Festivities in full bloom
Floral arrangements can make your home come alive with beauty and a welcoming warmth. Here's how
Flowers always add a touch of colour and freshness to a home, especially during the festive season. While poinsettia leads the list of Christmas plants, roses and lilies work just as well.
"Creating floral arrangements is like writing a song," says Alvin Berina, head florist at Worood Flower Boutique in Dubai Mall. "There has to be a perfect blend of harmony, rhythm and flow."
Here, Berina takes you through the process of crafting two easy yet elegant arrangements using fresh flowers. But you can supplement the flowers and accessories with what you have around the house or available locally.
Dazzling New Year eye catcher (purple/blue with silver)
What you need
- Oval-shaped silver tray
- Oasis foam (available at any florist)
- Purple-sprayed eucalyptus leaves
- Silver-sprayed birch branches
- Purple/blue hydrangeas
- White roses
- Calla lilies
- White Christmas baubles
- White pearl beads strung on soft wire
How to do it
- Mould wet foam into appropriate-sized oval shapes and place on the silver tray.
- Fix the purple-sprayed eucalyptus leaves around the lower edge of the foam and a few more on top.
- Cut pieces of birch branches and insert at the bottom, running to the top to form the shape of the arrangement.
- Fill the gaps with hydrangea florets on the sides and the bottom.
- Place the white roses on the top as the focal flower.
- Accessorise with large white festive baubles fixed with pins or wire.
- Use long-stem calla lilies to help enclose the arrangement.
- Glue a few small silver baubles directly on a few flowers across the arrangement.
- Add the pearl beads on wire to finish the look, and highlight with candles.
Christmas elegance (white/silver and green)
What you need
- A large, flat platter
- Oasis foam (available at any florist)
- Fresh pine twigs
- Silver-sprayed bear grass
- Cotton plant branches
- Large white roses
- Two decorative silver candles
- White Christmas baubles
- Christmas icicle ornaments
How to do it
- Wet two or three foam blocks and use a cutter to shape into a disc. Place on the platter.
- Position two decorative silver candles on top of the foam in the centre and fix with wire to hold them in place.
- Insert fresh pine around the sides.
- Incorporate pieces of the cotton plant over and around the pine.
- Distribute the baubles and hold in place with pins or wire around the arrangement.
- Fix the white roses, the main flower of the arrangement, around the candles to make it clean and elegant.
- Fill the gaps with silver-sprayed eucalyptus leaves.
- Finish with a sprinkling of silver-sprayed grass that softens the arrangement and increases the harmony.
- Accentuate the beauty of the piece by placing Christmas icicle ornaments, and for a warm winter feel, place tea lights around the arrangement.
Tip: Don't forget to wet the foam every day to ensure the flowers retain their freshness.
— Flower arrangements courtesy Worood, Dubai Mall
