Flowers for Christmas

This month our speakers were Ann Heywood and Elsie Hood who demonstrated Christmas flowers. The two ladies are very talented members of Burton Flower Club. They worked together on similar arrangements, each putting their own interpretation and style onto the designs.

After the usual business, we went on to give the final reminders about the Christmas party, which is our next event. We also finalised details about our contribution to the Yoxall Friendship Tea. Many of our members are providing homemade cakes and sandwiches for this event and also acting as hostesses during the afternoon.

The ladies first arrangement started with a gold sprayed flower pot containing a white chunky candle. We were given lots of floristry tips throughout the demonstration. Candles are usually fixed to the oasis with a green holder which has to be disguised with foliage or flowers. A hot stub wire pushed into the base of the candle avoids this problem and gives a much neater finish.  Ivy, conifer and Hebe foliage were grouped together in the wet oasis. Flowers had been bought for a very modest price from the supermarket. The ladies used carnations and roses. Another useful tip is to line the pot with cellophane, before wet oasis goes in. You never know how porous the pot is. Finishing touches of tiny gold baubles and other sparkly sprigs were added to complete the arrangement, together with decorative ribbon.

Their second arrangement centred around a bottle. Ann and Elsie had sourced bottle clips which consist of a small container for oasis and an attached clip. Bottles of wine or champagne for special occasions can be decorated very effectively. Ivy or other small foliage was used to create the shape and a larger ivy leaf to create a focal point .We were encouraged to match flowers and artificial material to the bottle colour, so white roses and pink carnations were chosen to complement bottles of Perry and rose wine. This very simple arrangement looked stunningly effective.

The last arrangement of the evening was put together with all artificial material. Ann used a heart shape and attached a piece of dry oasis. She then arranged bows and Christmassy sprigs to form a very attractive hanging. Elsie's arrangement was very original. Four hard backed books- charity shop finds- had been sprayed gold, stacked up, glued and tied together with decorative ribbon. Dry oasis was fixed to the top. This was then covered with moss. As with Ann's arrangement, bows and other trimmings were then used to create a very stylish arrangement. Ann and Elsie's original demonstration was very enthusiastically applauded. They both showed how a beautiful arrangement can be achieved for a modest sum of money. We all went away keen to have a go ourselves.  Raffle ticket sales also went up this week as the arrangements were the prizes. We all eagerly anticipated the draw.