Fancy (but Easy) Flowers

[ADV] Floral DIY with Karen French

Wednesday, 30 Jan 2013

Flowers on Valentine’s Day – total no-brainer (and easy winner). But if you really want to up the ante, make your own floral arrangement. We guarantee you’ll score extra points.

Don’t have a green thumb? You don’t need even half of it for this project!

Karen from Karen French Floral Designs showed us how to prepare these gorgeous (and super easy) floral gift boxes from her 2013 Valentine’s Day collection. It only takes 30 minutes (from start to finish – prep time included) before you have a floral masterpiece.

PS. These gift boxes also make great hostess gifts or even birthday presents! It’s low-maintenance, easy to transport, and you don’t even need a vase to hold the flowers in.

Want to learn with Karen herself? Join her Valentine’s Day workshop this Saturday, 2 Feb 2013, from 10am-1pm at The Verge. To reserve a seat, email info@karenfrenchfloraldesigns.com.

Here’s what you need:
1. Some plastic wrap
2. Floral foam (available at the florist’s)
3. A pretty box of any shape (or jazz up a regular shoebox)
4. Cutting tools: knife, scissors, and a pair of garden trimmers
5. Flowers of your choice

Step 1: Line your box with plastic wrap that you have cut to size. This keeps your box from getting soaked through.

Step 2: Place your soaked floral foam into your box.

Note: floral foams come dry and in a standard size, so you’ll need to cut the foam down to size with a sharp knife. To soak your foam, place foam in a bucket of water. Do not force the foam down but leave it to sink naturally – forcing will only moisten the outer layer of the foam and leave the insides dry.

Step 3: Get creative with those flowers! Trim each flower down to the right height (you want it to sit within the box) and arrange in rows. We used a mix of red and pink roses, gerberas, and carnations for this gift box.

Karen chose roses because they’re a Valentine’s Day favourite, but if you want flowers with a longer life span, substitute the roses with eustoma and the gerberas with small-headed sunflowers. Orchids, carnations, and baby’s breath are also pretty (and hardy) alternatives.

Step 4: Voila! Your gift box is now ready to receive its deserved compliments. Told you it was easy!

Tuck a handwritten note inside the box for an extra sweet surprise and experiment with boxes in different shapes and sizes.

For a fresh and contemporary look, try a white and green combination that Karen has done here. Want to learn how to nail the look? Make sure to sign up for that Valentine’s Day workshop with Karen!

Karen French Floral Design is hosting a Valentine’s Day workshop on Saturday, 2 Feb 2013, from 10am-1pm at The Verge. To reserve a seat, email info@karenfrenchfloraldesigns.com.