Early Fall Flower Arrangement and DIY Flower Frog

Fall is my favorite time of year and I love using flowers and foliage from the garden for an arrangement. I started with a favorite urn that I’ve had for 20+ years. The finish was a little lackluster and in need of refreshing, so I decided I give it a quick makeover with paint.

I picked up some FolkArt Acrylic Paint from Hobby Lobby.

Download their mobile app to your smart phone so you have access to their weekly 40% coupon when you shop. I started with some ‘Burnt Sienna’, dry brushing lightly over the urn. If you’re not familiar with ‘dry brushing’, it’s a paint technique using an almost dry brush (hence the term ;) to apply paint. 

Dip the ends of your brush in the paint, then blot your brush on a some paper towels or newspaper (I used the cardboard I was painting on), wiping most of the paint off, before lightly dragging your brush over the surface. Hit the raised surfaces or ‘pounce’ with your almost-dry brush like you would if you are stenciling. Start in an inconspicuous place first or practice on a scrap piece of wood.

After the ‘Burnt Sienna’ was dry, I dry brushed the urn with some ‘Camel’ to give it some golden highlights. The paint helped warm up the urn so it’s looking a little more ‘fallish’ now.

I used a favorite ‘flower frog’, upcycled from a garden center plant tray to make my arrangement. The plastic pot ring is more substantial than chicken wire for supporting flower stems and a great alternative to wet floral foam for arranging flowers as it can be reused. This particular plant tray/pot holder is 5 1/2 inches in diameter and fits snugly about a third of the way down in my urn. I used wire cutters (also referred to as diagonal cutting or side cutting pliers) to snip through the plastic tray holding the round pot ring. Wash the pot ring thoroughly before using so it’s free of any bacteria that would shorten the life of your flowers.

I used a vegetable peeler, dedicated to flower arranging, to strip the outer layer of wood to help the oak leaf branches ‘drink’ and stay fresh.

Add floral preservative to your vase water to prolong the life of your flowers. Floral preservative packets usually come with grocery store flowers, so I usually have a stockpile of them. If you don’t have any floral preservative, you can make your own with this easy formula.

Green seed pods from the Crepe Myrtles, maiden grass plumes, oak leaves, and foliage from the abelia shrubs join the Limelight Hydrangeas for an early fall flower arrangement.

Here's my arrangement on a table by the dock. More photos and details at the blog link below!