As one of our art projects last week, the kids painted sheets of bouquet paper and then created their own flower arrangements to deliver to neighbors. It was a great way to get creative for an afternoon and would be a fun activity for May Day too! Plus I’m finding that fresh blooms are one of those small pleasures that makes our current, everyday routine feel a little extra special and happy. You know?
We are lucky enough to live right down the street from Teressa Johnson who is the creator and maker of a floral design studio and who also happens to have a yard full of pretty blooming plants and foliage. Since we don’t have much happening in our new yard quite yet, she was sweet enough to share. I love how she mixed stems, branches and even some herbs. Several years ago Teressa helped me with these DIY Mother’s Day arrangements and included a few tips for finding stems in the “wild” that might help with this project too — I’ll paste below. Trader Joe’s is my other favorite place to finding fresh floral fixings.
HOW TO MAKE FLORAL ARANGEMENTS – tips from Teressa!!!
- Cut your stems at an angle so there is more surface to soak up water.
- If deciding on a color palette feels overwhelming, keep it simple by sticking to two colors. Greenery is considered a neutral.
- When blooms are sparse create an organic look by using only foliage.
- Use what you have or, what your neighbors have! Don’t be shy. If you spy something pretty in the neighbor’s yard, bring over a plate of cookies, compliment their blooms and ask to forage a few stems. It’s a great way to meet the people living around you and strike up a conversation.
- Last but not least, don’t take it too seriously — it’s not a science and should be fun and playful!
Teressa shares lots of inspiration and ideas on her blog if you want to check it out and for those of you that are local she will also be starting up her subscriptions again!!!
Here’s how we mad our pretty arrangements!
DIY May Day bouquets
You’ll Need:
- Roll of Kraft, butcher or other white paper
- Craft paint (or other paint, markers, etc.)
- Paper towels, plastic bags, + twine or rubber bands for your stems
- Flowers + Foliage
- Gardening scissors or kitchen shears.
Here’s How:
- Cut roll of paper into 2×2-foot squares — you can go smaller (approx 18-inches) or bigger (3-feet) depending on size of bouquet.
- Paint designs on paper and let dry.
- While the paper dries, make floral arrangements. Clip stems as needed, wrap in wet paper towels and cover with a plastic bag. Secure with twine or rubber bands.
- Laying arrangements at the top corner of one of you squares of paper (pictured blow), fold paper around your flowers… I’ll post a video of how we did it on stories today, but I like to fold the left corner over, then the bottom — folding under any overlapping edges — then the right side!
- Tie a ribbon or twine around your paper and then deliver to friends, family, or neighbors!
Who would you like to deliver some happy flowers too!?
Let me know if you have any questions!
xo, Rae
PS — here’s another May Day project to checkout, or a simple flower crown!
Those are darling!