Fiesta Ware Pitcher Design

Video Transcription

When creating flowers for a summer event, casual, maybe a picnic, I often turn to the kitchen and look for vessels that would be perfect. For this, the Fiestaware Pitcher using a little Floral Netting, that's the secret. Let me show you how it's done.

The vessel, the vintage Fiesta Ware Pitcher, it was my mother-in-law's. Inside, I put a bit of floral netting to give myself a little more security, and then filled it with fresh water premixed with flower food. The flowers were thinking bright, happy festive for Fiesta Ware using the color wheel, and going polychromatic, which is five or more colors. So we've got roses, bachelor's buttons, hypericum, allium, yarrow. It's going to be stunning. The base, a bit of mock orange. The white will be a brightening that again makes it even more festive.

To begin, starting with the mock orange, let's place that in to create a wonderful base to support everything. Breaking it down, it's woody, it does better if you whittle it a little bit and break it, and then letting it come out nice and full, trailing, maybe even going off camera as it extends out. Then little bit shorter, tucking it in, making sure the angle works well, and the netting holds it in place so that it doesn't move around and it's nice and secure, whittling a bit and then finishing it off on the backside as well.

First, creating the emphasis, the main impact of the design, using the globe allium. It's so big and dramatic, you want it to be low, to anchor the eye, to visually start the arrangement. Then coming back, the orange spray roses, picking up the color of the picture, enhancing the unity, inserting them, and extending, making sure to full cover the back. Even though it has a front, facing you, you want the backside to be equally as beautiful because people see it from all sides. Then coming back with little more brightness, the yellow yarrow, the green hypericum, radiating through that central binding point, anchoring into the chicken wire floral netting to make sure that it's solid, and then coming back with the softer blooms, the bachelor's buttons, letting them come out a little taller, and then grouping them for impact, because they're so delicate, it needs two or three to really have the visual to show off.

As I finish, tucking in a few more of the bachelor's button, some people call them cornflowers, Centaurea, different names, but bringing it out a bit towards the back so that, again, it's all sided, tucking it. And then looking at the extension of green and balancing it with a little bit of an extension of green on the opposite side, letting it trail outward, and softening so that you have that movement from side to side.

The recipe, once I finished, I realized it needed just a tiny bit of Ruscus, maybe one piece there and one over here. So I have two Israeli Ruscus that I just tucked in to get a little bit of depth. Now, back to the recipe, Mock Orange, three stems. Then I went to the fun flowers. So we have one of the Allium, five of the Orange Spray Roses, five of the Green Hypericum, four of the Yellow Yarrow, and then I ended up using seven of the Bachelor's Buttons. Last, I tucked in the Lily Grass and I used a total of six stems to finish that draping.

The Fiesta Ware Pitcher, it's a perfect container for a summer floral design. For more creative inspiration, and you'll see more videos using this picture, check out the website, flowerschool.com. If you have questions, you can reach us through there. But now it's your turn, find your favorite picture, add flowers, then take a picture and post it on social media, #floraldesigninstitute. That way we all can see what you do as you do something you love.