DIY Valentine’s Centerpiece from Grocery Flowers

Anyone else sick of winter? ME me me! I am. The days are cold, grey and the sun doesn’t seem to like us anymore here in Northeast Ohio. We have officially reached the just hold on and wait it out stage. I am sure that is why last week I went a little crazy bringing home flowers from my local grocery store, Heinen’s. I had so much fun putting together arrangements in my kitchen that I just had to share. So in my last post, I wrote about some basics and how to a do a simple vase.

If you missed that post, you may want to start (here).  Today I am going to go through the steps for this candle stick arrangement.

Can you imagine making this for your next dinner party?

Trust me, your guests would go crazy over them.  This candlestick arrangement makes a gorgeous centerpiece.  I know because my mom originally made these for my wedding reception.  Yeah, mom is an artist too.  She is the original crazy art chick!  Hmm, does that make me crazy art chick 2.0?  Ha  Anyway, I loved them so much I just had to make them again.  Below I put together a photo guide to help you do your own.  Now before we start, I want to note that this arrangement was the most expensive of all the ones I made.  Creating a ball shape with roses tends to be a very compact arrangement.  It is deceiving because while it doesn’t seem that large, it often uses more flowers than a regular arrangement.   I calculated the flowers I used and it came to $24.53!  That’s pretty amazing considering this would be well over a $100 if you were to order something like this.

Here is a list of the flowers I used

• 9 White Roses
• 9 Red Roses
• Pink Hypericum
• Mini White Carnations (about 9 or 10)
• Mini Red Carnations (about 9 or 10)
• Italian Ruscus
• Leather Leaf Fern

Even if you are not a big fan of carnations, the mini variety works well in arrangements with roses.  They can look like mini roses in a center piece.  The trick is to get them in the exact color as your roses.  Also, Pink Hypericum can be a seasonal item.  If your store doesn’t have the exact item you are looking for don’t be afraid of substituting it with another similar looking flower.

 

The supplies you will need

• Pretty Candlestick
• Oasis Wet Foam Blocks
• Oasis Waterproof Green Wet Foam Tape
• O’DAPTER Holder or Tower Insert
• Cling Floral Adhesive (optional)

on The O’DAPTER Holder…  This a floral tray with a rubber nub adapter that fits securely inside the candle stick.  If you cannot find one at your local craft store try an online floral supply shop.  You may have to check a few sites so you don’t have to buy a whole case of them.  Another idea would be to go to your local florist and ask to buy one.  Last but not least, don’t be afraid to improvise.  I reused one I had on hand.  I did go to my local craft store looking for a new one but didn’t see them this time.   I found a similar tower insert.  If I hadn’t found an old one in my basement craft hoard, I would have used the tower insert.  The nub on the tower insert was slightly too big for my candlestick but I would have made a vertical cut in nub with an x-acto knife and crammed that puppy in the candlestick hole.  The floral stick adhesive would help here.  Whatever works right?!

Okay Now You Have Your Supplies…Next

• Fill a clean sink with WARM water.   I also mix in the flower food packet that comes with the flowers but this isn’t necessary.
• Cut your oasis foam with a sharp knife to fit inside your insert and then soak your insert in your water.
• Once your foam is soaked, place it on your insert and tape it down with your floral tape.
• Place the adapter in the candlestick holder.  If you feel you want it a little more secure, use some floral adhesive.  It is removable later.

The Flowers…

• First you want to prep your flowers.  I go into more detail here in my first post.
• Strip the leaves off the roses and carnations.
• Cut at least an inch off the bottom of your flower stems under warm water.  This is a must!  I only cut the main flower stems.  I don’t prep the filler greens. (The Fern and Ruscus)
• Keep 2 buckets of water on hand.  One for your flowers and one for your greens to sit in while you are working your arrangement.

Floral Arranging

Start by inserting a small amount of leather leaf fern around the base of your candlestick and then just a few in the middle.  I used pieces around the base that were around 7 inches long.  The few pieces in the middle were a little shorter.  Your Oasis foam should be soft and the stems will go in easily.

 

Now add the Italian Ruscus…

Cut the Italian Ruscus slightly longer than your fern stems and insert above the fern piece.  You will add about 6 stems going around the base.  Then add 2-3 more towards the top.

It will look a little crazy but don’t worry it works out.

Now the Flowers

Add 6 red roses, 5 around the base and one at the top center.

Add 5 white roses in-between and slightly above the red roses .

Now add 4 white Roses and 4 red roses

Now tuck in-between the roses some sprigs of the Hypericum

Lastly, fill in the gaps with red and white mini carnations.  Once you are done, you can do a little adjusting but keep in mind too much re-arranging and poking and the Oasis foam will begin to fall apart.

There you go, now you are creating  your own arrangements…like a BOSS!    What do you think?  .  It is beautiful for Christmas, Valentine’s day or just about any day!

Ps, Do you like my chalk board sign I made for Valentine’s day.  Creating your own signs are easy.  I wrote a tutorial (here)

Happy Creating,

 

Next up in this series…Click here…Bubblegum Bowl Centerpiece

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