fall flower centerpieces
Fall flower centerpieces such as the one below can be created with a variety of autumn flowers. This tutorial shows how to make the centerpiece with step by step photos. Vibrant colors are common in autumn arrangements, taking full advantage of the great colors of mums and daisies.
Fall typically includes greens, bronze, golden yellows, burgundy and deep purple.
You will need the following products:
- 1 6" pillar candle
- silver or gold metallic tray
- 1 Pillar Candle Stake or wooden stakes and waterproof tape
- Floral Clay
- 2/3 brick of Oasis florist foam
- flower food
- 4 stems leather leaf fern
- 1 stem seeded eucalyptus
- 1 Green Spider Mum
- 1 stem green button mums
- 2 stem yellow daisies
- 3 stems bronze cushion mums
- 2 stems burgundy cushion mums
- Finishing Touch flower sealant
- Leaf Shine greenery spray
Learning how to correctly float soak florist foam is the first step of this flower tutorial. Resist the temptation to hurry the absorption by forcing the bricks under the water.
Oasis florist foam draws water pretty fast, anyway. It's important to let it sink, so that there are no dry pockets of foam inside the brick that could be detrimental to the life of flowers.
Professionals always add professional flower food to the water. It's not that expensive of a product and is well worth the money. There are some homemade recipes out on the web extolling the virtues of lemon-lime soda, etc. I choose to trust the quality of a product that is made specifically for the task.
Be sure to measure carefully. Too much flower food is a waste of product.
Oasis florist foam bricks are scored for easy measuring to fit most standard florist containers.
Please don't skimp on the amount of foam used in your floral containers. Fill the entire bowl with foam. Flowers can draw an amazing amount of water out in a very short time.
This metallic looking container is actually made of a durable, light weight plastic. It holds a generous 2/3 brick of foam. Notice the bottom has raised circles.
These and other spikes are generally found at the bottom of florist containers in order to grip the foam and secure it into place.
These particular containers come in both silver and gold and create a lovely look for holiday and special event centerpieces. They are inexpensive, however, and can be considered disposable after use.
It's important to secure your florist foam firmly into the centerpiece container. In floral design it's all about details. That includes making sure your foam is not going to come loose later on.
Use the flat part of your hand to press down firmly to lock the brick onto the bottom of the container.
Here is a lateral view of the foam. You have to think ahead when designing flowers.
Be sure that the foam rises above the side edge of the container by a couple of inches. This allows you to insert greenery and flowers at a downward and lateral angle.
If the foam is level with the container's edge, then all your flower stems will stick up at an awkward angle.
Don't forget to add more water to the container after the brick is in place. Don't forget that re-watering the arrangement each day is essential to keeping your flowers alive longer.
Now I'm ready to move on to the next step - securing the pillar candle in the arrangement.
