DIY Everlasting Floral Bouquets

Fresh flowers at home on a regular basis are beautiful but keeping up with the ongoing cost and maintenance can be difficult.   A fuss-free solution is an everlasting bouquet which can bring a splash of colour to your home  all year round.

Faux flowers have come on in leaps and bounds in recent years, and although they can never truly replace fresh, we're thrilled with the quality and realism of the blooms we stock at Pepperwhites. Read on to see how easy it is to make a show-stopping bouquet for your home that will always look fabulous. These lovely bouquets make fantastic gifts too!

Choose up to 3 varieties of flower in a harmonious colour grouping or ‘type' for a simple arrangement. Of course you can add more, however, we find the most effective bouquets include one 'feature flower', and 1-2 filler stems. Types of arrangements could include garden flowers, natives or perhaps even tropical flowers.

Your feature flower is usually your largest or most prominent flower. In our white florals bouquet, we've used peonies as the feature. You could also use roses, hydrangeas, lilies, or similar.  

A filler flower or stem is usually secondary to your main feature flower, and often smaller. Use this to fill your gaps to create a cohesive bouquet. In our white florals bouquet, we've used ranunculus as the filler. You could also add a smaller stems such as flannel flowers, wax flowers, eucalyptus, or other greenery. 

Faux flowers are often sold with stems far longer than needed to allow flexibility to display them in a variety of vases. 

Generally  you will need to bend or trim the stems for the best looking arrangements.To bend the stems, simply hold them near the vase to establish the height needed, then hook them over to suit. 

Stems can be trimmed for a neater finish, this is especially important if your vase is glass, as untrimmed, bent stems look messy. Faux stems are generally made with wire so wire cutters are great for trimming. If you use scissors, be aware that the wire in the stems may damage or blunt them. When bending and trimming, remember to make some stems a little taller for a more interesting grouping. 

We generally bend all of our flower stems to start with so that we know exactly how we want them to sit in the vase; then working one by one, we cut the stem to where the bend was, arranging as we go. 

Tip: You can mix faux and real flowers together, but in this case you'll need to add water. Be sure to seal the ends of any cut stems with a little super glue to prevent rust occurring, as the wire inside the stem will be exposed once cut.

Remember to bend and shape your flowers as you arrange them for a more natural, realistic effect. Trim away any unwanted leaves and twist the remaining leaves so the right sides face out.  Style your arrangement until you're happy with the overall effect, making sure to view it from all angles. All that's left now is to place it in position, and enjoy beautiful blooms all year round!