If there’s one thing I wish I could indulge in (read: splurge on), it would be fresh flowers in my home, for every room, every single week. I mean, it’s no secret that fresh flowers add a little something special to a space. Sadly, I have a hard time justifying spending that kind of cash week in and week out on something that dies a few days later (and trust me when I say that Joe definitely has a hard time justifying it).
However, the holidays are the one time of year that both the mister and I are on the same page when it comes to going the extra mile to make the house feel special. From a mantle garland, to a seven foot tall tree, to wreathes and Christmas scented candles, we’re all about it. So I’m lucky in that I can usually sneak in an extra floral arrangement or two in December. But to make it feel festive, I added in some seasonal elements and ribbon. Super easy (this barely qualifies as a DIY, really), but with a lovely effect!
Usually if I get flowers for our house, I pick white ones. I think they just look really fresh and neutral, plus, they match our neutral color palette well. So for this arrangement, I went with my standard creamy white roses.
Here’s what you’ll need, and what I did:
+ 1 bunch of white roses, or a similarly sized white flower (peonies would work!)
+ 1 bunch of Ilex (red berries), or some other type of branched red berry for accent
+ evergreen clippings (if you have a fresh Christmas tree, you can totally clip from that! I did.)
+ 1 medium height cylindrical vase
+ 1 yard of the ribbon of your choice; fabric ribbon works better
First, find the midpoint of the piece of ribbon by holding the cut ends of the ribbon together. Tape the midpoint to your vase, but use a smaller piece of tape than I did here — I ended up having to trim this later so it wasn’t visible!
Next, wrap both ends of the ribbon around the vase, continuing until you have a small amount left with which to tie a bow. I like wrapping both ends at once, because it created this pretty criss cross pattern around the vase. It felt simple and organic to me.
Then, tie the bow! If you need a little more ribbon, just undo one iteration of the wrap to give yourself more.
With the vase prepared, you can turn to the flowers. This is just how I like to measure flowers for a vase, though there may be an easier way (I’m no professional florist!). I like to grab one single stem, then hold it up to the exterior of the vase, and approximately measure where it should be cut. Once I get the length correct, I use this single stem as a template for all the other flowers. Hold all the flowers in one hand, then add the stems to that same hand, being sure the blooms are all level. Then, use shears or really sharp kitchen scissors to trim the stems to the length of your “template.”
Arrange the flowers in the vase. Since they’re all the same length, they should all look pretty even, but you can move them around if some blooms are fuller than others to create a nice, even look.
Once this is done, clip little pieces of the Ilex and evergreen, and tuck them into the empty spots of the arrangement to give a full look. The branches don’t have to be as long as the roses, but make them long enough so that they’ll touch a bit of water.
Rotate the vase a little to be sure you’re not missing any spots, and move the pieces around as necessary to make it look good. Fill a pitcher with water, and carefully fill the vase so that all the pieces are touching the water. That’s it, you’re done!
If you had a few vases similar in diameter, you could make a bunch of these arrangements and use it as a table centerpiece. I had lots of roses and Ilex, so I made a couple in various vases I had around the house, and have spread them throughout our downstairs. They look so festive!!
Images by Victoria McGinley for vmac+cheese
I love this! I’ve never really thought to supplement my flowers that way. I will definitely be copying this, as my mom is staying with us Christmas week and it will feel really special to have a holiday arrangement like this. Thanks for the great idea, and have a lovely season:).
This is so simple and chic! Pinning now!
This is so easy, and pretty!! I am terrible at arrangements, but this I think I can do!
Thanks for the inspiration!
That looks so pretty and festive! I saw those berries at the corner store the other day and really wanted to buy them but wasn’t sure how to arrange them-thanks for the great tips.
Wow – this looks beautiful Victoria! So classy. Love it! Hope you’re doing well! xoxo
SO pretty & simple! Perfect DIY! Love it!
Kayla
http://www.lovelucygirl.com
So pretty and so simple!! This would make a great gift, too…
This is so pretty! I think I am going to have to make one! Can you tell me where you found your ribbon? I have seen similar ribbon elsewhere on blogs, but can’t seem to find any in stores.
Hi Kaille! I found it at Paper Source (always my favorite resource for craft stuff!). Here it is online, though they have SO many great options. You can check where a store near you is over here.
Victoria, thanks so much!
Victoria – thanks so much for hooking me up with the ribbon source. I ordered and received the ribbon last week and tried my hand at an arrangement – I pinned a photo of it on one of my Pinterest boards and mentioned you in the description – hopefully you will see it. Thank you again for the inspiration :)
What’s your Pinterest username and/or link? I wanna check it out!
These are so pretty! Totally on the same page about not being able to justify spending the money, but these are so festive!
I agree with you on splurging on fresh flowers! I would love decorating with flower more, but they do get very expensive.
I love how you used white roses for the arrangements! Thanks for the DIY.
Beautiful! I love fresh flowers – especially white ones and this is such a great way to dress them up for the holidays!
Oh my gosh I cannot WAIT to make this tonight! Thanks for sharing!!!!
XOXO,
Whitney!
The Retail Therapist
This is so very pretty- I love how festive it is!
looks like i’m buying some flowers tomorrow!
Simple, yet gorgeous!
Great tip on using tape to keep the ribbon in place. :)
http://happinessiscreating.com/
Love it!
There is just something about having fresh flowers that really makes me happy and vamps up any space! Love this arrangement!
Hi..
I love this flowers arrangement, so beautiful. I like the idea of using white flowers in festivals. It is simply gorgeous.
Que gusto mas exquisito felicitaciones