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Local Florist’s Quick Tips For DIY Flower Arranging

We just found this great video from back in 2007 that features one of our member florists and thought I’d share! Meghan Carter, host of Ask the Decorator visits with Vickey Wenshrup of Amelia Florist Wine & Gift Shop in Amelia, Ohio to learn a few DIY flower arranging pointers.

Don’t miss the video at the bottom of this post!

DIY Flower Arranging

At the beginning of the video, Meghan asks, “How hard can it really be to make a floral arrangement?” By the end, she adds, “flower arranging isn’t as easy and you would think!” There is a whole lot more that goes into flower arranging that just putting flowers into a vase. Florists are truly artists, but also have to be meticulous in their efforts to keep your flowers lasting as long as possible. Sure you can DIY a flower arrangement, but for the absolute best results, give your local florist a call!

If you’re interested in DIY flowers, keep an eye out for workshops available in your area. Florists all over the country offer flower arranging classes where you can learn the ins and outs of creating flowers.

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Breaking The Mold in Your Floral Designs

Break The Mold With Modern Flower Designs

Robbin Yelverton is BACK with even more wise words for us flower lovers!

Sometimes when things around the flower shop are hectic, it’s easy to fall into the slump of creating the same types of arrangements over and over again. Well, it’s time to BREAK THE MOLD! Robbin is here to show us how to use the same materials we would use to create a “roundy-moundy” flower arrangement, and turn it into something more stylish!

People like to see things they’ve never seen before, whether it be film, art or flowers. Instead of ‘Oh, well that’s pretty,’ make your customers say WOW! and want to show it off to all their friends!
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Picture Perfect Floral Designs

FSN President Loranne Atwill and floral artist Robbin Yelverton, AIFD, AAF, CF, PFCI, led a hands-on workshop at the Great Lakes Floral Expo earlier this March. This workshop was a little different than the ones you usually see at state floral shows because it dealt more with photography than design. Attendees learned techniques they could use to take better photos of their floral designs.

Flower Photography Tips

Class Description:

You have a Website… now you want to put your own custom designs on it. The arrangements look wonderful, but the pictures just don’t do them justice – sound familiar? Learn great tips to making Web-worthy designs and photos in this session! You will make an arrangement in class, then learn how to photograph it for quality pictures for the Web.

No matter what skill level or type of camera, Robbin gives actionable ideas for getting the most out of your flower photography attempts.

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Creating A Butterfly Garden With Your Local Florist

Attract Butterflies With A Butterfly GardenLast week, while our team members were at the Florida State Florists’ Association Design Summit, they took a detour to visit one of our great member florist, Tim Ryan of Botaniq in Santa Rosa Beach Florida. Tim was in the middle of teaching a Butterfly Garden Workshop right there at his flower shop! You might be surprised at all the things local florists are doing these days to bring back the love of flowers in their community.

This isn’t Tim’s first workshop, he’s done: fresh cut flower arranging, orchid gardens, terrariums and more! Guests get together and learn what it takes to create a beautiful floral designs and gardens, as well as the techniques it takes to take care of them all. For the butterfly garden, guests will put together a beautiful planter filled with tasty plants for butterflies. Tim shows his workshop guests how to take their planter to the next level by adding river cane as a trellis. A simple technique that adds big impact!

So, watch Tim in action as he hosts his workshop in the video below!
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The Importance of Flowers For Cremation Urns

Cremation Urn FlowersThe iconic, casket flower arrangement has become a staple in our funeral flower traditions. Open or closed casket, the large spray of lush flowers and foliage has a way of calming our spirits in a time of loss. Beautiful flowers have a way of enhancing the atmosphere at somber events. Additionally, it gives guests something to talk about that is comforting and uplifting.

But what if there is no casket?

What if the deceased chose to be cremated, can you use flowers on a funeral urn? Absolutely! Florists everywhere are creating magnificent floral displays for funeral urns that are equally as impressive as the traditional casket spray.

Cremation flowers can be personalized to celebrate the life of the departed by using the their favorite flowers and colors. Incorporate favorite hobbies and pastimes into your flowers. If they were an avid gardener or loved to fish, use some of their equipment within the flowers to better represent them. Treat flowers for cremation urns just the same as you would in planning for casket flowers.

Below, Robbin Yelverton of Blumz… by JR Designs in Detroit & Ferndale MI walks us through creating flowers for cremation urns.



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How To: 2 Great Floral Pocket Square Designs

Just a few weeks ago, we featured a story about the new trend, floral pocket squares. Many wedding florists are offering the floral pocket squares as an alternative to boutonnieres. Floral pocket squares are a great look for weddings, proms, and special events. Here are two great styles to try today!

How To Make A Floral Pocket Square

Floral Pocket SquareTo make your pocket square, you will need:

  • Craft Foam
  • Scissors
  • Floral Glue
  • Floral Design Elements (flowers, leaves, whatever you would like to use to design your pocket square)

To make the pocket square:

  1. Cut your craft foam length way to fit into your pocket. This should leave about 3 inches for designing.
  2. Next, plan your design by laying your floral design elements in the places you are planning to put them. This way Floral Pocket Squareyou can judge if you need more flowers, foliage, etc.
  3. Begin to slowly glue down your design elements making sure to cover all the way to the edges of your craft foam.
  4. Once you are finished with your design, insert the newly-made pocket square into the suit jacket pocket and determine how much you need to trim off the bottom.
  5. Trim the bottom of your pocket square to fit inside the pocket.
  6. Watch my video above for detailed instruction!

Thanks for checking out this design technique video, find more design videos on our YouTube channel, and don’t forget to subscribe!

This post is brought to you by local New York florists.
Not in New York NY? Use Flower Shop Network’s handy directory of real local florists to find a florist near you!

Leaf/Grass Design Techniques You Can Be Proud Of!

Wire Wrapped Leaf

While I was at the AIFD Southern Conference, I noticed many designers using weaving techniques and other intricately designed tricks with their leaves. Above you see a leaf wrapped in copper wire and spiraling up three, straight Equisetum.  This is a great visual effect that gives much needed movement to an otherwise static design.

In these videos, Regina Berryman, AIFD, CFD, our lead designer here at Flower Shop Network, shows us how easy it is to spruce up your foliage with these clever tricks. The first is a slightly complex weaving technique [Read more…]

Aspects of Design: Enhancing Glass Vases With Aspidistra Leaves

Since the dawn of floral design, florists have been trying new techniques for enhancing simple, clear glass vases. Flower Shop Network’s lead floral designer, Regina Berryman AIFD AAF, shows a floral design technique that has grown in popularity. In this video, Regina explains how to use aspidistra inside a glass vase to enhance the look and appeal of your flower arrangements. Don’t forget to view the gallery below the video to see floral arrangements that use this technique.

Member florists: see information below about accessing these videos through your FSNf2f system.

To see the video and view a gallery of related flower arrangements [Read more…]

Aspects Of Design: Curly Willow

Curly Willow! Florists have been turned on to this fantastic foliage for ages, but its popularity has taken off in recent months. In the video below, Flower Shop Network explains how to use curly willow inside the vase to enhance the look and appeal of your flower arrangements. Don’t forget to view the gallery below the video to see floral arrangements that use this technique.

Member florists: see information below about accessing these videos through your FSNf2f system.

To see the video and view a gallery of related flower arrangements [Read more…]