Create a Sunflower Arrangement on a Tray
7 Materials
$16
1 Hour
Medium
Sunflowers convey warmth and symbolize adoration, loyalty and longevity. They have a cheery sun-like appearance with their open faces framed by yellow petals, also known as “rays”. Who doesn’t feel instantly happy when they see a sunflower?
I can almost always count on the grocery store having a bundle of affordable sunflowers no matter what the season and can't resist adding some flowers to my shopping cart!
To build my arrangement, I started with an enamel handled tray and wet floral foam.
I placed the wet floral foam on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any excess water. Trim your wet foam bricks with a knife to fit your container or tray. My wet foam is wedged tightly together in my baking sheet so they were secure, but use waterproof floral tape and tape the foam to your container if needed to keep it in place.
To keep the baking sheet from slipping on the enamel tray, I used a favorite trick, applying some denture adhesive cream to the bottom of the baking sheet. I keep a tube on hand and use it for nonporous surfaces to secure them temporarily.
I’ve used denture cream for candle holders to keep tapers upright as well as on the bottom of an appetizer cone to adhere it to a cake plate to keep it from toppling over.
Note: I’ve only used Fixodent brand denture cream on metal and ceramic/porcelain surfaces. Avoid using it on a hand painted surfaces and test in an inconspicuous area first if you're uncertain before applying to be safe.
I started with the some greenery I cut from the shrubs to build the arrangement.
Cut your greenery in the morning when the stems are fully hydrated and not water-stressed from the heat. To keep your foliage and greenery from wilting, condition it first, allowing it to sit in a bucket of room temperature water and some floral preservative overnight, or at the very least, several hours. If you don’t have any floral preservative you can make your own using this easy formula.
In addition to some greenery from the shrubs, I cut some coleus from the planters to enjoy the burgundy foliage as a contrast to the sunflowers.
When using wet floral foam, use the “float soak” method and place the floral foam bricks on the top of a solution of fresh water with floral preservative. Let the floral foam gradually absorb the water until it’s fully saturated. Plunging the floral foam in the water traps air bubbles and will prohibit the transfer of water from the foam to the flower stems.
I added the sunflowers next to the arrangement as focal flowers and then alstroemeria as filler flowers. Additional greenery came next; I used a combination of variegated foliage of the abelia shrubs and burgundy foliage of the lorepetalum.
Add water daily or every other day to your wet foam to help your flowers and arrangement stay hydrated and fresh.
More photos and details of sunflowers on the porch at the blog link below!
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
Comments
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2 of 3 comments
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Beautiful :)
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Yes this is very Beautiful !!!
Frequently asked questions
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Do you leave the fixadent on there to keep it secure and can you take it off if you want to use the tray for a future project