Handmaker of Things

DIY Magnolia Garland or Holiday Swag

Magnolia leaves are a classic staple in the floral world, and it's no wonder. They're so versatile with their combination of both waxy and velvety textures, plus they're hardy as heck, which is always a plus for creating beautiful decor pieces. Magnolia garlands and wreaths can actually be kept for years, and while they will fade and dry, will retain their shape, and can be sprayed any color your desire.

Since the leaves are so large, they really fill out a wreath, garland, or swag nicely, and integrate seamlessly with evergreens and traditional holiday elements. Today I'm going to show you how to use magnolia leaves to create a garland or holiday swag. This step by step is great because you can use it anytime of year to make any kind of garland you want. The technique is almost always the same no matter what foliage you're working with! Plus you need a very minimal amount of supplies. For reals, when I show you how to do it, you will want to make garlands all day, everyday. 

Modern Thanksgiving Harvest Arrangement Step by Step

If you're hosting Thanksgiving this year, your decor may be the last thing on your mind. Or maybe you really want to create beautiful centerpieces but you aren't sure how? Have no fear friends, I'm here to share the step by step of how to create this colorful, textural, modern Thanksgiving Harvest Arrangement for your table. Using elements that can all be purchased at the grocery store will save you time, and veggies and fruits make great, inexpensive fillers for an arrangement!

How To Make a Fall Floral Spray

It's officially the holiday season which means it's time to decorate, decorate, decorate. Nothing gets me more in the spirit of the celebration than decorating our home, and of course that usually involves beautiful fresh flowers. Today on Periscope I shared a DIY on making this textural fall floral spray. It was my first time teaching live, and I wanted to be sure to have the instructions up here too, just in case I missed anything.

 

Floral Design for Fall Entertaining Workshop

Much like everyone else in the midwest, I love fall. It's those few months of the year that we get a break from the blazing heat of summer, and bitter cold of winter. So obviously I absolutely had to plan a fall/halloween themed floral workshop. And what says fall more than making floral arrangements in pumpkins? Nothing that I can think of! 

 

Everyday Flowers: DIY Fall Floral Wall

I've been having such a great time coming up with fun floral DIY's to share, and much like the framed flowers I shared recently, this one is crazy easy, but makes a beautiful statement for an event. I used the blooms from September's collaboration with Nickel and Suede, rich fall colors and lots of texture, so gorgeous. 

 

A Halloween Floral Recipe + Collab with The Makerista

I've been working on some fun Halloween projects this year, which I usually don't get into until October. I have to say though, its definitely putting me in the mood for one of my favorite fall holidays, and I've been super inspired. One of these projects is a collaboration with my friend Gwen, of The Makerista. When she asked me to help her with some floral styling for her Halloween home tour I obviously said yes. She's got the most gorgeous style (just check out her daughters birthday party), and working with her is always such a joy. 

You'll have to pop on over to her site to see the finished project (so beautiful), but what I'm sharing with you today is the floral recipe for these dramatic arrangements we used to add a little touch of color to her mostly neutral dining room. Moody florals are all the rage these days, and I love playing with these deep, dark hues.

Here's the recipe of blooms and foliage I used to create these pieces from left to right: smokebush, nandina foliage, blood red roses (called "Hearts"), astilbe, chocolate queen annes lace, agonis foliage, and not pictured hanging amaranthus and chocolate cosmos.

Although knowing how to put together a beautiful arrangement is important, it's the ingredients that make it up that are absolutely vital. Knowledge about flowers is the best tool any designer of floral enthusiast can have in their bag of tricks.

The chocolate cosmos are just beautiful. I love their deep rich color, about as close to a natural black flower as you can get. But the real star was the blood red roses. I saw them at the wholesaler and I just could not pass them up. Too perfect for a halloween shoot. 

Head on over to The Makerista to see Gwen's gorgeous dining room tour, and check out these beauties in action with her spooky halloween set up (plus another DIY with flowers she put together). 

xo - Emily

Don't forget to share your floral DIY's with the hashtag #handmakerofthings or tag me @emmyray!

Framed Flower DIY

It's no secret, fresh flowers are the easiest way to make any event special, but when you're running around like a crazy person getting ready to host a party, sometimes they're the last thing on your mind. Even as a floral designer I've bought flowers for events that never end up getting arranged (sad to say). Today I wanted to share what I think is one of the simplest floral DIY's ever. It makes a gorgeous visual impact, and you can even do it before your event to help save time. 

Here's what you'll need:

• An empty frame.
• Foam board cut to go inside your frame.
• Packing or duck tape.
• Large corsage pins. I like to use these because they're extra long.
• Flowers: The number of blooms you'll need will vary greatly depending on your frame size, flower size, etc. I used an oval frame, about 8x10 in size, and about 20 blooms. Larger blooms like roses, or carnations will fill in quicker. 
• Floral sheers or heavy scissors.

You'll need to prep by backing your frames with foam board. Cut the foam board to the correct size to fit inside the frame and then tape it to secure it. You can also cover your foam board with scrap book paper or fabric, as I've done here, for an additional decorative touch.

Taking your sheers cut your flower heads off the stems. Cut as close as possible to the head of the flower. 

Push one of your pins through the center of the flower from the front to the back, until it pokes through the bottom. These pins are great because not only are they super long, but also pretty, and you can get them at any craft store in the floral section. 

Push the pins into your foam board, and layer your flowers alternating colors, and sizes. You'll find that some flowers sit lower to the board and others are taller, so play around, the blooms are easily removed and re-positioned. 

**Take note, the pins pierce through the back of the foam board, so don't poke yourself in the process. 

You can do this project the night before your event too, and keep your finished frames in your fridge overnight (I'd suggest doing a fridge test first). Using hardier flowers like carnations, roses, and mums will also get you a longer lasting display. You could also easily replicate this project with fake flowers, just use hot glue instead of pins, as I did in this floral letters DIY.

And that's it, so easy, right? Style your frame however you please. You can use it on a tabletop with a stand-up easel as I've done here, or hand it on the wall. Can't you just picture a gallery wall covered with frames full of flowers? This would make a perfect DIY wedding ceremony backdrop too, don't you think? 

I hope you'll try doing your own framed flower DIY for your next event to create a gorgeous display. If you do, be sure to share and tag your post #handmakerofthings. I always love to see what you create! 

xo - Emily

Everyday Flowers: How to Make a Basic Greenery Wreath

I'm continuing with part two of my collaboration with Nickel and Suede (here's part one if you missed it), and it's a simple floral DIY that I think everyone should have under their design belt. Greenery wreaths are so easy to create, and they're something you can use to decorate anytime of year, no matter what the season. The principals are always the same, pretty much no matter what type of greens you're using. 

Here's what you'll need:

• Floral sheers or heavy kitchen scissors.
• Rafia wrapped wire, or a heavier type of wire. This will be the support structure for your wreath.
• 24 or less gage paddle wire (both of these types of wire should be available at any craft store).
• Greenery. For this wreath I'm using Italian Ruscus. It's sturdy, but flexible, and also very hardy out of water, so it'll stay fresh looking for days. 
• Optional: blooms to tuck into your wreath. 

First we're going to make the base of our wreath out of our raffia wire. Decide how large you want your wreath (I wouldn't recommend going over 12 inches in diameter with this type of wire, or it can get a little floppy). Cut your wire about three or four inches longer than you need it, and then wrap the two ends together. 

Cut your greenery down to smaller pieces. You don't want them too small, but not too long either, or it makes them harder to work with. I cut mine about 6 or 7 inches in length. 

Begin by laying one piece of greenery on your wire base, and wrap it with your smaller paddle wire. Layer your greenery by continually laying more stems, and wrapping wire moving around the base as you work. 

Continue wrapping and layering until your reach your starting point. Finish off by securing the end of your paddle wire to your starting wire, and you're done! Add a few blooms to your wreath if you desire by tucking them into your wire loops here and there. Your greenery will most likely outlive your blooms so pull them out when they wilt, and refresh with new ones. 

I hope you'll give this simple floral technique a try. Learning how to make a basic greenery wreath is something that you'l be so happy you know. It's a great way to add decor to your home in a pinch, especially with the holidays coming up. A big thank you to Nickel and Suede for letting me take part in this collaboration. I'm so excited about Septembers post already guys, so be sure to come back and check it out! 

xo - Emily

Make sure to tag your projects #handmakerofthings or @emmyray. I love seeing what you guys create! 

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This post has been moved. Please find it now on my new baby and kid focused blog, Hazel & Ollie. There I'll be sharing all kinds of inspiration from nursery decor, kids fashion, maternity and new born shoots and more! 

Back to School Apple Vase DIY

Ahhhh, it's that time of year once again, back to school. I know I have such fond memories of this time of year from when I was a kid. Getting to see your friends after summer, meeting the new kids, and your teachers for the first time. I was a teach for two years, and I definitely got lots of awesome gifts, most of them food (hey I'm not complaining). But if there's one thing I would have loved it would be fresh flowers. I thought that this adorable, and super easy back to school apple vase DIY would be a fun project for the kiddos to bring to their new teachers (and they can help you with it too).

Here's what you'll need:

• Flowers. You don't need a lot, just a few colorful blooms.
• An apple.
• A sharp knife
• Melon baller or spoon. The melon baller works great, but a spoon will work too.
• Floral wet foam.
• Shears or heavy kitchen scissors.

Cut the top off your apple, then carefully cut a circle in the center with your knife. 

Scoop out the inside of the apple with your melon baller or spoon. Be careful not to get too close to the edges or you might poke through the skin. I hollowed mine down about 1 1/2 inches.

Cut a small piece of your floral foam from the brick and soak it in water. (Don't soak the whole brick, you can use the rest later for another project if you don't wet it). Once it's soaked trim as needed and put in the apple.

Take your blooms and cut them off so that they have just a little bit of stem left, about 1 inch or so. If your kids are little have them choose which flowers to have you add to their arrangement. Older kids can create their own designs.

Begin putting your blooms into the foam. I usually like to start with my foliage first, then add the bigger flowers, and then the smaller blooms last.

This is a project that you can definitely do the night before school. The wet foam is a water source for the flowers, so you don't need to worry about them wilting or dying. 

That's it! Now send your kiddo to school with their adorable gift. Trust me, their teacher will love keeping this cute little arrangement on their desk.

xo ~ Emily

I hope you'll give this project a try. I'd love to see what you create, use #handmakerofthings if you share on your social media. 

 

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