Lovestruck Rose Bouquet

Video Transcription

Hearts and roses, perfect for the holiday. Pick your favorite roses, decide if you want it vased or wrapped. I'll show you how it's done.

For materials, anything that's pliable, curly willow works well. Pussy Willow, if it's fresh, so that it can bend, Red Twig Dogwood. Just check, if it bends without cracking, you can use it. As you prepare, I cut stems approximately the same length. And I like to use two or three to give it a little more fullness than using just a bit of bind wire. Lash it together, make sure it's nice and secure, then begin by weaving those together so that you get one piece. Just braid it, wind it, wrap it, whatever, you can even just wrap it around itself. It doesn't have to be exactly the same length but it's nice to have them close. You can see mine vary a bit. Then when you get to the tip, you're going to secure that again with just a bit more bind wire. Then the last step is to combine them and bend them down, which is going to take yet a little more bind wire. Keep it neat and tidy, clipping it down, a couple more pieces. I'm going to start by putting the two pieces together and combining that, then just fold down, capturing them and pulling them into the heart shape. You can adjust them and then lash it all together at the bottom, one more time. When you're complete, you'll have a heart and you can then start designing. Here you can see a pussy willow version, red twig. No matter what you use, it's beautiful.

Once you have your base made, you can do this weeks in advance. Then when it's time, just go back, start adding some foliage. Salal is nice, gives you some beautiful fullness. Follow the same pattern, criss-crossing back and forth. And once you have a nest, you could bring in maybe a little bit of Israeli Ruscus to help cover your mechanics, that will conceal where you tied it together, and then tucking in Roses. And depending on the budget, you can do a dozen, you could do three. Adding in some filler, the Pieris is fabulous. A few more roses. And then when you're done, tie it off with bind wire.

When you finish, you can cut the stems to the length of the vase or the length that you want them for the wrap. You can see the red twig, beautiful. Here it is, with pussy willow and Mondial roses, very pretty. Cut it down easily. And then my favorite, the Barista roses with Wax Flower, Curly Willow, a little bit smaller. To wrap, in love in love, love, love with the honeycomb paper, give it a little bit more rustic look. Just taking a couple sheets, setting it together, then wrap it and get over on itself, wrap tightly. You can pull down a little bit, giving a little color where the rose is showing. Then using raffia, tie it off, ready for delivery.

Creating hearts, so many different ways to do it, so many different materials. Then, adding flowers, do the hearts ahead, flowers at the last minute. Perfect for a holiday gift, be it wrapped or in a vase. You'll find more creative inspiration on our website, flowerschool.com. If you have questions, you can reach us through there. But now it's your turn. Create your hearts, create your bouquets. Be sure to 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.