Wow did I fall off the face of the earth last week or what. Totally unintentional I swear. I had my posts all written in my head, photos are done and then the week took off like a case of Red Bull with a coffee hijack. When I finally did have a moment to finish everything and maybe get a post live Friday we had a monster wind storm that took a tree down Wednesday night and we moved dinner to the bbq and played by candlelight on account of no power and therefore no wifi for 6 hours. Could have been worse, it could have been raining too.
So I am completely aware that I have been home for 3 weeks from our roadtrip and even though many of the goods are sold, I haven't shown you where we went or what we bought.
Today will not be that day either lol.
Today, my bloggy friends we will sniff the flowers via scratch and sniff screens. Ha, can you imagine?
Thursday night after a crazy day, I went out to Fenwick to Fleurish Design Studio to participate in a floral centerpiece course. In case you missed it somewhere in this blog, it is no secret that I have a serious love of flowers. Generally all of them right down to weeds. We also did a tour right here on this blog of Jess' studio
When Jess asked if I would like to join this course, it was a no brainer. I have never really worked with oasis and was unsure of the proper ways of using it. I can tie a bouquet and put combinations together but making a low centerpiece was a little out of my ball game.
I thought I would share a bit of what I learned and share some pretty florals of my creations and my "classmates".
you can use pretty well any watertight container for your centerpiece. choose a piece that suits your style and keeping in mind where you will be using it. if you really are placing it in the middle of the table with hopes of seeing your guests over top, keep in mind the height of your vessel.
soak your oasis in water for a few minutes until completely soaked through and then cut with a knife to size and shove into your container. if you plan to have flowers coming out the sides, leave your oasis about an inch above the vessel top.
you can see how the green sticks out the top of this pitcher but will be covered with flowers once complete so won't be visible
if your piece is a little taller or wider than your oasis, you need to use scraps to build it up and/or fill in the sides. if you have to use a lot of smaller pieces, you may want to add a piece of tape across the top to keep everything from walking around once the heavy flowers are added
add more water to make sure there is plenty for the oasis to suck up once flowers are inserted. you will also need to keep your arrangement watered afterwards. you can pretty well use any flowers you choose, keeping in mind varying colours and texture provide interest. if you are using the arrangement as part of a fine dining experience remember heavy smelling flowers like lillies may overpower your dinner.
once you flowers are cut to size on an angle for optimum water uptake you insert into oasis. once inserted a stem cannot be removed or it won't stick. also remember any leafy flowers should not have leaves inserted into oasis. try to use clean leaf free stems.
some of our selection. totally growing fennel next year for arrangements
progress
i was trying to look natural but laughing as jess turned my camera on me
some of the finished beauties. all different vessels. same selection of flowers. all different arrangements reflecting their owners.
the teacher's work. jess's arrangment took her no time at all, and proves to be airy and gorgeous in her vintage milk glass
where did mine end up? when i got home quite late, i wasn't into rearranging our dining room and didn't want Franklin to eat my masterpiece. i had a different idea instead of the water basket or bananas on the head of our african bronze statue. she is now sporting a stunning headdress like king julian in madagascar.
" if he is a king, then where is his crown? I've got a crown, I've got a very nice one, and it's here on my head. ..maurice have I got it on?"
yes i just quoted king julian, it's getting real up in here.
i may have also started watching you tube clips of madagascar once this thought popped in my head.
a little close up of the spoils. get your head out of the gutter.
Now for those of you that are ready to impress everyone with your floral skills, best of luck and don't stab yourself with the knife. Everyone else and all you locals, Jess is planning on holding a Christmas class as well. See you there?
Have a great day and Happy Thanksgiving Canadians.
We are onto turkey 2 today.
Meg
