DIY Winter Hoot Flower Centerpiece

I have a monthly blog challenge to create an arrangement using fresh flowers. For this month’s challenge I decide to create an Owl Flower Arrangement, to enjoy as a table centerpiece by our Winter Nesting Tree.

The tree is decorated with sparkling snowflakes, icy branches, pine cones, nesting birds and glittery bird nests and makes the house a little cozier and brighter through February, especially important while we're spending more time at home.

You can see more of the ornaments and tree, HERE.

To create a winter owl centerpiece, I started with some snowy white hydrangeas from the grocery store. Cut hydrangeas are prone to wilting so it’s important that they’re well hydrated before beginning. Remove the hydrangea leaves and give the stems a fresh cut, removing a couple of inches of stem at a 45 degree angle for maximum water uptake. Place them in some room temperature water mixed with floral food (the packets that come with flowers from the grocery store) to condition them for several hours after bringing them home and before beginning.

Gather the stems, positioning them to give the appearance of a head and body. Wrap your stems together, using some self-sealing floral tape to maintain the owl shape. Stretch the tape as you wrap your floral stems, which will activate the wax adhesive. Trim stems as needed and place the wrapped stems in some wet floral foam at your desired height in your container.

Some wet floral foam was secured with floral picks to my Woodland Birch Centerpiece left from Christmas, minus the original red bows, ornaments and candle.

White mums were added to the floral foam for a more pronounced ear and head shape. It looks like it could easily become a teddy bear at this point. :)

For the face details, I sprayed some mums with Crowning Glory.

Crowning Glory is an anti-transpirant that comes as a ready-to-use spray, sealing in moisture and drying to a clear finish with no residue, making it ideal for a flower crown, corsages or boutonnieres.

I cut several mums after the spray was dry and secured them with floral tape. Pine cones (cut in half) were add to the mums with floral wire to create the eyes.

I cut some maiden grass plumes for some feathery texture and owl wing details.

Bundles of the feathery plumes were wrapped in stem wrap and then sprayed with hairspray to keep the fuzzy bundles from shedding. The bundles are tucked in among the hydrangeas and a few feathery tufts tucked in the head for the ears.

For the owl talons, I cut the tips off of pine cones and hot glued them onto to a branch. The branch is propped up on the greenery and placed at the bottom of the hydrangeas.

A magnolia pod from our tree provides a beak, attached to a floral pick. It’s held in place tucked in among the mums and hydrangeas.

Here is the finished owl and Winter 'Hoot' Centerpiece. Although I used fresh flowers, you easily can recreate this using artificial flowers. Gerbera Daisies which weren't available at my grocery store in January would make great owl eyes too.

More details and photos of the table at the blog link below!