How to Make an Orchid in a Rustic Bowl Arrangement

A few weeks ago, I found a really great Indonesian wooden bowl at Ross. I had seen them in the past and loved their rustic look and the way they looked with plants or floral arrangements in them. I bought it ( because as all you good shoppers know, it’s better to buy it and later return it if you change your mind, than to not buy it at all, right?) not knowing exactly how I was going to use it, but knowing I eventually would in some way.

That same week, I saw that one of my favorite home decor shops was going out of business, with 70% off of everything. EVERYTHING!! We had bought our outdoor wicker furniture there about 12 years ago, and I didn’t need anything big like that, but I’ve always loved their selection of good faux floral & botanical items. Sure enough, I found some amarylis bulbs and a few orchids, then went back another day to stock up on berry and flowering branches. (Deals too good to pass up, friends!) And thus, an idea for the rustic wooden bowl arrangement was born.

Look how realistic the roots on the amarylis bulbs are! 

The amarylis have 3 “vases” built in to place a floral branch in, but I only found 2 alike at the big sale, so I picked up a third at Hobby Lobby. Not exactly like the others, but I thought that would add to the beauty. Here are the items you will need for this project:

 

• Rustic bowl or container of your choice
• Bulbs, Orchids or flowers of your choice
• Ice Pick ( if you use heavy bulbs with roots )
• Wire Cutters ( sorry, not pictured )
• Scissors ( not necessary, but I explain below if you are using bulbs like these with roots )
• Hot glue gun & sticks
• Moss 
• Floral picks ( I used 4″ picks )
• Floral Foam ( use the Dry Foam and not the Wet Foam pictured above. Explanation below 🙂 )
• Dropcloth or something to protect your work area

I decided to write a tutorial because the process from concept to creation was sort of tricky on this particular arrangement. I’ve made many over the years, but figuring out how to keep the bulbs standing upright with an orchid in the “vase” holder on this one sort of baffled me. So if you love floral arrangements, but have never made one with bulbs that have roots in rustic wooden bowls, hopefully this will inspire & help you create your own for a pretty space in your home. 🙂 Let’s get started!

The first thing I did was poke holes in the bottom of the amarylis bulbs with an ice pick. I started with 2 evenly spaced apart, then ended up adding a third. It’s a little effort, but easily accomplished. ( just don’t stab yourself in the process! ) You want a triangle-like formation with the 3 holes when you are finished. This helps the bulb stay upright better by evenly spacing them for better security.

I learned something along the way with this project, which is another good reason for a tutorial- saving you, the readers, the hassle so you only have to do it once. ( you will understand why I jumped to this point in a moment ) I used 4″ wooden floral picks with Wet Foam floral bricks. I have always used this type of floral foam for arrangements, and it never made a real difference until I used it on this project. It says on the package “for fresh flowers- just add water for longer lasting flower arrangements.” Hmm, I ‘ve never noticed that on there!  I’ve used it many times on lightweight branches and stems and it made no real difference, but there are a few different types of floral brick foams you can buy and I think maybe I should’ve used the hard green styrofoam called Dry Foam for this project. The bulbs have a decent weight to them and when I looked up Dry Foam on the Internet later, that is exactly how it is to be used! Live & learn. I ended up clipping some of the heavy wire branches off of the orchids, then using those to hold the bulbs in the foam, along with a few of the 4″ wooden picks. I think the Dry Foam would’ve helped hold the wooden picks in the bulb better, too.

Here is the general idea of how to place the floral picks, except instead of 2 picks, use one more to form a triangle. ( total of 3 )

As I mentioned before, you want to use the Dry Foam floral foam on a project like this if you are using heavy floral bulbs or branches. The concept is the same. Cut the foam into thirds with a craft or older knife. 

I had to trim a little more off after the initial cut in order for it to fit the depth of the wooden bowl.

 

Decide which way you want the front of the arrangement to go, then arrange the foam in the wooden bowl accordingly and hot glue each piece to the bottom of the bowl. Hold it in place for a minute or so. Take each bulb and secure the picks into the foam in the direction you want each one to face. 

Here is a shot of the little built in “vases” each bulb has to insert a flower or branch. I love how good the faux florals & botanicals have gotten these days, don’t you?

 

I did end up cutting some of the roots off because they were getting in the way and not allowing the bulbs to stand upright well. I left a few though because I love the way they look.

I trimmed the orchids to varying heights, then inserted them in the little vases with a little hot glue to hold them better. ( I also added some hot glue to the floral pick holes in the foam for a better hold.) Finally, I added some moss around the bulbs to cover the floral foam and give a nice touch of color to the rustic wooden bowl orchid arrangement. I like using the Super Moss Preserved in the bright green color.

I placed it in our foyer entry on the slipcovered console table. ( for my easy sofa table slipcover tutorial, click here ) I thought it would brighten this space and offer a rustic elegant touch when guests enter our home and when we pass through this area multiple times during the day. It always feels so blah after all the white twinkly lights and greenery at Christmas comes down, so this was my solution. I changed the holiday ball ornaments in the clamshell to pinecones and moved the antlers from the kitchen tray to this space. Not quite Spring, but not completely Winter…just a little in between for the next few months.

I realized I had covered up the roots with the moss, so I went back and pulled a few out for a more realistic look.

So, what did you think? Relatively easy project? Would you try making this for your home or office space?

I hope you will try making a floral arrangement like this and that some of the mistakes I made will help you if you decide to try this project! There are endless possibilities when finding containers and floral selections, depending on the space you want to use them and the look you’re trying to achieve. Formal, informal, rustic, or elegant arrangements can easily be custom made for any traditional, eclectic, cottage, transitional, modern chic, etc. space in your home with just a few materials and a little time . 

Now go and create something you love!! 🙂 

xoxo