Jennifer Rouse homes writer | Posted: Saturday, October 18, 2008 10:00 pm
I've never been a Seasonal Decorator.
You probably know what I'm talking about. The Seasonal Decorator is the neighbor who always has an appropriate, tasteful display on the front porch. Maybe you can see it-something involving pumpkins, autumn leaves, and stalks of wheat-out your window right now.
The Seasonal Decorator is the person who is inspired by nature to go out in the backyard, gather some flowers, acorns, and foliage, and come inside to whip up a lovely centerpiece.
The Seasonal Decorator probably owns a hot glue gun. And has a closet containing lots of lovely containers and candlesticks and ribbons in multiple hues, so that when the season changes, new décor can adorn the home immediately.
I am not one of these people. But I confess that I wish I were.
And so, for this article, I went in search of experts and asked them to share their secrets with me, and with any readers who might share my desire to become a Seasonal Decorator.
Jim Somppi, co-owner of the White Rose Custom Floral Design in Albany, said that when you're creating some kind of tabletop arrangement, the first thing to do is pick a focal point.
"It can be a pumpkin, or a vase that you love. It can be anything, really," he said. "You might try to pick something a little off-beat. Something to set your house apart."
In the White Rose display window this fall, "something offbeat" involves a display of pumpkins-traditional for fall-but they're purple.
"It's fun to play around with deep, rich colors," he said. Another popular combination this year is pear green and chocolate, he said.
Assenna Todorova, floral designer at Michael's Crafts in Corvallis, said she likes to use non-floral items to accent her arrangements. Berries, dried grasses, or eucalyptus branches are some possibilities. "It creates a more natural look," she said.
Todorova said that when you're choosing a container, you shouldn't be limited by convention. "You can really use anything," she said. "A pumpkin with its top cut off could have flowers in it. A candleholder with just a single branch from your yard could look very nice."
Somppi also recommended looking to your own surroundings for inspiration.
"You could go really, really simple," he said. "Go see what's out in your yard. Do you have any trees turning color? Or maybe nuts are ripe right now. You could take a bowl, fill it with chestnuts, and just add a few colorful leaves."
When it comes to flowers for fall arrangements, chrysanthemums, dahlias, sunflowers and other autumn favorites are always a good bet. They can be purchased from florists or at farmers' markets, and they come in a variety of deep, rich colors. Mums, carnations and dahlias also tend to stay fresh for a long time in floral arrangements, making them a good choice for the home.
Armed with advice from the experts, I spent a total of about $8 on craft supplies and vegetables from a local farm stand. I picked mums from the flower bed near my front door, rose hips from my rose bushes, and snipped some foliage from my shrubs. Then I went to work.
Half-an-hour later and with very little difficulty, this self-proclaimed non-crafter had created a pretty centerpiece. I housed my creation in a hollowed-out gourd.
"Wow, mom!" my 4-year-old daughter said when she came into the kitchen and saw what I'd made "That's amazing."
An amazing floral centerpiece? Hand-made out of stuff I picked from my yard? Maybe I'll become a Seasonal Decorator yet.
What You Need
1. Floral foam. If you're using fresh flowers, buy the kind that is meant to be kept wet. It's available at florists and craft stores.
2. Wooden picks, sometimes known as Cowee Picks, for a company that has manufactured these items for decades. Available at florists and craft stores.
3. A container. This could be a favorite bowl, a flower pot, or anything else that strikes your fancy and is water-tight. I purchased a green squash for 50 cents at a farm stand, hollowed out the middle, and used it.
4. Something to put in the container. Flowers, fruits, vegetables, berries, grasses, leaves, branches-anything that looks pretty and says "fall" to you will work here.
What To Do
1. Cut the floral foam to a size that fits in the container. Make it about an inch higher than the sides of your container. Soak the foam in water until it's saturated, then put it in the container.
2. Start sticking your flowers, leaves and other items into the foam. Keep the stems of the flowers fairly short so they don't break when you try to insert them. Keep them clustered tightly together to cover all the foam.
3. For items that don't have a stem to stick into the foam, like fruit, use the wooden picks. Poke one end into the fruit and the other end into the foam.
4. Insert larger items, like fruits or large flowers, first. Use an odd number of these larger components; groups of odd numbers are more interesting to the eye.
5. Fill in the blank spaces with smaller flowers, leaves or foliage.
More super-simple ideas
1. Cut the top off a tiny gourd or pumpkin, hollow out the inside, and use it as a candleholder.
2. Display groups of any pretty natural item in a container that shows them off-nuts or berries in a bowl, colorful gourds in a glass jar, or stalks of dried grass in a tall vase.