Easy Holiday Centerpieces
I am currently sitting on my couch with a bit of a cheer hangover writing this post. We hosted a wonderful Christmas cocktail party with friends last night and it went off without a hitch. I love hosting so much, but I often go overboard trying to bring my pinterest ideas to life and end up way behind schedule and stressed, and don't get to spend much time with guests because I am stuck in the kitchen or running around tying up loose ends. In an effort to change this, I decided to keep this party as simple as possible.
This was not easy for me. I ran a lot of ideas by my mom (who runs a catering company & is the BEST host in the history of the world) to get her opinions on what would be feasible while still remaining super cute and festive. I will write another post about the actual party spread, but I thought I would share these ridiculously easy centerpieces that I threw together for the table.
My personal rule with just about anything is 'when in doubt, stick to basics.' It's very tempting with flower arrangements to go crazy, but always remember, there is a reason that talented florists are SO EXPENSIVE- flowers are an art form, so if you're not an experienced professional ( I am NOT) simple colors and classic flowers will always work.
For these centerpieces, I picked up four dozen roses at Trader Joes, they were only $6.99/dozen (I wonder if my we're-not-in-Manhattan-anymore price shock will ever subside?!). I also grabbed a bouquet of holiday greenery and some of these winter berries.
The roses were already de-thorned, so I took the rest of the leaves off of them. I cut the stems so the bottom of the bulbs hit right at the top of the vases when leaning horizontally. After ruining one too many arrangements, I realized it is much better to have them a little too long than too short because you can always cut them shorter if need be, but you can't make them grow again.
Once I had the roses pretty tightly crowded together, I cut off small pieces of pine from the greenery bouquet and tucked them in around the whole arrangement. The trick here is to cut off the pieces at the bottom of the stem to narrow it where you are planning on poking it in. I did the same with the berry stems, but let them sit up a bit higher.
Lastly, I picked up the ribbon from Michaels, you want a firm but floppy one with no wire, and wrapped it around the vase three times before tying it into a soft bow.I love that these centerpieces added some cheer and some much needed height to the table. My favorite part is that they were not only simple, but also incredibly affordable for how large they were, coming in around $18 each. I'm always looking for easy and affordable flower ideas- what are your favorite flowers to decorate with?
Cheers,
JBB
