Decadent centerpieces just make life better, and there's no better time to make an extravagant flower arrangement than the holidays. I chose colorful blooms in non-holiday specific hues to make this bouquet, making it perfect inspiration for just about any holiday. With Christmas just around the corner however, let's just call this inspiration for your yuletide gatherings. 

I originally created this arrangement for our small and quiet Thanksgiving feast, but as that holiday is now two weeks past I'll spare you the recap of our mostly cheese, protein and bread stuffed holiday and instead turn you attention to the flowers. Imagine if you will (for reference) that this centerpiece was actually larger than our 11 Llbs turkey. I'm not exaggerating, this centerpiece was huge! Now let's build backwards from there.

The only thing I knew for sure when first thinking about this centerpiece was that I wanted to use a large vintage brass vessel I'd recently found at a thrift store to hold the flowers. I then knew I wanted to create a design that felt natural, languid and punchy against our wood dining room table and mostly orange-brown food. This thing had to bring our meal to life!

We went to Whole Foods to source the flowers (I haven't had much luck elsewhere in Philly) and I found magenta peonies, bright pink spray roses, yellow solidago, flowering dill, lamb's ear, clover, and a small seasonal mix of other blooms. I like mixing a lot of different textures when arranging flowers and I feel like each arrangement I create becomes more complex than the last.

To start, I put a glass flower frog in the center of the vessel- the glass frog has bigger holes to the meaty stems on the peonies and lamb's ear. I then filled the vessel 3/4 the way with water and started laying out a base of leafy filler around the edges. After the base felt nice and full I started adding the bigger blooms into the flower frog and filled it out from there. It's important to add a lot of varying heights in the flowers and to constantly turn your bouquet as you work so that no side is left unfilled. I tried not to cut things down too much and instead let the stems droop gracefully out from the vessel creating a bouquet that is as relaxed as it is elegant.

I think my love of full, big bouquets is just beginning to blossom. - b.

I’m well into my final week of Flower Arranging 101, but let’s take a moment and bask in the assignment that was last week. For our week 3 homework we were asked to create a flower crown using delicate fresh flowers. I decided to use this opportunity and really let my girlie-side shine through.

I was a little crestfallen when I first learned this would be our homework assignment, I mean what girl in her twenties hasn’t made a flower crown for one event or another? And let’s be honest the trend is a little played out. BUT, Chelsea taught us a really amazing technique that made the whole flower crown making experience go a lot faster. Her tip was to make lots of mini bouquets wrapped in floral tape first, then you attach those to the wire base for your crown. It made the whole crown sturdier, cleaner looking, and easy to assemble. If only I’d known sooner...

For my take on the traditional flower crown I decided to use blush bud roses, chamomile flowers, and yellow solidago. The result feels very springy, sweet, and feminine. It reminded me of these dried flower crowns my mom would buy me at the Yankee Peddler craft fair every year growing up- very maid marian if you ask me. - b.

See the other assignments: 1 | 2 

Imagine me jumping up and down when I say this- I got to make another bouquet this week for my Flower Arranging 101 class! It really is the highlight of my life at the moment. It's so fun buying flowers each week for the course, practicing a skill I so desperately want to master, and at the end of the week I have a beautiful arrangement. This week's assignment was to create an English garden-inspired bouquet.

The flower selection at Whole Foods was surprisingly springy this past weekend so I just went with it. I chose white tulips, purple clover, hydrangea, and pretty ivory tipped greenery to use- filling out the selection with a few weeds snipped from the empty lot down the street. The result (I hope) feels fresh-picked and organic. - b.