Creating your own original flower arrangements can be the ultimate hobby, a stress-free way to design your own home decor or simply a fun way for you to relax and unwind. Whether you are using fresh flowers or dried flowers or a combo of both, there are an infinite number of ways to craft your own floral masterpiece and I am excited to show you how!
There is nothing I love more than flowers and that passion is what led me to founding East Olivia Creative. As an ephemeral beauty enthusiast, the CEO and Creative Director of @eastolivia, I am always thrilled to share my love of flowers with other people. Aside from the stems of your choice and some everyday tools, all you will need is your natural creativity.
STEP 1: Selecting your dried flowers and fresh ingredients
At East Olivia, we have established our own distinct floral aesthetic that balances color, texture, dimension and a unique range of flowers. Today, we will be creating a classic EO dried flower arrangement that makes the perfect addition to any home decor. The gorgeous ingredients we will be working with are preserved flowers that last a year or more, while adding a splash of color to your summer decor.
The flower bouquet we are designing will be full of some of our favorite quintessential East Olivia flowers: coral pampas grass, mauve and sky miscanthus, pink bunny tails and ivory eucalyptus. We are also working with blush troll hair, peachy thistles, snowy and natural gypsophila. Preserved florals can be found easily online, in craft stores, and even some local farmers markets!
STEP 2: The perfect ingredients for your flower arrangement
For our tools today, we will start with one of my favorite vases. You can use any vessel that you choose but a shallow, wide option is best for this particular flower arrangement. We first place a metal frog in the center of the vase to act as a sound anchor for the stems. Kelsea’s pro tip: apply sticky puddy under the frog for extra, before adding water or dried stems. Metal or glass frogs are also easy to find at most craft stores, online, or at a flower market. At East Olivia, we don’t use any floral foam to hold our flower arrangements together, like some designers do. This makes our arrangements more sustainable and eco-friendly, plus frogs are reusable! For the next step, you will need some floral shears for trimming the stems and getting just the right height for your floral bouquet.
We then begin to place our flowers and shape our bouquet. I like to begin my arrangement with a triangular base made of the eucalyptus, gypsophila, and miscanthus preserved flowers. You can start by placing them in complimentary bunches inside the vase, this way you can use an array of colors and textures without having to be too precious about any one flower.
Next, I step back and make sure that from all angles, the bouquet is looking good and balanced, since this is a 360 degree flower arrangement. Next, you can fill in spots that need a bit more love and ensure that the arrangement shape is moving in the direction you desire. You also want to leave room for your most focal blooms. A focal flower can be any stem that really stands out to you, any flower that really wows.
STEP 4: Adding focal florals to your flower arrangement
Once we have our base all set up, it’s time to layer in those focal flowers. Today, our showstoppers are the textural, peach thistles and our delicate, pink bunny tails. We will then work around the arrangement, mirroring these two off of each other. At this point, you will want to step back again and ensure your floral arrangement is balanced and fully shaped. Kelsea’s pro tip: use a lazy susan to easily rotate your floral bouquet in the vessel to see it from all angles.
STEP 5: Enjoy your Forever Floral-inspired masterpiece
After spending as much time as you like perfecting your dried bouquet, we arrive at the last step—standing back and admiring your work of art! You have just created your very own original East Olivia Forever Floral-inspired arrangement! This dried flower bouquet can last you a year or more when properly cared for. Since this is a preserved floral arrangement, you will want to keep it away from moisture and from direct light to elongate its shelf life. This arrangement (or your next one!) can make for the perfect gift or personal home decor. And the best part about dried flowers—no green thumb is necessary!
Beyond the beauty of your new bouquet, it is my sincere hope that you enjoyed creating floral art with me today. If you would like to see more original East Olivia arrangements, check us out at @EastOliva and at our Shop where you can order flowers online and buy your very own Forever Floral arrangement