Sue showed how to make 3 arrangements the first was a Christmas wreath, made on a wire frame with moss - but I am going to be a little catty here (sorry) it was so much nicer than the ones they made at college (which I missed out on gladly I think) as there wasn't a bauble or bit of tinsel in sight!! Sue's were totally natural and full of lovely natural Christmas materials, much more my style (but of course each to their own).
It has moss over a wire frame, which means you get very dirty and then blue spruce which means you get very sticky (rubber gloves are useful at that stage). I've got cinnamon, holly, ivy, bark, fir cones, dried orange slices, and Malus 'Red Sentinel' (apple) and ribbon that I made a lovely bow (how come I can make bows with Sue but not at college). Very traditional, very pretty and at the time of writing this several weeks later still going strong!)
Here it is in situ on the front door ready for Christmas and you can see the berries on the ivy too, I do love this type of ivy, the traditional English ivy (Hedera helix), the berries look great sprayed in gold and used in Christmas arrangements too.
Next was a 'False Garland', that is a garland in a dish, which in a home is much more practical as garlands can dry out very quickly, especially in a warm house and you aren't running the risk of water getting everywhere! Here is mine sat on top of our very old TV but why change it when it is hardly used these days!
A closer look at the central section, overall it looks quite nice, but I may have got a wee bit too much foliage, but I love the orange rather than the red, it gives a nice alternative. This lasted really well through Christmas and I changed the carnations and kept it going for about a month all together. Again fir cones and cinnamon, this time tied with orange raffia, tangerines with cloves, a little bit of bling, holly with a few berries, cupressus and blue spruce. My scissors and fingers where sticking together by this point with all the sap from the spruce!
The highlight of this arrangement was undoubtedly the orange/tangerine carnations which Sue had found, they were gorgeous and the picture in no way does them justice. They were the most amazing colour and set the arrangement off beautifully - I cannot remember the name of them but think they may be Carnation (Dianthus Caryophyllus 'Solar oro' or 'Solar') but whatever variety -truly stunning.
And finally we made this topiary tree which I think is just fantastic, a lovely idea and again, very natural. Cinnamon sticks are secured in oasis and then into an oasis pyramid. Cocculus leaves are rolled and attached to the foam, a bit fiddly but worth the effort and then hypericum berries and cranberries were placed in between, they were the baubles on the tree.
The cinnamon was brightened up with some raffia and the oasis covered with the spaghetti like Tillandsia usneoides and by this point it was nearly 6 pm - the class had over run by 2 hours but no-one is ever in a rush to get away! The weather by this point was getting very cold and very icy. As Mike and I had to get Jamie, Mike picked me up and then we went on from Newport Pagnell to Bedford to collect Jamie and then picked my car up on the way back!
I made a couple of finishing touches to this when I got home by adding some decorative wire around the tree, it was my tinsel and added some of it the bottom to bring the colour into that part of the design. I love the red pails Sue had found and I sat in on a red plate I already had which matched perfectly and it looked lovely in the corner all over Christmas, yes it dried out, but it still looked brilliant.
A very enjoyable day indeed, and what I really needed as it reminded me that I do really really enjoy working with flowers, something I was beginning to doubt!
Ciao
Sue
XX
Reading challenge 10/16 - currently reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkhaban
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