Wed 14 Sep 2016

How to make floral lights

When hosting a late afternoon or evening event, there are several matters that need to be considered. Food, beverages, seating arrangements, and décor are all important. Lighting is another important factor that can make or break the atmosphere. If your lighting is too dim, your guests won’t be able to see their food properly. On the other hand, if your lighting is too bright, it can be really hard on the eyes and your environment won’t be nearly as relaxing. If you want to add colour and just the right amount of lighting, then you need floral lights! With just a few household items, your home or venue will be beautifully lit!

You will need:

  • Strung lights (fairy lights or twinkle lights are great)
  • Artificial flowers with open and abundant petals like Ranunculus
  • A sharp pair of scissors

Method:

  • Start by resting your string of lights on your work table. You want to spread the lights out so that they do not become entangled and to make them easier to work with.
  • Take each of your flowers, one by one, and gently press the centre of the flower so that you are left with nothing but the petals, in tact, with a small hole in the middle.
  • Use your scissors to cut the hole a bit larger in the centre and, if you have plenty of petals, you can use half of the petals for one light and the other half for another light. That way, one flower can go that much further.
  • Take your petals and slide one of the lights through the hole. It’s important to cut the hole slightly smaller than the light itself or else the flower petals could end up falling off.
  • Continue with the rest of your flowers and, remember, you don’t need to decorate every light bulb. In fact, it’s better if you space them out so do every second or third light. This way you will have more than enough light and just the right amount of colour.

Decorate as many strings of lights as you need and suspend them well enough in advance. Since you are using artificial flowers, you can prepare your lights in advance and you don’t need to worry about the petals wilting. It’s also a good idea to test your lights before you start decorating them! This way, if any of the lights don’t work, you can resolve this problem before you proceed to decorate.