DiY Floral Arrangement - Day 2

Yesterday Nancy showed us an easy and elegant alternative to the simple, metal candleholder. Today she's going to teach us how to make it a bit more casual. Even though the original piece may look more traditional, she'll show us a few easy steps to creating a beachy, summery look.

*We did not use the same metal piece as yesterday. No reason in particular. They're quite similar, though this one does not have glass votive holders.

Step 1: Incorporate a base. Yesterday we used ivy. Today we're utilizing a yard or so of blue ribbon. It's got a thick, net-like texture and holds its shape well. We fastened it to the metal piece with some coordinating blue ribbon.

Step 2: In order to give it some depth, we set two orange plates around the piece. Like we discussed yesterday, this breaks up the lines of the piece, making it more pleasing to the eye. Furthermore, orange and blue are opposites on the color wheel (ie. when paired, they make each other seem brighter.) We then used a small plate stand for one plate and rested the other on the table nearby.

Step 3: Next we added some shells. We had some that were real and some that were not. We placed like-items away from one another, creating a subtle wave of height from left to right. Also note that the shells are all rather large. Trust us when we say that bigger is better. Centerpieces should be just that - the centerpiece of attention. Visually striking.

Step 4: We added some off-white beachy florals, reminiscent of seaweed. This breaks up the bold orange and blue colors as well as bringing in a rougher texture against the shine of the plates and shells. We layed most of them around/under the metal piece, tucking a few into the sides and reserving one to reach up toward a shell.

Things shouldn't look "even." Remember, this is a casual piece - it should look like these things just washed up on the shore!

And that's it! What do you think?