Sunday, May 24, 2009

Floral Arrangement







Dome
As the name suggests, a dome arrangement is round. The container used for this type of arrangement is best medium in height. The dome arrangement is an all-round arrangement with the same distribution of flowers all around. Unlike the classic dome arrangement, the dome interpretive arrangement looks more stylish. It is not exactly rounded and there are less flowers but more lines and space. This arrangement has more design element and is one of my favourites.
1. How to Make a Dome Arrangement
A dome arrangement is the simplest form of arrangement. It is very easy to make. Here, I will show you how to make this very basic type of arrangement. A dome is a round arrangement. I'm going to use pink carnations, tea leaves and yellow peacock.First; I'm going to prepare a container. The container used for this arrangement is usually low and shallow. I soaked a 1/3 of floral foam and insert it into the container. Leave around 1 cm of foam above the container. Now, we can start inserting the flowers. But before we do, let's understand the dome diagram below.
All the A, B and FP will be used up by carnations. Here is a simple calculation for what A, B and FP be like.
A = B = container height + foam height above the containerFP (Focal Point) = container height + foam height above the container + 1 inch
Now, you can start inserting the flowers. Choose the bigger bloomed flowers to be around the focal point area. After you've inserted all the A's and B's, insert the remaining carnations (if you have any) into the empty spaces. At this point, make sure that the shape of arrangement is round and not one flower is jutting out of the round shape. To cover the floral foam, cut the tea leaves in short lengths and insert them into the foam.
When the foam is covered, cut the yellow peacock into short lengths and insert them into the empty spaces. Now, your dome arrangement is ready.
You can place your dome arrangement in your living room to decorate it.
A Dome Interpretive Arrangement
A dome interpretive arrangement is different from the classical dome arrangement. Although the shape of the dome is maintained but less flowers is introduced in a dome interpretive arrangement. I have always liked this arrangement because it is simple but very stylish. And it can be used to decorate any room. With fewer flowers, more lines and space is introduced in this arrangement. Another very obvious point of difference between the classical and the interpretive is that the interpretive is always assymmetrical. It is a 360 degrees arrangement but the materials you see and the proportion of the materials distributed in the arrangement is different at every angle. Now, let me introduce to you the materials I'm going to use to make a dome interpretive arrangement.
· barbie pink roses
· red berries
· cream eustoma
· song leaves
· fatsia leaf
· round container
· floral foam
· rattan
As always, we need to prepare the container first. Soak a block of foam in clean water. Make sure thefoam fully absorbed the water. Insert the foam into the container, leaving about 1cm of height above the container. Next, insert the pre-shaped rattan into the foam. The rattan is made of many pieces of rattan tied together with copper wire. You can shape it as however you like but here I made oval loops so that it fits the dome arrangement. When we insert the rattan, we actually introduced lines in the arrangement. Then, insert the fatsia leaf at the side of the foam. After that, insert the song leaves at the other side of the foam. Since we inserted the big fatsia leaf at one side, we introduced quite of lot 'green' there.So, the song leaves is best placed opposite the fatsia leaf.When the leaves are in, take about 6 stalks of barbie pink roses and cut them short.Insert them near the fatsia leaf using the grouping method.Now, insert the cream eustoma. The eustoma stems are very fragile so you need to handle them gently. Insert them near the pink roses.Now it's time to cover the foam with leaves. Handy Tip! To fully utilize the materials, you need not use ferns to cover the foam. You can use the leaves of the red berries. Cut the berries leaves shortly and insert them into the foam to cover it.Then, you can insert the berries. Don't insert them near the pink roses because the colours are heavy there. So now you have an arrangement with beautiful lines, the form is maintained, good colour combination, good texture and good usage of space.This makes a good flower arrangement.
Crescent
A curve arrangement is quite difficult to make because it is assymmetrical. The proportion must be balanced from whichever angle you look at. The weight must be balanced too so that the arrangement is stable. This crescent arrangement I'm making is not the classical crescent arrangement. It is called the crescent interpretive arrangement. It is an assymmetrical arrangement and is divided into 3 parts. A part is the bigger end, B part is the smaller end and C part is the center. The selection of materials for this type of arrangement is important because this arrangement is very curvy. Materials with natural curvy lines are a must. That is for fresh flowers. But here, I'm using artificial flowers where the curvy lines are easily created. The first step is to make the A part. As a guide, the length of A is equal to twice the length of container width plus length of container height. I used two stalks of snapdragons and some eucalyptus leaves. Then, I used some green ranunculus to make the B part. The B is 3/4 of A. To make A and B have connectivity, I also inserted 2 stalks of green ranunculus at A. Next, we make the C, the focal area. As this is an all around arrangement, we must not concentrate on one side of the arrangement. The whole arrangement must bebalanced. I used one big white peony and 2 stalks of purple snowballs as the focal flowers. I also added some green berries and beargrass to make the arrangement look more interesting. I added some leaves at the base of the container to make it look fuller. When you're satisfied, your crescent arrangement is done. You can use it to decorate your home and give away as a gift to your friend. It is so easy to make a crescent arrangement once you know the basics.
Pyramid
A pyramid is an arrangement which we seldom see but it actually exists. The base is triangle and is very tall. It can be used as a table centerpiece. Choosing the Right Flowers Is Key to Making a Pyramid Arrangement A pyramid arrangement has very strong features. To define it as a pyramid arrangement, you need flowers that can make up the sides of the pyramid. In this example, I used molucella. Molucella is a long flower and you need to be careful when working with it because it has thorns. So, molucella make up the four sides of this arrangement. To add more volume and weight to the sides, I've added dendrobium orchids. Dendrobium orchids are basically long in nature so it is suitable for this arrangement. At the focal area, I included pink gerberras on all sides. And also green pompoms to compliment it. To further add design to this arrangement, I added curled dracena leaves. That's how I made my pyramid arrangement.
Horizontal
A horizontal arrangement is a low arrangement but the length is usually 2 times the height. A classic horizontal arrangement is symmetrical, which means the length on both sides is the same. Moreover, the placement of flowers is mirrored to the other side. An assymmetrical horizontal arrangement is what we call a horizontal interpretive arrangement. It has more design and character, because the flowers have their own individuality. And because it is assymmetrical, the length on both sides may not be same. Let's Make A Lovely Horizontal Interpretive Arrangement For Your Home A horizontal interpretive arrangement is low in height and long in width. What I am going to make is not the classic horizontal but a horizontal interpretive. The ratio of height to length in a horizontal arrangement is usually 1:4 but not necessary in a horizontal interpretive arrangement. It stands out more in design but is still called a horizontal arrangement as you'll soon see.
What I am going to use for this arrangement are
· white anthuriums
· stargazer lilies
· dracena leaves
· berries
· green dendrobiums
· beargrass
· bird's nest leaves
· pothus leaves
This is a good choice of materials because the texture is varying. To learn more about texture in an arrangement, First, prepare a container. Use a low and shallow container for this type of arrangement. Soak a block of foam and fit it tightly into the container. First, set the height of the arrangement. I use the dracena leaves to make the vertical part. As a guide, the height of the arrangement is the height of the foam plus the length of the container. Remember, this is only a guide. As floral designing is an art, you can experiment with different ideas. Unlike the classic horizontal arrangement, the two sides of the arrangement has equal lengths. But here, I am making the horizontal interpretive. So, it is an assymmetrical arrangement. One side is longer than the other. For one side, I am using the dendrobium orchids. For the other, I use stargazer lilies. I also added some white anthuriums around the center to make it look interesting. And also pothus leaves at the sides. At this point, there is not much colour in the arrangement. So, I added red berries to bring up the bright and fresh colours of white and green. It really made a difference. Now, we don't want to create a two directional arrangement. One is pointing up and one pointing to the side. To connect these two directions, we need to put something in between. So I added the bird's nest leaves there. The leaves are a bit curvy so it will create very nice lines to the arrangement. To further add character to the arrangement, I've added beargrass leaves at the sides, as you can see here. And, you're done. Don't forget to spray water to your horizontal arrangement. It will last longer.
Example of a Horizontal Arrangement
A horizontal arrangement is one of the basic arrangement types. It is a low arrangement and is long horizontally. It is often used as a table centerpiece. Making one is really easy if you know the basics. Below is a horizontal arrangement diagram. If you follow the rules of the diagram, you can make your own arrangement. Here is the measurement guide:A = height of container + width of container + 1 inchB = half of AC = half between A + BFP = about 10 cm from the top of the foam Let's put the theory into practice. For this example, I am using white roses, yellow pompoms and purple asters. I built the skeleton of the arrangement using white roses. When you insert the roses, make sure you remove all the leaves so that it looks clean. When I've inserted the A, B, C and focal point, I inserted the remaining roses in between them. Then, I covered the foam using paku leaves. After I basically covered the foam, I inserted yellow pompoms in between the roses. Some are short and some long, so that it gives depth to the arrangement. Lastly, I inserted purple asters into the empty spots in the arrangement.
You can create your own horizontal arrangement using the flowers you like. But the basics of this arrangement are always the same.
Inverted T
Inverted-T arrangement is in the shape of the letter T, but upside down. It looks like a triangular arrangement but slightly different. A classic inverted T arrangement would be something which has the same type of flowers on all 3 sides. Whereas an inverted T interpretive is an assymmetrical arrangement. The length on one side may be different with the other. Just follow these steps to make an Inverted T arrangement. It is one of the basic arrangement forms of flower arrangement. It looks like the letter T but upside down. Here, I'm making an Inverted T interpretive arrangement. It is slightly more advanced than the classic Inverted T arrangement. A lot of materials with different structure are introduced in this arrangement. They are like the pink ginger, ruscus leaves, tulips, pine leaves, calathea leaves, white pom poms, yellow peacock, paku leaves, yellow limoneum, pink spray carnations and not forgetting stargazer lilies. To make this arrangement, you first must prepare a container. Here, I chose a low container, which is just a glass plate. Soaksome foam and place it on the container. We first take two stalks of pink ginger and insert them horizontally. The height of this is roughly twice the length of the containerplus height of the foam. To show more character, two ruscus leaves are spiralled around the pink gingers. If the leaves do not. Next, let's make the two sides which defines the T shape. For one side, I used calathea leaves and some spray carnations. For the other side, to make it look connected to the other side, I also used some pink spray carnations and three stalks of tulips. Now, the T shape is shaped. To cover the foam, insert short paku leaves. When that's done, we need to build on the center of the T. I used two stargazer lilies on the focal area. I also inserted some pine leaves at the bottom and fill the spaces with white pompoms, yellow limoneum and some yellow peacock. Then, your Inverted T arrangement is done. Easy to do. You should try it.
L shape
As you can guess from the name, an L shaped arrangement has the letter L shape. Although it is not symmetrical, you must know how to position your flowers so that it looks well balanced. An L shape arrangement is obviously in the shape of the letter L. It is also one of the basic arrangement types. This kind of arrangement is usually put on a table to decorate the corner of a room. Making it is easy, but you must follow the diagram below. As a guide, follow these measurements: A = (height of container + width of container) x 2B = 3/4 of AC = 1/4 of AFP = 1/3 of A and is 45 degreesB1 = D = CD = 45 degrees of A and BA1 = 1 inch lower than AA2 = 1 inch lower than A1
Now, I am using purple eustoma as the A, B, C and SD. After I've inserted the eustomas that make the shape of the arrangement, I used paku leaves to cover the foam. As the focal flower, I used red gerberra. I also inserted a few more gerberras at the empty spaces of the arrangement. Some are short and some are long, just so to create dimension to arrangement. Do not insert too many gerberras, because then you'll overshadow the eustomas. Lastly, I inserted white asters as fillers. I inserted them at the remaining gaps in the arrangement. So that's how I made an L shape arrangement. I hope you can try making one using your preferred flowers. For more advanced L shape arrangement, you can try your hands at the L shape interpretive arrangement.
Try Make This L Shape Interpretive Arrangement
The L shape interpretive arrangement originates from the classical L shape arrangement. Because it is an interpretive arrangement, it has more designs and incorporates more lines than the classical form. The L shape interpretive is in the shape of the letter L, and it is assymmetrical. The vertical line can be shorter than the horizontal line and vice versa. Also, the distribution of flowers in an interpretive arrangement is always uneven but done in groupings.The materials I used to make this arrangement are :
· purple dendrobiums
· white dendrobiums
· yellow dendrobiums
· orange dendrobiums
· fatsia leaves
· cypress sticks
· johol leaves
· ferns
When making this arrangement, define the vertical line and horizontal line first. In this arrangement, I used the purple dendrobiums in both vertical and horizontal lines. I also used white dendrobiums to add volume to both the lines. To avoid imbalance between the horizontal and vertical and to also add more lines to the arrangement, I added cypress sticks to the vertical line. The vertical line looks like this... And the horizontal line looks like this...
At the focal area, I used the orange dendrobiums and yellow dendrobiums.
The johol leaves are done in groupings, too. Lastly, I added fatsia leaves at the side bottom of the arrangement. And the result is, a beautiful L shape interpretive arrangement made of colourful orchids.
Fan
The fan arrangement is shaped into a fan. In order to build the fan, you must use flowers with long and strong stems like the gladiolus, ester and others. The fan interpretive is where you get creative at the focal area. You can create any design there, like a Hogarth's Curve, but still maintain the fan shape.
Fan Interpretive Arrangement
I guess you hardly see a fan interpretive arrangement. Here's one example. I made this arangement using pink gerberras, orange gladioulus, white peacocks, white pom poms and some ferns.It is similar to the typical fan arrangement but has more design. In a normal fan arrangement, all the points in the arrangement use the same types of flower. Here, different flowers are used but they compliment each other. Since the top of the fan shape and the base is quite a distance, how to fill the flowers in the middle involves creativity. First, I made the fan frame using orange gladiolus and white peacocks alternatively. Then, I cover up the foam using ferns. In my fan interpretive arrangement, I made the letter S using pink gerberras in the focal area. I also used white pompoms for filling up the empty spaces.This type of arrangement is very rare now, I wonder why. But, it is most suitable for room decoration. The best place to place it is beside a wall because of the flatness at the back of this arrangement.
Triangular
To make a triangular shaped arrangement, position the line flowers to form a triangle. The height of the arrangement should be more than the width.
Oval
An oval arrangement is what I usually do on a funeral stand. But please do not restrict yourself to only making oval arrangements on a funeral stand; you can also decorate your living room with it. It is not a 360 degrees arrangement.
Vertical
The vertical arrangement is a tall arrangement with small width. It can be a classic vertical arrangement or an interpretive vertical arrangement.

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