Easter Flowers

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.