Fall Floral Arrangement ~ Day 5 Write 31 Days

Hello, and welcome back to the this year's series of Write 31 Days Writing Challenge, or this version "My 31 Days".  If you are new to the blog, I am using my 31 days to explore art, crafting and having fun. Today is a very fun day for me, I have a project that can be created for any season, but I love Fall the best, so this floral arrangement is right up my alley, so to speak.

I have been creating floral arrangements all my life, I suppose. My grandmother used to bring in the most beautiful flowers out of her garden, make a quick arrangement, and liven up her whole house. The fragrance of Iris is one that still lingers in my memory. My childhood was filled with that scent every spring, since my grandmother, mother, aunts and seems like, all our neighbors and friends, had Iris in their gardens.

Springtime still brings that wonderful aroma, but, Fall leaves and the smell of the first frost are still my favorite! That crisp, clean, and familiar smell of the air bringing the promise of cooler days is Heaven sent in the desert. After a Summer of sweltering heat, it is most welcome!

Getting on with our project, you will need some supplies. These are listed under the Shopping List Tab above, I have added both items you may have on hand as well as items you may need to purchase.You do not need specialized tools to work with silk flowers. If you own a wire cutter, it will probably work just fine. The only time you might have problems is if your cutter is small and the stems are large. You can work around it, but it is easier to have a large pair of cutting pliers, I have several larger size, one is a pair of 'Lineman Pliers' that one of my older brother gave me years ago. Another is a multipurpose 'Welding Pliers' that have tapered ends that can be used to wrap curls in wire, and the handles are long enough that there is a lot of leverage to cut through larger wires.  For the most part, a normal size, flush cutting pliers, will work.

Your choice of container for the arrangement will vary with taste and what the occasion is. For an everyday arrangement, something to give some cheer to a breakfast table, say, anything goes. I use odd glasses, canning jars, small cups, plain vases, or other containers. There is no right or wrong when you put a few flowers out, just because!

receptacle choices for arrangements

For an arrangement that can be used on the dinner table, you might want something a bit more formal, but you still have all the options available if it is for an informal dinner. For a formal dinner, you want to dress up your table, try using crystal vases, or crystal glassware, maybe a beautifully cut goblet that is never used, or even a crystal or silver serving dish. If you are having a very informal get together, how about a piece of crockery or a brass spittoon!  Just remember to keep the arrangement either low enough or high enough to allow for visibility. It is most annoying to have to lean over to see your dinner partners.

Arrangements can be one sided, if it is going to be up against a wall, or rounded, so that all sides look similar. Ours will be one sided today, since it will be up against a wall in my entry-way.

Silk, paper and plastic, all usable in arrangements!

I'm using silk flowers that are a mixture of more expensive focal flowers and dollar store filler flowers. I don't believe you have to spend a lot of money to have a decent arrangement, and some of the floral bushes that are at the dollar store are vibrant and work well for my purposes.

Color I'll use today

Honestly, there are so many styles of flowers that you can find something that you like, be it whimsical or very decorative, plain, or luxurious.  Mixing and matching can give you a whole different style and you will find that you can use the flowers over and over again in different arrangements when needed.

I like to buy bushes of flowers. That is, a stem that has 5 or more stems of flowers, usually the same or coordinating flowers and foliage. Since the flowers are going to be moved around, out of the shape that it is in, I cut the stems off the bush first thing, cutting as close to the bottom of the stem as possible.

If you need longer stems, that's ok, more height can be added, but getting them off the large stem at the bottom is the main thing. If you try to push in a larger stem into floral foam, it will displace so much foam that usually the whole piece cracks apart. It may not look it, but the cracks weaken the foam, if you put a lot of weight on it, the foam may simply fall apart.

 Vases and containers were tough to pick for this arrangement, since it will be seen when first coming into the house, it has to be large, but not overpowering, and I want the vase to be something that will work with a lot of colors for the season, nothing kitchy but nothing elegant either. I chose this large cylindrical vase, but it is clear, mostly, and I don't want the mechanics of the arrangement to show, so I will line it with paper, since I'm working in silk. If these were fresh flowers, I'd use something that could withstand water, like a nice floral foil, some type of plastic sheet, or even foliage. I can't decide if I like the orange paper or not, I think I'll change it out before I'm done.
This is floral clay waterproof ctape, it is sticky and you can use it on a variety of surfaces, it won't loosen it's grip even if it gets wet, so if you delve into natural flowers, it is a great product to
have on hand. This tape needs to be kneaded, it doesn't take much to get it to a very good
sticky consistency, and it doesn't take much to hold down the foam you will use. If you feel that the flowers that you are using are going to be really heavy, you may want to also incorporate floral tape or some type of heavy tape like 'Gorilla Tape' which comes in black, so it is a great product to use when you do not want it to draw attention, it kind of blends in, like the floral tape which is a green color. The tape would be fastened to the outside of the container, across the floral foam, and attached to the opposite side of the container.
Which brings us to floral foam. When you are choosing the foam  for your arrangement, you have some options, depending on the type of flower you will use. I tend to think about what the use is, how long will I use it, the size of flowers, and the size of stems. For fresh, you would use a product such as Oasis or Aqua Foam, which absorbs up to ten times it's weight in water, however, for silk, you can use a product that is called Desert Foam, or some other brand that is similar, but make sure that the foam you use is durable enough for your flowers. A lightweight foam will crumble and allow your heavy flowers to fall out, so pick a heavier grade if you will have large stems, heavy heads, or a large amount of flowers.
Having said this, if I am working with very, very light weight stems of flowers, such as naturally dried grasses and delicate dried flowers with fragile stems... I might use dry Aqua Foam, taping it into place in the container to give it some stability, since it is very fine and will not damage the stems if I insert them into it.

Usually Standard grade foam is fine. If I have tremendously heavy stems or heads, I'll use regular styrofoam, choosing a larger block and securing it with clay as well as tape.

I am not using a lot of foam, I don't feel like I need to secure it with tape, but I will add some marbles or some type of weight to the container, though it probably doesn't need it. I feel if the arrangement is tall, it needs more stability so it won't tip over, but this arrangement is going to be pretty stable. It is tall, almost three feet tall, but the vase is pretty heavy, but I'll throw in something just to add a bit of weight anyway.

I've changed the color of the paper inside to a very neutral, almost looks like a newspaper, but it is a decorative paper. I will start adding the focal flowers, to create a triangle, not stiff and perfect triangle, but a loose one.

Starting with the 'focal' flowers first (the flowers that will be seen most, those that will stand out) I will place them at a 'triangle'. This is going to give me a starting point of where I want the eyes to go. The rest will be filling in the spaces. It is really that simple. Start with some of the foliage, fill in the bottom of the vase, hiding the foam, then working around the focal flowers to create a sense of balance, I tried to sort of cluster the larger flowers that I wanted to use, around the focals, just adding more color.
Treating them as part of the focal. Continue to add the larger flowers, thinking in terms of the triangle that you started with, you can move that triangle a bit, shifting it to the side and filling in, vary the textures of the filler flowers, they can be berries, fruit, or small, unusual textured flowers. I am adding in purple flowers that could almost be thistles, and these large berries, also the small clusters of berries on the stem with Fall foliage. I like the mixture of sizes, shapes and textures, it adds a lot for the eye to look at.


Many times in floral arranging, you see a style that you scratch your head and wonder what it is! I like some of those new styles, but I really like plain, simple, everyday  flower vases.

Nifty led lights on stems to add to an arrangement, One of the arrangements that was used in a darkened hall for a banquet

leftover arrangement for a band banquet

arrangement for impromptu get together