Easy Christmas Centerpieces
Professional florists refer to any container that has a holiday theme as a "novelty" container. In this case, the ceramic holders below are considered to be novelty Christmas containers.
Included in that are mugs of many different sizes and descriptions. The exact look of the containers may change from year to year, but rest assured a quick search online or in a thrift or dollar store is sure to turn up a lot of bargain containers that you can create your own beautiful centerpieces in!
I actually found these two Christmas mugs in a local thrift store and paid 50 cents for each one. Be sure to look over your containers carefully and make sure they are free from chips or cracks.
These both have a nice sized opening and will work well for fitting an amount of florist foam into.
I prefer using foam because the thick stems of the evergreens tend to stay in place better if you use Oasis.
Trim off the rectangle block and taper the bottom in so that it can slide into the ceramic opening.
You may have to exert some force to push the foam all the way to the bottom of the container. Some water may be forced out, but don't worry . . . we will replace that lost water before we start designing.
Note that I do tend to leave an opening at the top to be able to easily add water without having it "run off" the foam brick. You'll need to keep adding water each day to replace the amount that the flowers and evergreens suck up.
You'll be amazed how thirsty flowers can be - especially in the warm dry environment of a heated home in the winter time!
If water was squeezed out when blocking in your foam, replace it now before you move on to the design stage.
You will need to cut down the top of the foam so it rests above the lip of the novelty container by at least 1/2" or better. This allows you to insert flowers and greenery from the sides and looks better than everything awkwardly sticking straight up.
