floorstandingfloral.pdf

Many homes today have very high ceilings.  This poses issues with accessories because there is so much wall space it’s hard to know what to add to fill it all in.  Well, one option is a tall floral arrangement and in this case, just an arrangement of swirled sticks.  This helps bridge the gap between the height of the window coverings and the low profile of the sofa.  It also helps hide the speaker installed in the wall!

Here’s what you’ll need to make a floor standing arrangement like we did.

Materials List:

• Several bundles of tall sticks
• Large floor container
• Floral foam larger than container opening
• Spanish moss
• Floral greening pins
• Knife

Instructions:

1. Start by placing your container on a flat sturdy surface with the opening at a level that is comfortable to work at.  Our container was already about 36” tall, so I was able to set it on the kitchen floor and work at it quite comfortably.

2. Work on cutting your floral foam down to fit snuggly inside the opening of the container.  I have the foam sitting inside the plastic bag from the store so I can just pick up the carved foam and leave the mess inside the bag. 

Notice the shape I had to carve for my container.  I would carve a bit and then try it out, carve a bit more and try again because I didn’t want to slip and carve too much off or the foam would slide right down into the container and be lost. 

This was the way I finally left the foam.  I actually had to push it in with some force and was able to get it stuck in the opening.  Now that was perfect! I did add a little hot glue around the edges but probably didn’t need it.

3. The next step is to cover the foam with the Spanish moss.  You do this by grabbing a handful, putting it into position and holding it in place by pushing a greening pin through it.  Do this a couple times until you have the foam covered. 

4. Then without cutting anything off the bottom of the sticks, I started inserting them through the moss and into the foam several inches so I knew they would be in sturdy.  Start in the center because you want those sticks to stand up taller than the ones next to them as you radiate out towards the edges of the opening. 

I kept adding sticks all the way around, eventually cutting some of them shorter as I moved closer to the outside edge of the container.  You can see the rounded shape I was getting at the top.  I also kept moving back a distance to make sure I was making the arrangement fairly even as far as height and fullness. Halfway there!

At night the arrangement can be highlighted with a plant light hidden on the floor behind the side table.  If it shines up through the branches it will leave a lovely shadow on the wall behind the sticks causing an even prettier effect.

Shari

 
© 2012.  mattandshari.com, all rights reserved.

Comments (2)

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written by Les917, July 19, 2012

I have found that a great way to do these large container arrangements is to first fill the container with foam packing peanuts/pieces. Fill to the neck or the place in the opening where the block of floral foam is going to fit. It gives a good base for the foam, so it doesn't fall through the opening. And, if you have some sticks/stems that pop through the bottom of the foam, they will simply anchor in the foam peanuts. They don't add serious weight to the container, so it is still easy to move and clean. This same idea can work with any size container, and save you the expense of stuffing a container with floral foam pieces - use the packing peanuts you save, and they're free!

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written by Shari, July 19, 2012

Oh what a fantastic idea! Thank you so much for mentioning it! I always have a supply of peanuts from packages sent to me that I ususally save up and then donate to my local mail packingplace. This would have taken quite a few of them, but I love this idea. Thank you again for sharing!!!

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