Florist in Rome: Pastel

Friday, March 30, 2012

Homemade Easter Centerpiece - with instructions!

How to make that profesional looking fresh Easter centerpiece by yourself? It is easier than you think! I was just at my friend's house at the sea side, I had nothing with me but a brick of floral foam and some little plastic eggs, all the rest I have found in the garden. The cymbidium flowers were re-used from another 'old' arrangement my friend had in the house. Just look what is aroud you and try to make a good use of it :)

What you will need:
-a glass medium size wase (square or round, but not too high)
-floral foam brick (for fresh flowers of course)
-some green leaves from your garden- flat long leaves to cover the foam (I had aspidistra) and some small/medium size rounded leaves to cut short and make the base for the flowers (hedera, ruscus and pittosporum in my case)
-seasony flowers or whatever you'll find in the flower shop that will suite your taste :)
-some easter accessories like little eggs, feathers etc.
-your immagination!

First to need to immerge the foam in a bowl of water, cut it ti fill the vase, that take off the foam, cover with aspidistra leaves (if it moved try to stop it with a peace of iron thread or pins) and place it again in the wase. Controll if all the foam is covered by greens.

Now prepare your pittosporum and ruscus cutting it in approx. 12-15 cm long pieces (depends on your wase size) and start to insert them inside the floral foam surface. Pay attention that all of them have the same lengh, creating kind of a hemishere above the container. Cover it well, there should not be seen a pice of a foam.

And the fun begins! Insert the primary flowers first: in my case it was 4 cymbidium. Place one in the moddle and the other 3 on the sides, fill the spaces between with the secondary flower: viburnum. It can also be freesia, ranunculus ot tulips. Anything that smells like spring!

To add that Easter touch, place in between some Easter accessories, but be careful to do not exaggerate: less is more. Flowers should play the mail role.

You're done! It was easy, wasn't it? Enjoy the spring, enjoy your garden and have fun creating beautiful thigs. Flowers make everybody HAPPY :)

Friday, November 25, 2011

Italian Cappuccino Advent Wreath

In Italy, among other Advent celebrations, is the entry into Rome in the last days of Advent of the Calabrian pifferari, or bagpipe players, who play before the shrines of Mary, the mother of Jesus, the Italian tradition being that the shepherds played these pipes when they came to the manger at Bethlehem to pay homage to the infant Jesus.

My Italian Advent celebration is to drink a lot cappuccino every single day... till X-mas :)