Winter White Centerpiece

Video Transcription

It is the holidays, it's time to entertain, and it's most important to have fabulous flowers. Now's the time of year that you might think a little more luxurious, a little more fabulous, and a winter white centerpiece is perfect.

The materials, all my favorite white blooms: hydrangeas, carnations, stock, roses, cut poinsettia, and then the beautiful phalaenopsis orchid. To accent variegated holly so it picks up the white, kind of yellow, and green. And then gilded foliages; some cypress and seeded eucalyptus. The container, beautiful metal container that I filled with flex seal so that it's watertight, floral netting taped in place. And all I need to do is add water pre-mixed with flower food. The balls I've already wired and taped, so they have a wood pick and they're ready for designing. All the components set, ready to go.

To establish the base, hydrangeas are perfect. Cutting them down, removing the lower foliage, and then dipping it in alum, keeps it alive so much longer, and just nestling it down in, repeating. And then some of the holly, breaking it down using smaller bits towards the front and then larger stems coming out the side.

Next, the fabulous balls, tucking them in, feeding them through. And the wired pick will hold them right in place, making sure they hold. And I like to use all different kinds, different sizes, maybe even clusters of millimeter balls so you get a lot of contrast in the overall shape.

Adding the stalk adds a little bit of dimension and length so you can get a longer centerpiece and adds that fragrance, which is so wonderful. The white avalanche roses, a softer yellow, creamy color adds some depth. Variation on the white. The poinsettias, they've already been singed. Yes, you have to pre-treat them. You'll find it on the Tulip Tuesday Playlist on YouTube, the full instruction. Because once they're singed, you can't re-cut them, so you have to have them at the right size. And then just nestle them down into the water and then repeat until you have it just as full and luxurious as you would like.

As a final touch, tucking in a few carnations just to get a little more white, little more of a ruffle technique to it, and to ensure you've got very long-lasting flowers so it will hold well. Tucking in, then enhancing, bringing in seeded eucalyptus, letting it drape, sliding it into the netting and draping over. A little bit of the Cyprus, letting it extend outward, long and low, draping. Then the best of all, the phalaenopsis, giving it a cut, letting it rest over the top of the hydrangea.

The recipe, I started with the three Hydrangea, and then I added in Variegated Holly. I used one large stem broken apart. Then I also had for foliage and accent, the gilded Seeded Eucalyptus and the gilded cypress. For the balls, 10 assorted. This cluster counts as one. I have 10 assorted balls. Then for the flowers, five Carnations, seven of the Stock, seven of the avalanche Roses, and then five stems of Poinsettia. Lastly, one's perfect stem of Phalaenopsis Orchid.

A luxurious centerpiece perfect for the home makes you feel so special. Maybe not a tree this year; maybe you're focusing everything on flowers. What would be better than winter white? You'll find more creative inspiration on the website, flowerschool.com. If you have questions, you can reach us through there. But now it's your turn. Gather up all your favorite flowers. Maybe you want to think white. Create a centerpiece, take a picture, post it on social media, and #FloralDesignInstitute, that way we all can see what you do as you do something you love.