budget without sacrificing any of the gorgeous arrangements you might wish to display. Fresh flowers, greenery and beautiful containers all work together to help you create some beautiful decor for your home.