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The fastest shortcut to spring? Faux florals. Yes, we love a fresh bouquet as much as the next girl, but sometimes — like when there's six inches of January snow on the ground and your local florist shop feels a million miles further away than usual — you need to get resourceful!
Plus, faux stems have a lot of advantages over their short-lived counterparts. For one, they "live" forever, without the need for fresh water changes or watchful pruning of wilting leaves. They're also a cinch to style over and over in endless combinations, since their delicate appearance stands up to repeated bending, fluffing, and stuffing into vases.
Here are three quick tips for getting the best out of your artificial stems, so you can enjoy a burst of blooms long before the spring thaw.
TIP 1:
Be really, really picky about quality.
Some the key things we look for in faux greenery for a super convincing, natural look: subtle variations in colour, wire stems, and minimal fabric (just say no to faux peonies!). Luckily, these are all easily checked off when shopping Rainsford Company's greenery collection. We're extremely selective with all the stems we bring into the shop, so you can be confident you're getting the good stuff.
TIP 2:
The "Bend and Fluff" is key.
Remember those wire stems we mentioned? Use 'em. Get handsy and bend, twist and curve your stems into natural, organic shapes. The prettiest arrangements are fluffy and full from all angles, with blooms and leaves branching out from multiple levels. (This is a case where symmetry is not your friend.) When using an opaque vase (such solid glazed ceramic, or terracotta pottery, or painted glass), you can even bend the ends of the stems in a loop to create different heights within your arrangement.
TIP 3:
Mix varieties of flowers and foliage for a playful look, or stick to one type for simple styling.
Just like with arranging real cut flowers, how many varieties you choose to combine is entirely up to you. We love the simplicity of a big bunch of one style of stem, but feel free to get creative by mixing in additional greenery, or pairing up flowers with blooms in contasting sizes. When mixing things up, pay attention to scale (try big snowball hydrangreas with petite cosmos) and colour (yellow forsythias pop even brighter next to morning glories in complimentary purple).
TIP 4:
Don't forget to dust!
Even the lowest maintenance decor isn't completely maintenance-free. For most stems, a quick rinse under the kitchen tap every so often will easily remove any sneaky cobwebs; just give them a firm shake and stand in the sunlight to dry.
