Do you need an impact centerpiece for a special occasion (Christmas party, wedding, New Year's Eve) this holiday season? These festive topiaries are just what you are looking for. I used the taller vase to make silk floral arrangements for my daughter and son-in-law's New Year's Eve wedding.
It stands 4 1/2 feet - the topiary floral ball is 24" in diameter and sits on top of a 30" vase. The shorter topiary stands 3 1/2 feet - the topiary floral ball is 18" and sits on top of an 24" vase. But, you can adjust the height of the arrangement by the size vase you choose. I have to be honest and say this is a time consuming project. But, the WOW ambiance created by transforming an ordinary room into extraordinary is well worth it and at a fraction of the cost of a fresh arrangement of similar caliber.
MATERIALS NEEDED
Styrofoam Ball 8" - Michael's
Floral Wire (Clear) or Beading Wire (Clear) - Michael's
Plastic Ring 1/4" - Fabric Store (Drapery Accessories Section)
Metal Shish Kabob Skewer - WalMart
Silk Flowers - Michael's - If you would like to duplicate silk flowers pictured, I bought amaryllis bushes (6 flowers per bush) for 18" topiary. For 24" topiary I bought 12 bushes of amaryllis (6 flowers per bush) & 28 roses. Check Michael's website each Sunday for 40-50% floral sales.
Tall Glass Vase - *Amazon, Home Goods, TJMaxx, Marshall's, Michael's, Ross
Ornament to suspend from Styrofoam Ball to Middle of Vase - Michael's, Home Goods
Ornaments for Bottom of Vase - Dollar Tree
Artificial Snow for Bottom of Vase - WalMart, Michael's
Tape
Paper Clip
Scissors
Optional: 3 Cup Hooks & Beaded Garland (approximately 6 1/2 feet)
Alternate Decor for Bottom of Vase:
Flameless Timer Candles - *Amazon
Rose Petals - *Amazon, Michael's
*I bought most of the materials needed at discount stores - Home Goods or Michael's. But, if you aren't near one of these stores or need convenience, Amazon (which I love) sells almost everything you need to make these. I've included Amazon links below for vases, rose petals and flameless candles.
Cylinder Vase, H-24" D-5" (6 pcs)
AMAZON LINK - 28" TALL VASE (for 24" topiary ball), sold in set of 6
Clear Glass Cylinder Vase 5x28 inch 6 pieces
AMAZON LINK - SILK ROSE PETALS (white)
1000pcs White Silk Rose Petals Artificial Flower Wedding Party Vase Decor Bridal Shower Favor Centerpieces Confetti
AMAZON LINK - 6" FLAMELESS TIMER CANDLES (white)
Inglow CGT54600WH01 6-Inch Flameless Round Pillar Vanilla Scented Candle with Timer, White
INSTRUCTIONS FOR TOPIARY:
1) Gently place artificial snow in bottom of vase. Clean off any snow residue that may have accumulated on inside of vase as it made its way to the bottom of the vase.
2) Gently place ornaments on mound of artificial snow.
Please Note: An alternative to snow/ornaments in bottom of vase is a flameless timer candle
surrounded by rose petals. The beauty of a flameless timer candle is that it adds candlelight
to the inside of the centerpiece flame free. You can set the timer to turn the candlelight on
ahead of time so that you will not have to disturb the centerpiece when it comes time for the
guests to arrive. It is also ideal for year round entertaining rather than only at Christmastime.
3) To suspend ornament midway in vase, cut a 36" length of floral or beading wire.
4) Bring both ends of wire together and tie a knot about 2 inches from beginning of each end.
5) Tape the wire where the knot has been tied securely to pointed end of skewer.
6) Then insert pointed end of skewer straight through styrofoam ball until skewer end pokes out opposite side of styrofoam ball.
7) Place a 1/4" plastic ring through one end of the wire and then knot the two ends together holding the plastic ring securely in place. Now the wire cannot be pulled out of the styrofoam ball. Gently cut away tape careful not to cut wire.
8) Attach an ornament on the other end of the wire that is not knotted with the plastic ring.
9) Gently lower attached ornament into glass vase so it is suspended. Then sit styrofoam ball on top of glass vase and adjust ball until ornament is suspended mid vase.
10) To adjust suspended ornament to height desired, pull up on plastic ring until desired height has been reached. Then place a paper clip end through ring and attach it to styrofoam ball. Although plastic ring was originally at opposite end of styrofoam ball from ornament end, when you pull up ring to adjust string height of ornament you will be bringing ring down alongside of ball to paper clip it securely in place.
11) For 18" topiary - Cut stems of silk flowers to 4" in length from flower base. For 24" topiary - Cut stems of silk flowers that will cover styrofoam ball to 8" in length from flower base. Please Note: For the 24" topiary the 28 roses I used were not needed to cover the strofoam ball. They were used to add depth and interest to the topiary. So I cut the rose stems to 10" in length and inserted them evenly amongst the amaryllis after I'd completely covered the styrofoam ball with the amaryllis. The roses protrude 1-2" further out from the amaryllis.
12) Starting at base of styrofoam ball that is sitting on the outside of vase, insert stems of silk flowers 4" deep (you won't be able to see stem any longer if you are making an 18" topiary) making first row of flowers completely encircling top of vase making sure that you are leaving enough room that the flowers don't crowd each other. But, at the same time, the styrofoam is completely covered by the flowers.
13) Above that first row, begin inserting a 2nd row of silk flower stems. Again leaving enough room that the flowers won't crowd each other. But, at the same time, the styrofoam should be covered by flower petals.
14) Continue the same way for each row up until styrofoam ball is covered. There may be need for adjustment as you insert the stems to gain evenness in appearance. If you are making the 24" topiary and have finished covering the styrofoam ball with the 1st set of flowers (for my topiary it was amaryllis), now start interspersing the 2nd set of flowers (for my topiary it was roses) evenly amongst the 1st set allowing the 2nd set to protrude 1-2" further out from the 1st set to add depth and interest.
OPTIONAL: For scalloped beading, insert 3 cup hooks spaced evenly from one another into styrofoam ball where ball meets vase (bottom row of flowers).
Then scallop beading from one cup hook to the next until your beading meets back at the cup hook you started with. Tie both ends of beading together with floral wire. To secure beading on each cup hook to hold it in place I tie beading and cup hook together with floral wire.
Transporting Centerpieces: Transport topiaries separately from glass vases. I bought big round plastic tubs from WalMart to transport vases. Each tub holds about 6-7 vases and I stuffed towels in between vases so they could not tap each other and break. For the topiaries I took a large leaf size trash bag, laid the bag completely flat on the floor without opening it, placed the topiary in the middle of it, then joined all 4 ends of the bag up over the top of the topiary and loosely tied it for easy carrying. The vase and topiary are easily and quickly assembled once they have arrived at their destination since the topiary does not have to be secured on top of the vase.
Want more creative ideas? Please click below...
Pineapples & Palm Trees
~ Debbie ~
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