Get the Most From Your Faux/Everlasting Flowers

When a new season comes calling, it’s good to gather some new faux or everlasting flowers to style your home and transport you into it!  Rather than just plunking that new spray of flowers in a vase as is, I’ll show you how to maximize your investment and get the most out of your everlastings. Today you’ll take your faux floral arranging skills to a whole new level! Here’s how to Get the Most From Your Faux/Everlasting Flowers.

Grab a Wire Cutter

Here are 2 spring branches, freshly plucked from the store. You’ll need a wire cutter to get started.

Faux flowers usually have way more stem length than you’ll ever need. Evaluate the container you will be placing them in and cut off extra stem. These spring branches were about 3 feet long!

With the wire cutter, cut through the plastic brown or green first. If the wire is thick you may need to squeeze the wire cutter while bending the stem back and forth until it snaps.

Next, evaluate the pieces that make up your floral spray:

Separate Sprays into Smaller Sections

Many times it is easier to arrange your flower arrangement with individual stems. You have more control over the height and placement of each piece. You can separate the pieces into more vessels which will also give you more bang for your buck!

Often it is cheaper to buy a bunch of flowers than individual stems; once you cut them up, you’ll have more material to work with.

Cut each stem off the main branch.

Relax and Bend Each Branch with Your Fingers

Take a look at the branch.  It’s totally straight, fresh from the factory, right? Does that look natural? Not a bit! Nothing in nature is completely straight. Take each piece, and working from the bottom up, relax and bend the branch this way and that with your fingers. You can put small or large bends in the stem; anything will make it look more natural than factory straight. See the difference in the two branches in the pic above? Now you’re a professional!

To assess all your variables for your arrangement(s), arrange your stems by size {I do the same when I am arranging my outdoor “Spruce Tips“}. You can use everything from the longest lengths, right down to some of the flower heads that fell off.

For More Impact, Spread Your Florals to More Containers

Instead of placing these all in one vase, I’m going to spread them to a bunch of small, vintage glass vases. Using many small vessels can have more impact than one larger, oftentimes using the same or less of your flower material. I decided I wanted to use my collection of brown glass bottles this spring, along with color tones of whites, greens and blues.

I lined up all my little bottles in my favorite vintage chicken feeder on my kitchen wall. Then I placed river rocks in the bottom to keep the vases from tipping and for texture. I placed at least one branch in every vase, putting the tallest in the middle and the shortest on either end, visually a triangle shape. {see how to create a triangle shape display in “Styling a Shelfie Tips”}

For an added botanical touch, I tucked in some succulents in the rocks. And every spring arrangement deserves a little bird!

It’s so nice to enjoy a fresh, springtime display! And so fun to add some pretty to my “Feedsack Furniture”.

Add Some Live Foliage to Your Fakes

If you wanted to add some live forced branches to these plastic stems, simply trim some of your spring-blooming bushes and place them in the vases with some water. After a week or so the buds will pop out and then some fresh, little leaves will form. Your fake flowers will look even more real when paired with some “live” material.

Next time you’re shopping the box store for seasonal blooms, remember you’re not limited to keep the bunch you buy in it’s factory-fresh state. Use these tips to maximize your investment and your creative possibilities! Make the most of your faux/everlasting flowers, and you can enjoy them now and when the season rolls around again!

Spring Fever? If you give in to the flower craving when you’re out shopping like me, check out this post, “Get a Big Bang from your Box Store Bouquet”. Next time you pick up some new, seasonal florals, or even bring out the ones from last year, I hope this Get the Most From Your Everlasting/Faux Flowers post will help you!

Sharing at these lovely parties:

Farmhouse Friday

Thursday Favorite Things

Feathered Nest Friday

DIY Salvaged Junk Party