Bringing in Beauty

I’m a proponent of bringing a bit of beauty into your space and have used bouquets of fresh flowers as a way of doing this for years now. I usually order just two bouquets for my house. One for my bedroom where I can wake up to it’s glory every morning and one in a common room for every one to enjoy. There’s just something about flowers that brings a room to life with color, beauty and a certain kind of serenity I’ve only ever found in nature. 

Recently I started looking on Pinterest (of course) for some flower arrangement inspiration and decided after looking at a plethora of gorgeous bouquets to try my hand at designing a couple of my own. I’ve never had a ton of confidence in my flower arranging capabilities and have always felt it was something better left to the professionals. However, as I was perusing all the pretty bouquet pictures I happened across a ton of step by step guides and tutorials for DIY flower arranging like this one or this one . So I decided to screw up my confidence and give it a shot.

Gorgeous paper wrapped flowers from my local florist.
Gorgeous paper wrapped flowers from my local florist.

Once motivated, I was anxious to give it a go, so I headed right out to my local florist to pick up some blooms. I wasn’t confident enough to make my selection without the florists help though, so I would point to a bucket of flowers and look to her to confirm my choice. She was incredibly patient and extremely encouraging, even telling me that next time I was more than capable of making my selection on my own with no help from her. I gravitated towards the pale and creamy pinks, bluish greens and pink berries for one bouquet. For the second I went for more of a fall theme with oranges, creams and browns. Once they were picked out and wrapped up I couldn’t wait to get them home and start arranging.

Unfortunately, I forgot to ask what each of the flowers were that I chose for my bouquets but I do know that the first one included Hydrangea. I don’t know about you but I’ve always found them hard to keep alive for long once cut. The florist advised me to make a fresh cut vertically and horizontally in each stem before placing them in the water to help with this problem. The woody stems of the hydrangea make it hard for them to get enough water to the leaves and petals. By making these fresh cuts you’re giving it a better chance of surviving longer in your bouquet. She also told me you can take them out of the arrangement and soak them petal side down in a bowl of water to rehydrate them. I know, sounds crazy, but it really worked!

The first bouquet with hydrangea and a lot of other flowers I can't remember the names of!
The second bouquet with peach roses and again a bunch of stuff I don't know the names of.
The second bouquet with peach roses and again a bunch of stuff I don't know the names of.
Peach Roses Bouquet

I really responded to adding berries, greens and cool leafy stems to my bouquets for added texture and dimension. I loved how I was able to shape the larger arrangement into a sort of dramatic sweeping silhouette by leaving the foliage stems longer and placed all together on one side of the vase while staggering the shorter berry and flower stems in front of them. With the smaller arrangement I tried to create a similar structure but ran into trouble with the size of my vase. It just wasn’t possible to put that much weight to one side of such a small vessel so I had to make the arrangement more evenly distributed so it wouldn’t tip over. What I came to realize from my flower arranging experiment is that you really can’t go wrong. You can get as wild or be as sedated as you like and your bouquets are still going to bring beauty and nature into your environment. And that is the point after all.

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21 Comments

  • henriette

    they are beautiful:) have a wonderful day:) many blessings

    April 14, 2017 at 10:18 am Reply
  • Syuzanna

    Dear Katherine,
    I love waking up and discovering your emails in my email box, the moment I see a new post, I know that I will be diving into another inspiring and beautiful story of yours.
    Personally, I share your passion for beauty and serenity brought upon us by nature’s magical vibes, furthermore, I share your passion for live flowers to bring life to the stone walls of the house. You did an amazing job with the flower arrangements, absolutely beautiful choice of flowers and greens! And you know why you succeeded so gracefully; you have an inner drive and talent for art. Once an artist in any field, forever artist in every aspect of Life!
    Thank you for sharing your beautiful creations and for inspiring us!
    Love
    Syuzanna

    April 14, 2017 at 10:54 am Reply
  • Celia

    Lovely arrangements! My mum passed on a trick about helping hydrangeas take in water from a vase- using a small sharp knife, scrape the woody brown outside of the stem off the bottom end (for about 2 inches) until you see the fresh inner green of the stem. Makes a huge difference!
    Best wishes from Australia. xxx

    April 14, 2017 at 11:23 am Reply
  • Lanelle White

    Absolutely beautiful. You did a great job. Spray water on the arrangements in the morning. Especially flower petals. Keeps them fresh a long time. Best wishes from Chattanooga, Tennessee. Lanelle

    April 14, 2017 at 11:37 am Reply
  • Lynda

    Love your second floral arrangement. I use to live by a floral wholesaler that I would drive by everyday. So a couple bundles of flowers use to be my Starbucks lol. I would create a few vases for around the house. Thanks for inspiring me to be more creative & since moving find a florist. Fresh flowers. & candles add so much life to a room. Speaking of candles do you have DIY candle recipes. I’ve always thought making candles would be fun. Thanks for sharing and giving me inspiration. Happy Easter to you & your beautiful family! !

    April 14, 2017 at 12:13 pm Reply
  • Shelby Malone

    Flowers and the smell of percolating coffee! Beautiful arrangements! So much fun in this craft.

    April 14, 2017 at 12:46 pm Reply
  • Gina Ortiz

    I loooove the second bouquet, super original and so appropriate for bedroom. I on the other hand like to invest in artificial arrangements only because of my schedule and given the particular arrangement sometimes the scent will remind me of a funeral. But this set up is super amazing and there is nothing like a great wind of motivation from pinterest, i am super grateful for it. I am super grateful for you sharing this with us, thank you!

    April 14, 2017 at 1:02 pm Reply
  • Tricia Hall

    Wonderful job, the flower arrangements are lovely ☆ thank you so much for sharing!

    April 14, 2017 at 1:30 pm Reply
  • MaryEllen

    I’m so afraid of flower arranging! I hate to invest the money, then screw it up. I’m looking at the pinterest boards you pointed out, and am thinking maybe…..

    April 14, 2017 at 1:48 pm Reply
  • Leslie Stevens

    Thank you for the hydrangea tip! I just bought them last week and was so frustrated when they died the first day! I will try your tip :). And thanks for the lovely blog and posts, I also find them inspiring and uplifting to read.

    April 14, 2017 at 1:49 pm Reply
  • Anne Lederman

    Miss Heigl, Loving the second arrangement! I like the first, but gravitate towards bright colors. The white buds running up the stocks are called delphiniums. The white and pink tiny flowers are Caspia. Of course you know the roses and the fluffy tall stalks are a type of grass . The berries are hypericum, and come in many colors! Not trying to be a smart-ass, but I work in a garden center and thought you might like to know the names if you decide you want to use some of it again. Both arrangements are beautiful and wistful!!

    April 14, 2017 at 2:17 pm Reply
  • Vikki

    Amazing job, they look beautiful. I used to do flower arenaging at my church but found it so stressful because I wanted them to be perfect (and of course could never live up to my own expectations) I haven’t thought about it in years but you have inspired me to give it another go, this time I’ll try to chill out and just focus on the beauty of the flowers and not worry that they might not look ‘perfect’ like you said can’t go wrong its all about the beauty and nature. Loving the fact that you are Pintrest obsessed like me – best site ever, I try to convert everyone I meet lol.

    April 15, 2017 at 7:07 am Reply
  • Heather Kloes

    Love the second one! I think I see eucalyptus in the first one. ( the greenish silvery leaves) Thank you for sharing your courage.

    April 15, 2017 at 8:47 am Reply
  • Camille

    Love the colors you chose of the flowers. Do you happen to grow any flowers in your yard? Thank you for sharing your discoveries.

    April 15, 2017 at 9:55 am Reply
  • Danielle G.

    Lovely arrangements! You did such a fantastic job for your first time arranging flowers. I like your idea of having an arrangement for the bedroom and one for the family room.

    On a side note, I am looking forward to watching your new movie “Unforgettable” that comes out on April 21. Also, do you think you will film a follow up to “One For The Money”? I have watched this movie numerous times and enjoy it every time!

    Happy Easter!

    April 16, 2017 at 10:29 pm Reply
  • Donna stevens

    Always enjoy your posts, and great tips. Flowers are beautiful!!!

    April 18, 2017 at 8:48 am Reply
  • Lizz Fischer

    I love flowers and have always wanted to try arranging some myself but am nervous too. Also haven’t found a florist with good variety. If in Utah what local florist did you go to?

    April 20, 2017 at 6:38 am Reply
  • Ashley Buck

    Thank you for this post! This is definitely something I am going to give a try! I took a course in HS on arrangements and ways to home design but these are so much more my aesthetic! An arrangement like this will be the perfect gift for the 4yr old little girl I nanny for who is in the hospital getting chemo and waiting to receive her sister’s bone marrow! Her big sister and her are always picking wild flowers so i may use those in their arrangements! She is a huge fan of yours and she even thinks she is Dr Izzie Jr! She has a chihuahua at home and always says she wants to fly on an airplane so her dog can play with all yours! She’s a hoot! I can’t wait to tell her you helped inspire the arrangement I’m going to make her!

    April 20, 2017 at 5:44 pm Reply
  • Katrin

    Very beautiful und Lovely. The best wishes from germany.Katrin

    April 21, 2017 at 7:48 am Reply
  • Camila T

    You are my inspiration ❤ I think you can do everything you dream because you’re so especial.
    Hope you have the most wonderful life and keep smiling!
    Love, Camila

    April 21, 2017 at 8:28 pm Reply
  • Rosabel Fischer

    Just wanted to add to the post about hydrangeas. Instead of a knife I use a potato peeler and peel (like a carrot) about three inches down the stem or shorter depending how long you are making the arrangement. It works great and mine have lasted longer than a week.

    April 27, 2017 at 2:46 pm Reply
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