I love having fresh flowers around the house (who doesn’t, right?), and they are especially appropriate if you are having a party or gathering where you want to make a bit of a centerpiece or just class up your space a bit for the party vibe. I usually just cut the stems and rely on a cute vase (like this one!) to do all the work for me, but making a floating floral arrangement for a table or centerpiece is actually really easy and oh so pretty as well!
For a floating floral arrangement, it’s best to use flowers that are wider than longer, so think ranunculus or open garden roses rather than a more closed traditional rose. I paired mine with some gerber daisies (any daisy type flower would also be good) for a little size and texture variety.
You’ll want to use a shallow bowl or terrarium for a floating arrangement so your flowers can really spread out. The more surface area you have, the bigger of an impact your floral arrangement will make. You’ll also want some small bubble wrap, so save a piece out of the box from your next online order, or you can buy some online as well.
Cut small circles of bubble wrap that are slightly smaller than your flower size so you won’t see the plastic sticking out the sides.
Cut a small “x” or hole with your scissors in the middle of the wrap circle and place your flower through the hole. Trim the flower stem to about 3/4″ and place your flower in the water to watch it float!
The bubble wrap will keep the flower upright and floating on your little flower sea, so you just keep making little bubble wrap skirts for each flower until your bowl surface is full. I would also suggest cutting off a few springs of your greenery and slipping those stems into the bubble skirt as well when you put in your flower to give your arrangement a bit of leaf texture. Once your bowl is full, it’s time to set it on your table!
Pretty!! The other nice thing about this method is that it takes less flowers to make a bigger impact since they have room to spread out rather than bottlenecking from a vase, so you can make several of these to place around rather than one full looking vase. I also like to place some greenery sprigs near the bottom of the bowl on the outside for some extra texture, and you could totally set the bowl in the middle of a greenery “wreath” as well that went all the way around. So happy that flowers are starting to appear all over yards and trees! Bring it on, spring! xo. Laura
Credits//Author and Photography: Laura Gummerman. Photos edited with the NEW A Beautiful Mess actions.
17 Comments
That is such a clever trick, I would have never thought about it!
This is such a beautiful idea, although there’s always the danger of me playing with the bubble wrap rather than using it!
http://www.makeandmess.com/
That is so pretty and i love that idea! I’m just worried that my cats will enjoy it a bit too much as well but hey, gotta take risks sometimes right?! 😉
Thanks Laura it’s a lovely idea for Spring! xo
Melodie
http://www.happymelodie.com
My Mum would sure love this. She is big on floral arrangements and has been taking classes. It looks great!
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
I’m giving a baby shower for my sister-in-law, and I think these would make great centerpieces! Thanks for the idea!
This is absolutely brilliant! Thank you so much. I might add….perfect timing!
Bubblewrap cleverness! Nice, Laura!
This is so pretty! I need to make one for my office!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
i love this so much!!! it looks so easy and it’s just gorgeous! i can’t wait to try it
I would have totally neglected the bubble wrap. That is very clever ^_^
Laila from Townhouse Palette
Thank you Laura I often make floating arrangements if the flower heads snap off or with small daisy’s from my garden in a sky blue bowl. But i never knew how to stop the capsise. Bubble wrap for the win.
So lovely! I’ll have to keep mine up high though or my German shepherd will think it’s her new water bowl.
Beautiful!
I would never have thought to put the bubble wrap underneath them – genius! And it looks so pretty!
isoscella // http://www.isoscella.co.uk
This FLOATING FLORAL ARRANGEMENT is amazing! We have written about it on our blog 🙂
Oh my gosh – what a genius idea! I love it because a little goes a long way. You don’t need a full bouquet to make something eye-catching and substantial! So often, once flowers have bloomed, their stems become tired and they no longer stand in the way they once did. This floating arrangement provides a new way to enjoy flowers, up until the end.
And, by cutting the stem, the flower has quick and direct access to water. So we don’t have to worry about re-cutting them every day! That’s it – I’m convinced. Y’all are geniuses!
So creative! Loved that I didn’t have to “jump through hoops” to get your instructions. Thx so much!