Personally, in the months between frosts I yearn for blooms to bring into my house. I love to design with flowers to freshen up my home with the smells and sights of nature. Creating a design brings me into a meditative state and connects me to nature. During these dark months of the year, you should treat yourself as well.
You don’t need to just use flowers for your design, or even a container. Grab some blooming (or not) branches, snip some leaves off your indoor plants, use wire, rocks, grasses. Using only one variety of flower also makes for a beautiful, modern look. Scotch tape is helpful for placing stems in your container, and don’t be afraid to design asymmetrically! Now is not the time to worry about shape and structure, but to be mindful.
If you would like to make a flower mandala, you just need a flat surface and hopefully a non-windy day if you are making your design outside. They typically are started with a center with petals and foliage radiating out from the middle symmetrically. This is a great project to make if you have foraged your items from nature or if you have flowers that are coming to the end of their vase life.
The left and center photo comes from my friend Rebecca's Instagram page @lovesreading and the one on the right is my own. Rebecca likes to celebrate the solstices and change of the seasons by creating a mandala with items in season.
I have listed some of my favorites books that the library owns or has access to online for designing in containers:
Floret Farm's A Year in Flowers
Also, I search these hashtags for inspiration #floraldesign #modernflowerdesign #europeanflowerdesign #rusticflorals #flowermandala.
You are the designer. Relax and challenge yourself, but please don't glitter or spray paint the flowers! Doing so is called gilding the lily. Flowers are already perfect.
-Angela Longhurst is an Accounts Assistant at Lawrence Public Library.
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