DIY Wags and Flags Patriotic Puppy Arrangement

This DIY Wags and Flags Puppy Floral Arrangement was inspired by one I saw at my vet’s office. This is an easy and dog gone fun arrangement to create and share with someone in need of some puppy love!

I started with a stars and stripes box on clearance from Hobby Lobby.

I placed the lid on the bottom of the box so I didn’t lose the stars to pair with the stripes, and added a plastic container to the box to protect it from water and wet floral foam. Soak your wet floral foam in water and place in your container and you’re ready to begin.

Tip: When using wet floral foam, use the “float soak” method

and place your floral foam brick on top of the water. Let the floral foam gradually absorb the water until it’s fully saturated (it will only take a minute). Plunging the floral foam in the water traps air bubbles and will prohibit  the transfer of water from the foam to the flower stems.

Here’s my inspiration for my puppy arrangement. 🐾🐾

I used white fluffy carnations to create the puppy bouquet for obvious reasons. ;) Arrange the carnations in the shape of the puppy’s face and head, using two carnations strategically placed at the top of the head for ears.

Note: Larger carnations are easier to work with; depending on the size

of your carnations, you’ll six – nine stems for the puppy face and

six to eight carnations for your puppy legs, depending on how long you want  your puppy legs to be, for a total of 12 – 17 carnations for the puppy arrangement.

Once you have your puppy head arranged, cut the ends of your stems

so they’re all the same length, taping them together with floral stem wrap. Wrap the stems tightly to preserve the shape of head. You’ll only need to wrap the top of the stems to hold them together.

Floral tape or stem wrap is self-adhesive so it will only stick to itself.

Stretch it as you wrap your floral stems to activate the wax adhesive on the tape.

Place the wrapped stems in the wet floral foam at your desired height in your container. If you find your stems are too long for the placement in your container, cut more length off the bottom.

To create puppy legs, place three – four carnations in a row in the foam to form a line for each leg.

I found my animal eyes and noses at Hobby Lobby. My eyes were 15mm and noses 20mm in size.

To attach the eyes and nose, I wrapped some florist wire around the shank of each piece individually to attach them to a toothpick.

Tuck the toothpick between folds of the carnation or between two flowers. If your toothpick is too long, snap it off to the length you need to add the pick to the flower, tucking it in between the petals. 

I made some loops in some lengths of patriotic wire edged ribbon, then used a wired wood floral pick to secure the loops and tucked the ribbon picks into the arrangement.

I filled in around the puppy with hydrangeas from the garden and red alstoemeria from the grocery store. Last but not least, small American flags were added to complete the Wags and Flags Patriotic Puppy Arrangement and to celebrate the red, white and blue!

Carnations have a long vase life and will last a week or more.

To extend their life and your arrangement further, add some water to your wet floral foam periodically and spray your entire arrangement with  Crowning Glory, an anti-transpirant spray that seals in moisture and prolongs the life of your flowers.

Here is the completed arrangement with my puppy arrangement inspiration. Click the blog link below for more photos and patriotic floral inspiration. Happy Independence Day!