Decorating: Autumn Floral Arrangement

A few posts ago, I mentioned some of the places to which I look for inspiration.  I recently made an addition to the menagerie of sources I use; this time thanks to the iPhone Newsstand app.  I have always found this undeletable icon to be useless, offering nothing more than, say, a few stories from the New York Times or a has-been fitness magazine.  However, a few weeks back, I noticed that the Lowe's Creative Ideas Magazine could be downloaded.  In the past, I would receive this magazine in the mail and I would use it for various container garden projects.

As we were preparing for a dinner party, I was looking for an idea to create a centerpiece for the table.  I needed something that invoked the wonderful season of Autumn and I stumbled across this picture (see right) in the Fall edition of the Creative Ideas Magazine.  The colors of flowers were perfect for my early-Autumn dinner party.  Additionally, I loved the use of the white-mini pumpkins in the arrangement along with the apples, which were the basis of each dish we would be serving that evening.  While looking at the photograph, I knew it would also be very inexpensive to recreate this look.  Alstroemeria can be purchased in large bunches for around $5 (Jonesboro tip: Pick up your fresh-cut flowers from Kroger after 10 a.m. on Mondays for the best selection).



Vintage Carnival Glass

I knew I wanted my version of the arrangement to be shorter, as I hate having to look around the flowers to speak to the other dinner guests, so I knew that a tall vase wouldn't work.  Fortunately, I happened to have just the thing which was the correct height and also blended well with the color scheme I was using.  If you have ever visited our home, you have noticed that Jesse has a fondness for collecting glass pieces.  We have literally collected unique or hand-blown glass "art" pieces from locations around the world during our travels to China, Europe, and North America.  One of his favorite "genres" is carnival glass.  He picked up this beautiful orange-purple iridescent piece at a local flea market.  As I always say, if I don't have a use for items that I display, they are just junk.  So, I decided that this would finally use this piece and it would be the vessel for my arrangement.

 

After I selected the vessel, I filled the bowl area with floral foam and soaked it with water.  I purchased 4 bunches of alstroemeria (2 orange, 1 yellow, 1 red) and 1 bunch of assorted chrysanthemums.  Using all of the alstroemeria, I removed most of the leaves and placed the stems in the floral foam being careful to create a rounded oval shape.  Next I added some of the chrysanthemums in bare areas.  Finally, I took 2 apples (I used Fuji) and 2 white mini-pumpkins and placed a bamboo skewer in the bottom of each.  Then I placed the skewered items into the floral foam with the flowers.  The end result....

 

All-in-all, I think it turned out extremely well. Make sure to scroll to the bottom of this post for a look at the completed table scape.  This was a very easy and inexpensive arrangement that would have cost $50 or more had it been created in a floral shop.  This would make a great Thanksgiving Dinner centerpiece. If you use this idea for that or any other occasion, I'd love to see a photograph.  Until next time, have a Great Southern Day!