5:41 PM

A Winter Centerpiece Using Dried Orange Slices

I hope that you will indulge me one more time as I present this last winter floral arrangement before the month of January ends. (I know...I am cutting it close!)

For some reason I have been obsessed with dried orange slices lately. I just loved them for decorations during the holidays, and I really wanted to try them in a flower arrangement.

The idea came to me as I thinking of ways to offer a fun and beautiful product in my flower cart for the month of January. (I missed out on December because of being overly busy with Christmas.) I wanted something other than flowers that would withstand the frigid cold. Dried orange slices and pinecones seemed to fit the bill. Unfortunately, January was very busy for me also with family birthdays, one being my own. Next came snowstorms that made it difficult if not impossible to move the cart up and down the driveway. So, my hopes were dashed in that respect but, I still wanted to make an arrangement with dried orange slices for myself.

I finally was able to make the arrangement this week and I really am enjoying the results. Blissfully, I have flowers all over the house thanks to the thoughtfulness of my children. My daughters brought bouquets of flowers to me for my birthday last week and now I have this winter arrangement that I created a couple of days ago to enjoy, as well. Flowers really do bring joy and beauty to life!

But I digress~ Onto the winter arrangement!

I am not going to show you my process because I think that gets boring after a while. I have posted on other occasions and shown the process before. However, I will show you how I used wire in this centerpiece instead of oasis.

I took coated wire and shaped it into a ball of sorts. I only use coated wire now because one other time I used the uncoated kind and found that my flowers changed color and died quickly. Through a florist I follow I learned that the uncoated wire can rust the water and the eventually the flowers. So, I will never use that kind again. I am keeping a close eye on this arrangement to see if any funny stuff happens. I will let you know if it does :).

Next, I secured the ball of wire to the container with waterproof florist tape. I then filled the container

with water using a pitcher.

THE ELEMENTS OF THE ARRANGEMENT:

A Metal Pedestal Container

Dried Orange Slices

Sea Holly

Silver Dollar Eucalyptus

Variegated Pittosporum

Evergreen from My Yard

Pinecones

Two Cinnamon Sticks Wired Together

You can see some of the elements below.

This is the Variegated Pittosporum

The oranges slices and sea holly and, of course, the pinecones~

The cinnamon sticks were a textural addition. If I wanted to get more food inclusive, I might have added in some whole walnuts but, I didn't have any in the house. Maybe next time.

This was the finished product ↓. I really should have made it earlier in the month but, it is pretty anyway. This arrangement could work for Thanksgiving if you changed out the evergreens for leather leaf or some other greenery.