From Eveningsnews.com
Make Flowers Part of Your Holiday Party Plans
By
Sep 24, 2006, 20:15
(ARA) – No holiday party is ever complete without displaying just the right floral decoration. Your decorating plans may include a lot of the traditional green and red, but you can spice up your holiday table by incorporating some other flower colors – with floral arrangements that can echo your party’s culinary theme.
“Flowers add a special touch of elegance to any party,” says Jill Slater, flower designer for FlowerPossibilities.com. “They enhance the mood and atmosphere. For hosts, flowers can help set the tone of the party. Party guests can add to the aura – and make a lasting impression – by presenting the hostess with a creative gift of flowers that can easily be displayed.”
Flowers can play a role in nearly every aspect of your table décor – from memorable place cards to festive centerpieces. Here are some hints for incorporating flowers into your holiday entertaining plans:
* To create a one-of-a-kind place card for your elegant holiday dinner, consider using an artichoke and some floral enhancement to hold each place card. A graceful stem of purple freesia rises from the center of an artichoke, and the place card nestles within the leaves of the vegetable.
* Use the harvest bounty to create a centerpiece that delights both the eyes and the tastebuds. Orange-hued flowers, such as mums, carnations or even roses make a perfect foil to vegetables such as red and green bell peppers, artichoke and eggplant. Feature vegetables from the fall harvest and flowers in autumnal hues.
* For purely pretty decoration, nestle a colorful collection of fall blooms into a colander lined with cellophane. This casual centerpiece is great to showcase on your kitchen counter.
For more design ideas, or to order a free brochure about decorating with flowers, log on to www.flowerpossibilities.com.
Courtesy of ARA Content
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FLORAL RECIPES:
Petal Personalization
Materials: makes one personalized place card
* Artichoke
* 1 stem lavender freesia
* 1 watertube
* Paper placecard
* Old fashioned vegetable peeler (the long kind for carrots or potatoes)
* Floral clippers, knife and flower food/preservative
Directions:
Cut the stem off the artichoke. Cut off about 1 inch of the leaf end. With the vegetable peeler, scoop out the center of the artichoke to make a long deep hole. Fill the watertube with water that has been treated with flower food/preservative. Cut the freesia to about 3-inches in length and insert it into the watertube. Now insert the water tube into the hole of the artichoke. Write the guest’s name on the place card and allow the artichoke leaves to hold it in place.
Double Decker Decor
Materials:
*Two-tiered fruit rack
*Waterproof bowl to fit the top of the tier
*1/2 brick floral foam
* five orange spray roses
* five orange standard carnations
* 10 stems orangey/red freesia
* two green button chrysanthemums
* three stems variegated miniature pittosporum
* four stems leather fern
* five fruits or veggies for lower tier. (Slater uses bell peppers, artichokes and eggplant
* Floral clippers, knife and flower food/preservative
Directions:
Soak the floral foam for at least 30 minutes in water that has been treated with flower food/preservative. Cut the floral foam to fit the bowl; the foam should come up about 1-inch above the liner. Fill the foam-filled liner with water that has been treated with flower food/preservative. Set the bowl inside the top tier.
When arranging flowers in a round container, think of the face of a clock. Start with the greenery. First put the hour and minute hands in the center of your imaginary clock, which is really the center of the container. Next, arrange additional greenery at the quarter hours and then fill in all the hours of the imaginary clock with more greenery.
The last step is to add the flowers. This is simple. Follow the same procedure with the flowers as you did with the greenery.
Design Tip: Cut the lateral flowers off the main stem from both the spray roses and button mums. Use these smaller pieces throughout the centerpiece instead of using the one main stalk.
Now flower arranging is as simple as clockwork.
Beautiful Bounty
Materials:
* colorful colander, 10-12-inches in diameter
* approximately four fruits and/or veggies of your choice (i.e. cantaloupe, onion, potatoes, bell pepper, gourds etc.)
* six stems of liatrice
* one green Fuji chrysanthemum
* three white freesia
* three phormium leaves
* five croton leaves
* six stems rosemary
* approximately 4 watertubes, only used for chrysanthemum and freesia
* floral clippers and flower food/preservative
Directions:
To make a base, fill the colander with fruits and veggies. Inserting the flowers and foliage: Cut the liatrice at varying lengths (4-to 8-inches) and begin inserting them near the rim of the colander. The liatrice will last in the colander without watertubes- they dry in place, as do all the greens.
Fill the watertubes with water that has been treated with flower food/preservative. Cut the freesia to about 5-inches in length and insert them into the watertubes, one stem for each watertube. Also cut the chrysanthemum to approximately 6-inches in length and insert it into a watertube.
Begin inserting the greens and the rest of the flowers. It may help to think of circling the flowers and foliages to follow the interior form and shape of the colander.
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