A Christmas Fresh Flower Centerpiece Tutorial

Here is a pretty Christmas fresh flower Centerpiece tutorial for you…..

My cute friend Ann took me to a wholesale florist yesterday and then back to her house where she taught me how to make this fun centerpiece!

Ann is very talented and has done many weddings so it was a real treat for me to learn from her.

We started with these pretty mercury vases.

Then we filled the cups with florist foam that Ann soaked in water. Tip 1- let the water slowly soak up the water or there will be dry sections. Tip 2- make sure foam fits snugly in container, if it moves around to easily you could loose your centerpiece. Tip 3- leave some of the foam out about an inch or two above the rim and angled to allow for more space to poke stems in.

Here is the collection of some of the flowers and greens we purchased. Red tulips, mini carnations, pepper berries and some Fever Few (a pretty little white flower).

This is a really unique looking green that I had never seen before. It is actually silver in color and has little silver looking nubs that reminded me of acorns. The shape of the little branches reminded me of coral. So unique and pretty. The picture does not do it justice. It is called Berzelia.

We started by using some of the pepper berry branches, cut down quite a bit with the ends cut on an angle to allow for more water to be absorbed. Ann suggested we start by putting these in the foam on the sides so the branches would cascade down on either side and then we would fill in with more as we went along. Tip 4- once you put a stem into the floral foam don’t take it out..leave it in even if you don’t like where you put it you can make corrections using other greens and flowers. If you take the stems in and out ….it makes too many holes in the foam and it won’t hold the flowers very well.

This one is already starting to take on a shape with only 3 stems of peppery berry in it.

Next Ann added tulips…in some arrangements we used two and some we used three. Tip 5- when using tulips strip most leaves off …the extra leaves end up working like a straw and suck up all the water. For our centerpieces we found the straightest tulips to go in the center and curvy ones to go to the side.

Adding in a few mini carnations and more pepper berries.

We added in mini carnations at different heights followed by the pretty white Fever Few. Tip 6- Make sure when making a centerpiece you continually turn the vase around as you work on it so you don’t end up with only one pretty side. I tend to do forget that and usually only one side looks the best…sorry for those that have to look at the back LOL. Next we tucked in those cool silver woody coral looking branches with little nubs that look like mini acorns. (Don’t know the name of this if you can’t tell LOL)

I love how they turned out! Woodsy, yet elegant!

Tip 7- try to choose florals and greens that have a pretty sturdy stem…these white Fever Few drove us crazy a couple of times because the stems would snap off too easily as we tried to add them into our arrangements.

The final addition just to make it feel a little more holiday-ish we added in little glittered silver sticks to add height and dimension.

I am so grateful for my friend Ann who was so willing to share her talents with me, it was so fun to hang out with you and learn all these techniques and tips. I’m excited to try my hand at this again and again!!

Merry Merry Christmas everyone!

Centerpiece Wednesday will resume next week!

Karin 🙂

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Karins Kottage

Welcome to Karins Kottage! There is always something fun going on! You would think after becoming an empty nester couple that our nest would be very quiet and empty but our Kottage nest is usually more full than what we started out with! You might find me hosting a birthday party or graduation party and a baby shower on the same weekend or a big outdoor get together with 25 of our friends and family in the backyard or maybe I might be in the kitchen trying out a new recipe for my hubby and I to grill on the BBQ for a quiet night for the two of us. I am passionate about entertaining and setting a beautiful table! I may or may not have an addiction to cloth napkins and fun salad plates oh and goblets too! I think I will always have a home decorating DIY project in the works as long as my hubby is on board with me haha. We have painted A LOT in the 6 homes we have owned in the 35 years that we have been married as well as re-done multiple pieces of furniture, added wall and ceiling treatments, replaced lights, bathroom fixtures and even tiled floors! I have sewn what seems like a million window treatments for our home as well as for family, made slipcovers, and duvets and even a formal dress or two!

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View Comments

Gary Samuels says:

November 11, 2016 at 2:58 pm

Wooden letters create endless possibilities and they're available online at http://www.woodenletters.biz
marty (A Stroll Thru Life) says:

December 24, 2013 at 9:22 pm

I wish you a very Blessed and Merry Christmas. Hugs, Marty