Sat 26 May 2018

Make your own floating flower displays

During the warmer months, there’s nothing better than hosting parties outdoors. If you have a swimming pool, you can put it to good use even if you’re not planning on splashing around. Floating flower arrangements are excellent for adding décor and creating a colourful theme in your garden.

What you need:

Fresh flowers of your choice (flowers with large heads are best)

  • floral foam and plastic trays

  • Polystyrene

  • Fishing line or wire

  • Metal weights

  • Hot glue gun

Instructions:

  • The size of your swimming pool will help you determine how many arrangements you will need. There is no need to overdo it. Just a few scattered arrangements are perfectly fine.

  • Start by preparing the floating base for your arrangements. This is something you can do advance so that you’re not stuck with this chore when you should be planning other things like the food.

  • Your polystyrene should be about 2 inches thick or you can glue two pieces together.

  • Take the plastic tray and put it on top of the polystyrene. The polystyrene should be a couple of inches wider than the tray to offer full floating support.

  • Use the hot glue to attach the plastic tray to the polystyrene.

  • Glue the floral foam to the other side of the plastic tray and allow it to dry.

  • Your floral foam should be dry up until this point.

  • Attach a piece of wire and make sure that it is long enough to hold a weight that will need to rest on the bottom of the pool. Do not attach the weight just yet.

  • After the glue is dry, you can wet the floral foam and drain away any excess water.

  • Now add your flowers and foliage. Larger flowers are better because these arrangements will not be within close proximity of your guests. In other words, they will be appreciated from a distance which means that larger blooms are more effective. Plus, you won’t need to use as many flowers to create each arrangement! Think about flowers like hydrangeas, gerbera daisies, and even some lilies. You can use leaves and filler flowers in between to cover up the floral foam and plastic tray.

  • When you are done, attach the weights to each arrangement and gently place in the pool. Allow the weight to sink to the bottom and it will hold the arrangement in place for the event (like an anchor).