These are the
gorgeous flowers we arranged at my workshop a couple of days ago on Maundy
Thursday. The workshop was based around the idea of using up-cycled containers
as vases. Below are some of the flowers at the start of the workshop, together
with a few examples of different containers I had made from the flotsam and
jetsam of life.
We had some
lovely flowers from Clowance Flowers in Cornwall to work with – pink and yellow
ranunculus, white narcissi, pretty snowdrops (the last of the season), pink
tulips and splendid yellow irises.
The concept
of up-cycling is that you take some used item and enhance it so that it is
transformed into something else. This is different to re-cycling where used
glass, tin, paper etc. are taken through an industrial process to make them
into something else that feels new. Up-cycling is more of a craft activity and
uses less resource in the transformation process (and is better for the
environment). For the workshop I had painted tin cans, covered juice cartons
with pretty paper, stuck some lace onto a yogurt pot and tied some ribbon to a
small jam jar. As the containers are all of different sizes and shapes, I used
colour and the same lace/ribbon to add consistency across the arrangements so
that they looked as though they belonged together.
Here is a
close-up of the individual pieces:
I was really
pleased with this workshop – the arrangements looked so pretty and so did the
containers. This approach can work really well for a party or a wedding because
you can customise the vases to fit the look and colour scheme you have chosen
for very little money (but quite a lot of labour!). Up-cycled containers also make lovely presents when you fill them with flowers
– the person receiving the gift doesn`t have to go searching for a suitable
vase and they get the bonus of a container which you have made yourself. Finally, I would
like to wish you all a happy Easter and share this pretty little jug filled
with simple narcissi and foliage. We will be using this yellow and green
crockery at the next workshop in May which is on the theme of vintage flowers.
