Monday, January 5, 2009

Spoiler Warning: Centrepieces (Part 1)

I made 4 types of centrepieces. Partially because I couldn't decide between the flowers (I like orchids, hydrangeas, roses and peonies) and partially so the tables won't be too matchy-matchy. I also vary the height of the arrangements. So of the arrangements are gloriously high and others are very short.

I created with the following items:
-3 tall white orchid centrepieces
-3 tall white hydrangea centrepieces
-3 tall white peony centrepieces
-15 short white rose centrepieces
I will also have around 50 frosted tea light holders that I bought super-cheap this summer.

Today, I'm going to review how I made the orchid tall arrangements.

Items you'll need:
-3 Floral balls (um, $3.49, I think, all purchased with a 40% off coupon or a rare 50% off coupon
I chose white floral balls instead of the green ones so that if I didn't cover the entire surface it wouldn't be obvious
-15 (estimated) silk orchid stems ($6.49 at Michaels, all purchased 50% off)
I had lots of orchids, so I just added more and more orchids for a really full floral ball
-Glue gun & lots of glue gun glue
-3 tall Effeil vases (um, not sure the price, I'll check next time I'm at Michael's)

I started by taking the orchids off the stem:



I found leaving about 2" to 3" of stem on the orchid worked well. Then, I used the back of the stem to poke a hole in the styrofoam ball. I took a picture of the ball with the hole, but it didn't turn out so well! After you've poked the hole in the ball, put some glue on the stem of the orchid:




I put the orchid back into the hole I just poked:



Save the stem of the orchids! They will stabilize your floral ball when it's done. I poked some of the balls with the stem as the first step, others I poked the stem into the ball as the last step or near the end. Neither step worked exceedingly better than the other - if you do copy this, play around with the order to find out what order you like best.




When I thought I was done, I wasn't. I decided the orchid balls on their own weren't enough, so I used that elasticky clear necklace material to hang some orchids from the orchid ball. I could have used fishing line (and it would have been even more clear!) but I was too lazy to go get some. Ah well!



The finished product:


What do you think?

8 comments:

Cyd said...

These are really cute! I'm loving the uniqueness of these and, even better, that they can be done so far in advance!

EliandMe said...

Love it - very dramatic!

Marie said...

I'm so impressed with these! They're lovely.

Krista said...

Oh good, I'm glad. I wasn't sure what people would think about it - especially the hanging orchids!

Krista said...

Wow, my hand looks fat in the picture. I swear, it's not fat - it's just the angle! I actually have (now that I look at them) nice hands. Other than the frequent cuts I get to them doing craft projects!

Jess said...

Very pretty! I love orchids.
(And you're hand looks pretty good, no worries!!)

cara said...

They're great, well done!

The Less Than Domestic Goddess said...

I think they look very romantic. You did a great job!

Will you include the hanging orchids? Let us know what you decide!