There’s nothing like a fresh flower arrangement to liven up a room or add a touch of elegance to any dinner table. Having a beautiful centerpiece doesn’t have to cost you a fortune at the florist, all you need are a few flowers and a little creativity.
What you need:
- A dozen roses
- A short vase
- A pair of sharp scissors
- Fresh cold water, enough to fill 2/3 of the vase
Before you start creating your arrangement, you’ll want to prune each rose. Cut off all of the leaves on the stems and check the blossoms to gently remove any wilted or damaged petals.
Fill a clean vase 2/3 of the way up with cool water. If you’re bouquet came with a packet of flower food, you may add it now. If you don’t have any flower food, you can add a penny to the bottom of the vase. The copper in the penny acts as a fungicide and will prevent the growth of bacteria and fungus in the water, but beware! Pennies minted after 1996 are made up of mostly zinc or steel with a thin copper coating, so try to find one dated prior to that year.
Hold the rose upright next to the vase to measure where you’re going to make your cut. You’ll want to cut the stem at a length equal to the height of your vase plus 3-4 inches. With your scissors, make the cut at a 45 degree angle; this allows for a larger exposed area of the stem to uptake water. Arrange your roses in the vase so that they sit closely and tightly together and form a nice dome shape. If you find that the roses sit too loosely, try placing them in a vase with a smaller opening or, if you can, add more roses to the arrangement.
Voilà! You’ve just created the perfect flower arrangement for your dinner party! They are beautiful and elegant, but small enough so that everyone can see each other when they look across the table. Your guests will definitely take notice and surely appreciate the added thoughtfulness of fresh flowers, because nothing says “I care” like a bouquet of roses.
xoxo
Picture by Julia C. Vona
