Fall Centerpiece & Thanksgiving Tag Printable

With fall in the air, I was inspired to create a fall centerpiece using simple decor after coming across the online flower delivery company, BloomNation. Because I had taken a couple of floral arranging classes back in college I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try my hand at floral arranging again. I was never good at it, and I’m still no where close to a professional, but it was obviously one of the classes I enjoyed going to most. It was fun, and on few occasions a little stressful trying to come up with something that looked good. I was always so impressed with what my classmates’ arrangements, and how different ours were from each other when given a specific assignment. You can create so many different arrangements, and the best part about flowers is, it will (for the most part) always end up looking beautiful.

 

One of my favorite flowers are hydrangeas, so when I saw it in the shop I immediately knew I had to use it. I always thought of it as a spring/summer flower, and quickly turned to Pinterest to see if I could use hydrangeas in a fall arrangement. And to my surprise, I found a bunch of beautiful fall ideas using hydrangeas.

I knew I wanted to make my centerpiece pretty neutral in color, but wanted to add a few fall colors to the arrangement without making it look overly colorful. Aside from hydrangeas, I used daisies, mums, carnations, lilies, and added some wheat to give it a little bit more of a fall/Thanksgiving appeal. I added some of the wheat to the napkins, and used a striped burlap ribbon to wrap around the napkins and mason jars. This was such a simple and easy table to put together, and not to mention, great for a small budget!

I’m also sharing these fun Thanksgiving tags that you can incorporate on your table by wrapping it around your napkins and holding it in place with string or raffia, add them to a treat bag, or on a take home box for your guests on Thanksgiving.

Download here

If you’re not feeling confident in your flower arranging ability, or don’t have the time to make one yourself, try using a flower delivery to save you time and choose from a variety of options to give your table that fall look you’re going for!

P.S. See where I got my inspiration for this centerpiece on my Pinterest board.

 

Fun Things for Fridays No. 1

Try Your Hand at Your Own Bridal Bouquet
Taken from The Knot (click here)

A simple single-flower wedding bouquet is not difficult to make, and the classic dome shape of this round bridal bouquet complements most wedding gowns. Be sure to stick to hardier flowers like roses, which are easier to arrange and can endure a little manhandling. To make a bridal bouquet about 8 inches in diameter, just follow the instructions below. This bouquet takes between 30 and 60 minutes to construct, and about 30 to 60 stems.

What You’ll Need

• 30 to 60 stems of a hardy flower like the rose (20 to 40 for each bridesmaid bouquet).
• Bucket
• Paper towels
• Ribbon (in a complementary color), 1 to 2 inches wide
• Rubber bands or green waxed floral tape
• Stem cutter or very sharp knife
• Stem stripper
• Straight pins or pearl-tipped corsage pins

Step 1: Preparing the Flowers

• Use your hands or a stem stripper to remove excess foliage and thorns, and pull off damaged or unattractive outer petals.

• Fill a sink or bucket with water, and holding the stems underwater use the stem cutter or knife to cut the stems at an angle about 2 inches from the bottom.

• Allow the flowers to drink for a few seconds with the stem ends underwater, then place the stems in a bucket filled halfway with cool water until you are ready to use them.

• Knot Note: If you’re working with roses and the heads aren’t open yet, you can force the blooms open by placing the stems in a bucket of hot water; but only do this for a couple of minutes just before you are going to use the roses, or you might kill them otherwise.

• Keep the stems long while you work with them and trim them to a shorter length when you’ve finished constructing the bouquet.

Step 2: Assembling the Flowers

• Take one stem at a time with one hand, and use your other hand to hold the flowers in place.

• Assemble four flowers at an even height in a square shape — these will be at the center of the dome.

• Arrange the other flowers one by one around the center flowers to create a dome shape. See other wedding bouquet shapes.

• Knot Note: To better see what the bouquet will look like in your hand, stand in front of a mirror as you construct the bouquet to observe how the shape is progressing.

Step 3: Securing the Bouquet

• Use a rubber band or floral tape to bind the stems at the spot where they naturally join (about 3 to 4 inches below the flower heads).

• Repeat the binding toward the end of the stems, leaving about 2 inches of excess stem beneath the bind to trim later.

• Either place the stems in water and wrap them later or continue to Step 4.

Step 4: Finish the Handle

• Cut the stem ends so they are all the same length, about 7 to 8 inches long.

• Dry off the stems with a paper towel.

• Cut a length of ribbon about three times as long as the length of the stems.

• Tuck the end of the ribbon inside the top bind and start wrapping in a spiral down the length of the stem.

• When you reach the bottom, wrap in a spiral back up the stem.

• At the top, tuck the cut end of the ribbon underneath and secure with a couple of pins pushed through the ribbon and into the stems. If you’d like a bow, cut a separate length of ribbon and tie it just beneath the flower heads.

Step 5: Preserving the Bouquet

• Wrap the bouquet in tissue.

• Store it in the refrigerator until you are ready to leave for the ceremony.

For ultimate freshness, it’s best to make the bouquet the morning of the wedding. Once the bouquet is constructed, keep the bare stems in water as long as you can and mist the heads well. Then when you’re ready, wrap the stems.

20 Perfect Wedding Colors

If you’re struggling to find your wedding colors, here are a few examples to help you figure out what suits your style.

 Turquoise + Orange

 Brown + Green + Orange

 Green + Brown

 Light Pink + Brown

 Green + Cream

 Lavender + Pink

 Orange + Green

 Green + Pink

 Blue + White

 Orange + Bright Pink

 Purple + Orange

 Cranberry + Bold Pink

 Black + White + Green

 Red + Orange

 Purple + Blue

 Orange + Brown

 Yellow + Orange

 Light Pink + Bright Pink

 Green + Purple

Light Black + Pink

Taken from Better Homes & Gardens

Fall Flowers

Having a fall wedding and wondering what types of flowers to use, or wondering ways to save money on floral arrangements? The best way to save money on flowers is to use the ones in season. Here’s a list of most popular flowers used in the fall.

Fall Flowers In Season

 Sunflowers
Perfect-Wedding-Day.com

 

Dahlia

Vintage Design Company

 

Sweet William

Placerville Flower Market

 

Hydrangea

Flower Picture Gallery

 

Amaryllis
Canterbury Flowers

Chrysanthemum

Wedding Planning 101

 Fuchsia
Koyal Wholesale

 

Zinnia

Wedding By Design

Other Popular Fall Wedding Flowers

 

Physalis
Flower Info

Contoneaster

The Gardener

 

Kniphofia
 Can Stock Photo & Rock My Wedding

Primula

Do Mind If I Knit

Viburnum

Belvedre Flowers

 

Daphne

Home And Garden

Iris

Betsy White

Ranunculus

The Knot

Winter Jasmine

New Round House Cakes & Sugar Craft

Narcissus

Baslee Trout Man

Montbretia

Top Flowers Wallpaper

Hypericum

Flickr

Roses

Wedding Cakes Pictures

Tulips

Lately I’ve been really excited for my floral arrangement class, and I’ve been falling in love with all of the tulips around town. I decided to look up some tulip arrangements, and they are actually prettier than I was expecting them to be.

I hope I turn out to be good at the whole floral arranging thing, otherwise, it’s going to be hard a couple of months.