Tips for the Amateur Flower Arranger

It is extremely easy to simply go to the flower shop and buy a pre-made flower arrangement for your house. However, it is much cheaper and rewarding to pick your own flowers and arrange them yourself. If you are clueless when it comes to flowers, don't worry. Here are some amateur flower arrangement tips you can use for your creations.

Cutting the Stems
Many people have seen florists cut flower stems under running water, but do they know why? If you cut flower stems under running water, it prevents any air from moving up the stem. Air blocks water flow. Also, if you cut the stem at an angle, it provides more surface area for water to soak. It also prevents the stems from sealing to the bottom of the container or vase preventing water flow.

Remove the Foliage
One of the main ways to quickly kill a flower arrangement is to leave foliage remaining below the water level. Foliage encourages bacteria growth in the water. Also, foliage above the water does nothing but take water away from the flower blossoms. It is best to remove most of these leaves as well.

Size of Container
You never want your flowers to be overbearing to their container, or too small for the container. A good rule to keep in mind is to leave the tallest flower no taller than 3 times the height of the container. Any flower with a large blossom should only be 1.5 times the container height while more delicate flowers can be somewhat taller. An overbearing flower arrangement can be distracting, so be sure to keep these tips in mind.

Anchors
Most florists use oasis blocks to anchor flowers in arrangements. These are foam blocks that hold water and keep the flowers steady. You can place them at the bottom of any container or vase. However, if you do not have an anchor laying around your house, you need to improvise. Simply take a bag of marbles and place it at the bottom of the container. The marbles will hold the flowers in place while allowing water to flow freely around the stems.

There is nothing more beautiful in a living space than a nicely designed flower arrangement. It brings life, color, and creativity into a room. Although you can still buy your flower arrangements from the store, arranging them yourself is fairly simple and very cost affective.

By Kendra Dahlstrom

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The Japanese Art of Flower Arrangement

Ikebana is a Japanese art of flower arrangement; also known as kado- he way of flowers. I learned about this art form while I was a college junior at Saint Louis University, Baguio City, Philippines. I was so much enthralled by the beauty of the flower arrangement displayed in one of the display windows of a flower studio close to the university. The studio was owned by an elderly woman who was married to a Japanese businessman. They owned a flower and antique shop specializing in Japanese potteries, prints, and other relics while selling potted bonsai and Ikebana flower arrangements. Their store was frequented by the affluent locals and their flower arrangements graced the lobbies of some of the popular hotels and restaurants in the city. My curiosity led me to go inside and investigate further. The old lady was nice enough to let me in and answered a lot of my questions. Since then, for two months after my chemistry class, I would go to her shop and watched her as she arranged flowers for customers. I particularly enjoyed learning the Ikebana flower arrangement from her. She allowed me to help her create the arrangements as I learned the art. She then presented me with a beautiful Ikebana which I gave to my paternal grandmother for her 80th birthday.

Ikebana's origin is said to date from the sixth century when Buddhist priests offered up flowers before Buddha. Ikebana arose from early Buddhist offerings and grew throughout the fifteenth century into an art form with many styles and schools all over Japan. The most popular styles are Sogetsu, Ohara, and Ikenobo.

Ikebana flower arrangement is simplistic by nature. Instead of using massive blooms which is the traditional way of arranging flowers, Ikebana uses only a small number of blooms. It uses the line and curves of twigs and leaves to highlight the arrangement. The balance of the composition is evident in the choice of plant, vase, and placement of the branches. What makes Ikebana different from the traditional flower arrangement is its use of empty spaces as a part of the composition which is dealt with creatively. The arrangement used symbolism representing ten or shin (heaven), chi or hikae (earth), and jin or soe (man).

SYMBOLISM:

Heaven: This is the longest stem which suggests the sun in heaven. This is the main line where branches and twigs are used. It is important to choose the branch which is the longest, most beautiful, and has the strongest curve.

Man: The symbol is a rectangle which is the medium stem. This suggests a man standing squarely on earth. This line follows the main line.

Earth: The symbol is a triangle and is the shortest stem. This suggests a mountain peak on earth. This line balances heaven and man.

The container used also plays a key element to the arrangement. Most vases have simple designs, one that doesn't compete with the beauty of the arrangement within. The choice of the vase has to be in harmony with the plant and other compositions. Ikebana can be roughly divided into two styles - the moribana (shallow vase style) and the nageire (tall vase style). Generally, these simple vases are filled with water then by adding twigs and/or branches, rocks, and flowers to the arrangement and adjusting the height of each element to achieve the variation of a scalene triangle.

The materials used for an Ikebana is restricted to two or three kinds, and not more than that. Branches and twigs are used as main lines while flowers are used as additional lines. The larger and darker blooms are positioned at the lowest part of the arrangement while the buds or smaller flowers with lighter shades are placed higher. Using scissors to cut the height of each element and by moving or repositioning each element helps in achieving a balanced look.

Ikebana is a beautiful, elegant, and simple way to decorate a home. This is a very good choice to decorate a clutter-free home, where less is always more. This is a true art form that you can enjoy as well as add balance and harmony to your design.

By Josienita Borlongan

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Silk Flower Projects to Decorate Your Home

Using silk flowers to decorate your home can be a frugal way to liven up your home. There are millions of projects that anyone can do with silk flowers for decorating your home. Fake flower arrangements in vases, baskets, buckets, shoes, tableware, and wreaths will make a pleasant addition to any room's decor. Silk flowers come in a wide array of colors and sizes. Also, there is a wide range of fake greenery that can be used with fake flowers.

Silk Flower Projects

Materials Needed for the Silk Flower Arrangements

Bushes of fake flowers, babies' breathe, and greenery. The greeneries are bushes of leaves or ivies.

Wire Cutters. You will need the wire cutters to cut the flowers from the bushes.

Styrofoam Pieces. The Styrofoam pieces come in squares, rectangles, circles, half circles, and cones of various sizes.

Various containers. The containers can be anything that you are not using in your home such as colored plastic buckets, metal buckets, any type of wicker or bamboo baskets, old shoes, tableware such as gravy urns, large bowls, etc.

Vase Silk Flower Arrangements

Get a bush of silk flowers, babies' breath, and greenery, any color or style that you like, cut the baby's breath and greenery stems off the base of the fake bush. Place the whole bush of silk flowers in the vase. Arrange the baby's breath and greenery throughout the fake flowers for a fuller and prettier arrangement.

NOTE: For the following silk flower projects you will cut all silk flowers, greenery, and other additions from the larger stem at the bottom of the fake flower and plant stub.

Dinnerware Silk Flower Arrangements

Use any piece of glassware for this project. You can use glasses, bowels, gravy boats, and other types of serving dishes to create silk flower arrangements for your dinning table.

For glasses, use a cone-shaped piece of floral styrofoam. Place the cone-shaped styrofoam with the skinny part facing down in the glass. This will allow you to use the wider portion of the Styrofoam to arrange the silk flowers in. Also, you may want to use smaller flowers for this silk flower arrangement.

For bowls, you should use a half circle piece of floral styrofoam with the curved area facing down. For other glass pieces, square or rectangle styrofoam pieces will be used

Arrange the silk flowers and greenery in an order that is aesthetic to the eye. You can arrange a few of the flowers to be a bit taller than other silk flowers.

Shoe Silk Floral Arrangements

Use any style of a shoe for this silk flower arrangement. Sometimes, the styrofoam piece may need to be trimmed to fit inside the shoe. If you are using heel dress shoes, you may need a touch of glue to hold the styrofoam in place. The glue will need to dry before placing the silk flowers in the styrofoam.

For boots, a cone-shaped piece of floral styrofoam will be used. The cone shaped styrofoam will be inverted into the boot in the same manner as in the glass silk flower project. With the boot silk floral arrangement, I suggest using vine greenery around the outer area of the boot.

These are just a few silk flowers home decorating ideas that can be done in about half an hour. The larger the base pieces you are using, the longer it may take you to make your silk floral design. The best think about making your own silk floral arrangement is you are able to make the color scheme work for your home. You are also able to use your favorite types of flowers for these projects.

By Karen Barnes

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