New Year's Celebration

Video Transcription 

Welcome to the Flower School .com video library. I'm Leanne Kesler, director of the Floral Design Institute and today I'm here to share with you an arrangement perfect for a New Year's buffet. As we move from 2020 to 2021, we always want to look forward. And this year especially, we look forward to better times. 

For the flowers I turn to Gardenrosesdirect.com. Searched through looking for neutrals, not white, white, but still thinking kind of snowy white and I found three that I just loved. Leonora, Eugenie and Princess Miyuki together give you a very lush, extravagant look. Perfect for our new year's holiday. 

New Year's is also a time for reflection, looking back at the year past. So for the container, I went through my shelves and I was looking for favorite things that I've had that needed to be repurposed, re-used. And I love the zinc container filled with black floral foam. Gives me a great base for the design. Then I was hunting through looking for glitter and glitz and sparkle, and I found these. They actually are set to put a candle down inside, and then it reflects the sparkle. They have a wonderful armature on the bottom. I thought, "Hmmm I kind of like that." I'm going to just set those in place. And again, now it can be a little difficult to get your hand inside. So it's totally fine to remove a portion, save those out. You can put them back later. I'm going to set this in, just lining them up. And again, I'm not going to secure it because once all the flowers are in place that will hold it and maybe make another little spot for my hand over here. Clipping it out and then just bending it out. Then I'll be ready to design. 

As I design, I'm going to work in a vegetative style. Placing things as they would grow. Creating a miniature world. As we think about 2020, it's been challenging for many. Wouldn't it be great if you could just design a new world for yourself? And that's what I'm going to do in this arrangement, is create my own little fantasy. A fairy land, so to speak. Adding in foliages and bringing some trailing. A bit of eucalyptus, adding softness and draping. The silver gray goes so well with the evergreen. You can see by feeding it through the grid it's starting to lock everything in place. So it'll be sturdy. Definitely deliverable. Filling in on the backside as well, but stopping before I go too far so that there's plenty of room for flowers. Must have flowers for the new year. With the lines established, it's time to think about the focal emphasis. I can use pine cones. The Ponderosa touched with white just to make it look snowy. Tucking them in. And of course the roses, most important. Cutting them very low. That way they will last well, because they're right down at the surface, breaking the line. Terracing it up. Building across. You can see having the back taken out makes it so much easier because I can just weave my fingers inside. Coming through and repeating. Then as I continue making sure that I bring some of the roses all the way around to the backside, drawing your eye from the front to the back and completing the design in a few more pine cones and a few more roses. 

As you finish, just look across front, back and through the center, make sure that you've got all your mechanics covered. That the roses are tucked in beautifully. Almost looks like it has snowed roses through the design. Then going back with some accents. Some berzillia would be wonderful because it picks up the white of the pine cones. Has a little different texture. Grouping a couple and bringing it back to the opposite side and filling in. Then for a little bit of fun height, lisianthus, it's also known as the love rose as a common name. So I thought that was appropriate with the garden roses and a love rose. Letting it be a little taller. Thinking about the height. Giving it a cut and tucking it in. Growing up with the trees repeating and then turning it. Looking at it from all sides to make sure you have all the flowers right where you want them. 

As a final detail, it would be remiss if I didn't include pampas grass. 2020 definitely is the year of pampas and it fits in this type of a design so well. Just one more tree in the garden. So cutting it down. Placing it in. Finding the perfect spot. Let it come a little taller. Repeating. Pulling it back just a little bit to add some depth. Then when things are done, going back with the bobbles that I cut off and filling in the backside to complete the design. 

The recipe. My little garden. My fantasy world for New Year's. I started with Gardenrosesdirect.com and I did six Leonora, six Eugenie and six Princess Miyuki. Then looking for accent materials, I turned to Florabundance.com, and that's where I did six of the pampas, six of the lisianthus, six of the berzillia. And then I didn't count, but I bet you I've got six or seven pine cones in there. Then add in the foliages, eucalyptus and evergreen for a perfect New Year’s centerpiece. 

A new year means new beginnings, new opportunities. At Floral Design Institute we're so excited for the new year of classes to begin. People like you choosing to make the world a more beautiful and better place through flowers. Now if you need more creative inspiration, check out our website at Flower School .com. If you have questions, you can reach us through there or give us a call at (503) 223-8089. 

Now it's your turn. Gather your favorite flowers and beautify the world. Be sure to take a picture of it. Post it on social media and hashtag Floral Design Institute. That way I can see and everyone can see what you do as you do something you love.