Making a Dried Flower Arrangement

When the more economical florists kept falling through for my website launch party, I knew I needed to consider dried flower arrangements for the party instead.  I had a short time frame for setup, and I needed something that would last long after being assembled since I was trying to work ahead of time to accommodate my recent health challenges.  I ordered several dried flower options online to test which would be best.  By the time I decided I was going with dried lavender for the centerpieces for that event, I had missed the return deadline for the extra dried flowers I had ordered.

Since dried florals are trending this fall and are great choices during the winter months too, I decided to create a couple of dried flower arrangements for the house with the non-returnable flowers.  I have made plenty of flower arrangements with fresh flowers and even assembled the dried lavender arrangements, but this was my first time making a dried flower arrangement with multiple floral elements.

 

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How to Make a Dried Flower Arrangement

The dried flowers I had to work with were baby’s breath, amaranth in white and pink, eucalyptus, mini daisies, and caspia.  Additionally, I had an already assembled bouquet of about six dried flowers. Since I was working with two larger pieces of ironstone, a punch bowl and a slop jar, I knew I would need to combine that small bouquet with the other flowers.

 

 

As I would with fresh flower arrangements I make, I started with a vintage flower frog.  Flower frogs sit in the bottom of your container (usually in the water for fresh flower arrangements) and help you keep your flowers in place.  I have a small collection, so I just used one from my collection that had a cage structure as the spiked ones would not have worked well with the fragile dried flowers.

 

 

After placing the flower frog, I began adding dried flower stems into the ironstone punch bowl.  I tried to work with a triangle in mind, bouncing the different colors and textures around the arrangement.

 

 

The first flower I used was the baby’s breath. Then, I added the amaranth in white and pink.

 

 

Once I had some of the more stalk-like flowers in place, I used the filler flowers next.  The caspia was key in bringing the fullness to the arrangement.

 

 

I rotated back to the baby’s breath to create more fullness and balance the color of the arrangement.

 

 

Next, I introduced the eucalyptus to the dried flower arrangement.

 

 

I was not loving the shape. This punch bowl is usually filled with fresh tulips, so I am used to seeing flowers drape over the sides of it.  To bring this concept to this arrangement and make the shape feel organic and not so rigid, I had to add flowers at different heights around the edges. This step required me to trim the stems.

 

 

I trimmed the stems of the mini daisies, keeping these in bundles within the larger arrangement.

 

 

Lastly, I trimmed and added some more amaranth in white and pink.  The small bouquet I ordered was also broken up, trimmed, and added to the larger arrangement.  The shape became more rounded after that and less squared.

 

 

As you can see, making a dried flower arrangement can be a little messy.  I did have to do quite a bit of sweeping and vacuuming after arranging the flowers.  However, having an arrangement that will last months is worth the clean-up required.

 

 

I put the final arrangement in our formal living room.  My hope is to work on finalizing the décor in this room shortly after the holidays, so I will get to enjoy it quite a bit then.

 

 

Second Dried Flower Arrangement

The extra dried flowers went into a second arrangement.  I used the same steps for making the dried flower arrangement in the ironstone slop jar.  The same dried flowers were used with the exception of the small bouquet and the pink amaranth.  I wanted this second arrangement to be less colorful.  It sits in our family room on the sofa table.

 

 

Making Your Dried Flower Arrangement

Hopefully, seeing me make a dried flower arrangement for the first time will encourage you to make one as well.  Their longevity is certainly appealing to me.  I know I plan to keep these dried flower arrangements in these particular pieces of ironstone until the spring when I will switch them out for fresh flowers.  At that time, I might try some popular methods of preserving them for longer usage and switch them to other vessels.  I will keep you posted if I do.

Let me know if you decide to make a dried flower arrangement.  Tag me in your shares on Instagram @inheritedandco.  I think a dried flower arrangement would be a great centerpiece for your Thanksgiving tablescape.  You could do miniature versions with fragrant dried flowers for the guest bedroom or bathroom this holiday season.

 

Happy Dried Flower Arranging!