Red Velvet Candlelight

Video Transcription

Candles, perfect for the holiday. The battery, so much safer. And when you know the pro technique, easy to add in and just light and turn off. Let me show you how it's done.

The mechanics, I've used Midnight Foam, pre-soaked, tucked in, taped in place. Then adding the candles. I'm in love with all the battery-operated candles. They give you the look without the problem of a flame. To turn them on, it's a twist. Now, to put them into the arrangement, you want to have them in a Handy Andy. But once they're in that, you can still turn it on just by twisting right within there. To make it secure, I use a glue strip. Then using just a bit of it. You don't need the whole thing. So taking your scissors, getting them wet, that way they won't stick to the glue, giving it a cut. Then pulling that off, just wrapping it onto the base. Then taking a Handy Andy, sliding it on, and then you can twist to turn it on and place it in the foam.

Next up, the fragrant evergreens. Noble is so grand, just carving it down a bit, setting it in, bringing it up to help cover the candle holders. The beauty, you don't have to worry about the flame coming down, no fire issues. Following a central binding point, cutting it apart where need be to get smaller sizes, and then always removing the lower needles. That way, it will drink well and not chew up your foam. Then coming back with some cedar, breaking it apart. Then once again, removing the lower level and then letting it drape over the side.

The flowers, the first one that I chose to work with was Red Panther. The rose has the little speckles of lighter red and yet the deep, intense, which works well to combine it with light red spray roses, red mini carnations, standard carnations, and then even going to leucadendron for a little more depth of color. Starting with placing that in, creating a focal area, tucking some low, and then bringing others out longer over the top, so it's shadowed underneath. And then pulling your eye through to the opposite side so that it's not flat, not one-sided, tucking it between the candles. Then bringing in the bright red, adding contrast. And everything continues to go into that central binding point, making sure it's in a good two inches so that it will drink well and last well through the holidays. Then wanting to add the contrast in scale using the miniature carnations to extend, so you've got full size and miniature in the same color, which gives you that little bit different scale, tucking it in. And same with the spray roses, having the full size and then spray roses for contrast.

To finish, a little bit of the leucadendron, bringing in that deeper burgundy, letting it accent. It also picks up a little lighter green, which accents the foliage as well as the flowers. Put it in. Then for a little bit of sparkle, using Christmas balls, just pulling off the end and then using a wood pick. You can just set it right in, cutting to length, then feeding that straight down in and nestling the ball so it just tucks. You don't even need to glue it. That way, you can use the balls another time. And repeat that front and back. And then maybe even bringing in some different shapes. You can use all different types of balls.

The recipe, I started with the base of Noble Fir and Cedar. How much is going to depend on how big and full the branches are and how much you want in yours. Flower wise, I have seven of the Red Panther Rose, and seven of the full-size Carnation Then five each of the Spray Rose, the Mini Carnation, and the Leucadendron. Lastly, I added in the five balls. Then you can see, it's beautiful. You just need to go in and twist, and you can turn your candles right on, there we go, so that they're beautiful and flicker in your arrangement.

The holiday's perfect for red, perfect for candles. There's more creative inspiration on the website, flowerschool.com. If you have questions, you can reach us through there, but now it's your turn. Find the perfect battery-operated candles and design away. Take a picture, post it on social media, and #FloralDesignInstitute. That way, we all can see what you do as you do something you love.