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Kirstie's Handmade Britain
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How To Make A Petite Flower Arrangement
Inspired by the petite flower arrangements featured in Kirstie’s Handmade Britain? Here’s how to create Fiona's winning entry.
By Fiona Hammond
Selection of small foliage, flowers, berries, seed heads
Container – a jam jar lid, eggcup, liqueur glass, porcelain pot. Maximum dimension should be about 10cm
Floral foam (suitable for fresh flowers)
Small knife to cut
A base to go under the arrangement – slate or a slice of wood, for example
An accessory in scale with the arrangement
Small needlework scissors
Tape measure
Water sprayer
Tweezers
Skill
A beginner could tackle this craft easily.
Budget
Depending on how much foliage you can grow at home yourself, the arrangement shouldn’t cost more than £10 to create.
Time
Beginners should give themselves up to an hour to create the display. Those more experienced could create this in under half an hour, not including planning time.
Step One: Prepare The Foam
Cut a piece of foam to fit the container. Only experience will help you here – if it's too small it may crumble when all the stems go into it, and if it's too big it may take a lot of material to conceal it – making the arrangement too heavy. Drop the piece of foam onto a bowl of water and let it soak up the water. DO NOT push it down. The degree of saturation will be obvious – it turns a darker green and should only take a minute or less.
Step Two: Fit The Foam
Fit the foam into the container and make sure it’s secure – it might be necessary to fasten it neatly with some narrow floral 'pot tape'.
Step Three: Position The Decorative Base
If using a decorative base, position the container on it. The base should enhance the arrangement and must not dominate. Remember: plant material should always predominate over all other components in show work.
Step Four: Place The Accessory
If using an accessory, place it in the design at this stage and try to incorporate it by building the plant material around it.
Step Five: Form The Design's Framework
From the foliage selection, use dainty, linear pieces to form the framework of the design – checking they do not exceed the space given in the schedule.
Step Six: Fill In The Outline
Use another type, a little more dense in form to start to fill in the outline. Use tweezers to place the stems accurately. Having cut each stem a little longer than required, push it into the foam until it feels firm. Try not to replace too many stems – each time one is taken out it leaves a hole in the foam which weakens the structure.
Step Seven: Add Larger Leaves
Some larger leaves should be used in the centre of the design to add visual weight and help conceal the floral foam. In a traditional style design all the stems should appear as if they are radiating out from the centre.
Step Eight: Add The Flowers
Now for the flowers… use a few of the most dominant ones in the centre to create a strong focal point, and build up the design using some other materials. Always have in mind that this is a 'petite' design, so don't overstuff it.
Step Nine: Check The Display
Check that all the floral foam has been concealed. Check all the dimensions carefully. When happy, spray with water. Remember to wet the foam and spray regularly.
Step 10: Doublecheck The Rules
The exhibit should not exceed 25cm (9.8in) in width, height and depth (this measurement does not include the diagonal). The scale of all components is particularly important. The entry should appear as a petite version of a larger exhibit.
- Tweezers are a useful aid to hold and place plant material into the floral foam in an exact position.
- Make sure all fresh plant material is well conditioned - pick foliage and flowers the day before you need them and give them a drink in water treated with flower food to improve their lasting qualities. If using previously untried garden flowers, do a trial run the week before - some small flowers are just too delicate to last or their stems are too weak, and some just don’t like being in floral foam.
- Check measurements carefully. Use thin pieces of plain card to cut out a base footprint and background to the exact maximum size permitted and use these to ensure the design is well within the limits – remembering that some plant material might move before judging.
- Scale and proportion are especially important in a petite design. Ensure containers and accessories are not disproportionately large or small, and indeed that flowers and foliage do not look clumsy within the space.
- For more information on competing in floral art competitions, to obtain specialist leaflets on particular aspects of floral art or to find out about flower clubs and events near you please contact the National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies.
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