I can’t believe Thanksgiving is just over a week away. How are you preparing? When I’m creating flower arrangements in the fall, I really enjoy incorporating the beauty of the rich golds and browns and the crispy textures of dried foliage and florals in my designs. I used to balk at dried botanicals as I mentally categorized them with bowls of potpourri and lace doilies (all of which have great potential in the right context). But now, each autumn I’m more and more inspired by the beauty they exhibit and I think they can actually be used to create a very modern Thanksgiving centerpiece!
BTW, I’ll be hosting a wreath workshop on December 3rd at OOLA Distillery in Capitol Hill. If you live in the Seattle area, we’d love for you to join us. We’ll be making wreaths from blue spruce, cypress and juniper to create a unique, fragrant beauty to adorn your home for the holidays, all while sipping on hand crafted hot toddies featuring OOLA spirits. Click here for more details and tickets.
Learn How to Make this Modern Thanksgiving Centerpiece with Dried Flowers
In this arrangement, the color palette is gold, brown and copper tones. We wanted to focus on some of the more traditional warm, vibrant colors of autumn, with an elevated, modern spin. You’ll see tomorrow how Joanna styled a tablescape inspired by these harvest colors! Every time we work together on a floral DIY, each piece becomes our favorite one yet. Thanks to the stunning texture and vibrant color in this fall floral arrangement, this one is the current favorite.
Materials
- Dried flowers and dried foliage — There are so many options you could use, but I used dried bracken fern, bells of Ireland and bleached preserved bunny tail grass.
- Golden Chrysanthemums
- Creamy Spray Roses
- Branches of fall leaves — we used oak branches
Tools
- Floral pruners
- Floral pillow (or floral chicken wire)
- Burnish metal vase — the one we used is vintage, but here are some similar ones:
Directions
Over the past year, I’ve really come to love using these floral pillows created by Holly Chapple. They are a great little invention that really make things a lot easier than using chicken wire. Plus, they’re reusable! I placed one inside our vase and didn’t need to use anything else to help keep the stems in place. It provides more security for the stems than a tape grid and really let me create a dramatic base shape for this arrangement using the dried bracken fern and oak branches.
Once I finished the shape, I filled in much of the empty space with some more oak and the dried bells of Ireland. Next, I created focal points throughout the arrangement with chrysanthemums, making sure to cut the stems at varying lengths to avoid any being at the same height in the arrangement. I nestled the spray roses in next and really felt like their creamy color added some crispness and dimension to the whole arrangement. For a finishing touch, I added the bunny tail grass, which I am obsessed with. It’s just so cute and really looks like little bunny tails!
The look of this Thanksgiving centerpiece is easily replicated with foraged foliage from your yard. If you’re in the Pacific Northwest, chances are you can find some incredible ferns. And don’t be afraid to incorporate other types of tree branches. I was drawn to the oak branches because of the rich hue in the leaves. Maple branches would work just as well, as would others.
While this arrangement has some fresh flowers in it, I think that creating a centerpiece with dried flowers is a beautiful and fun option for your Thanksgiving table. You can even use foraged beauties from your own yard!
As always, be sure to tag @jojotastic and @thestemmery on Instagram so we can see how our DIYs turn out for you! Joanna will be sharing them in her Instagram Stories, too. It’s always so fun to see how our tutorials are translated.
Looking for even more fall flower arranging DIY ideas and tips? Try these:
- How to Make a Hanging Floral Installation
- Modern Door Swag Tutorial
- A Golden-Hued Thanksgiving Floral Centerpiece
- DIY Hanging Eucalyptus Wreath
- A Non-Traditional Blush Thanksgiving Centerpiece
