Joan Atwood- Artist| Educator | Crafter | Project Inspiration

     Have you ever looked at one of your silk flower arrangements and thought, “Gee, that is looking old and dusty and just wimpy?” Well, that’s what happened at my house.  I have this antique Roseville planter, which I cherish because it belonged to Barry’s grandma, and the silk flower arrangement (which I did multiple years ago) looks sad.  No doubt, it is time to do something about it.  It is looking kind of disgraceful in my living-room.  It was time to refresh a flower arrangement.

Planning for Refresh:

     I picked up some new flowers at Michael’s while visiting with Tristy and her family to work over that arrangement and refreshing its look. I didn’t buy many flowers since I knew that with a good cleaning I could reuse many of the silk flowers I already had.

 Cleaning Silk Flowers:

     So, did you know that you can clean silk flowers? They wash up lovely, but a few will lose some of their colors; so, go easy on them. The easiest way I have found to clean them is with a quick spray of water and a soft rubbing. My sister sometimes uses mild soap if they have more yuck on them. You can start with a quick spray of water to see if that does the trick. I pulled all the silk flowers out of the existing arrangement and gave them a good cleaning. Then put them on a towel to drip dry.

Supplies:  

• A silk flower arrangement that needs refreshing
• Blocks of Sahara if you are replacing it (I used the ones that were already in the former arrangement)
• Floral moss (I also used what was already there.)
• Floral tape and pics
• Wire cutters and scissors
• Additional silk flowers (color will go a long way to refresh your arrangement)
• Towel
• Dropcloth to protect your workspace

 Steps to take to refresh your arrangement:

1. Start by pulling out the existing silk flowers.
2. After that wash the silk flowers and let them drip dry on a towel
3. Next set up all your supplies on a workspace covered with a drop cloth
4. Then determine the size and shape you want for your arrangement; consider all of the viewing angles when working through the design.
5. Next, Insert the largest flowers first to determine the height and width of your arrangement. Use picks and floral tape on flowers that are too short. Hurrah, they will be just right with a little lengthening.
Finally, add the drooping leaves and flowers around the base.

Video overview of project:

 Filling in with flowers

     Begin filling in spaces between the big flowers with the smaller flowers and leaves.  Finally, fill in holes with the smallest flowers and/or leaves. After you place the new arrangement in its place, take a second look to see any holes you missed. Look at it from different angles. You’ll find that each perspective is somewhat different, so don’t fret. To look real floral arrangements should not be perfect. Add any new leaves or flowers as needed.

Final Floral Arrangement

     You’ll find that with a little effort, you’ll enjoy arranging flowers and making use of existing arrangements and changing them up to refresh their look. Keep any other flowers you may have leftover. I find that these flowers are exactly what I needed to finish another project. You can use leftover flowers in your hair or your kids, on table décor, and in other quick re-dos. You’ll have several more years of enjoyment of your arrangement after you refresh it. You may dust your flowers or even give them a quick shower to clean them in-between times.  So next time you have a dusty floral arrangement give it a refresh. 

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