Flower arranging probably isn’t something you picked up in school, but our friends at Afloral make it look absolutely effortless. You may be wondering: how can the black thumbed among us have any hope? Our co-curated collection of dried and faux botanical bundles is a great place to start—and thankfully the pros are sharing their tips to crafting the ideal arrangement once you have your stems in hand. Shockingly, they make it sound actually doable. Read on for the how-tos.

 

 

The arrangements in this collection look stunning, but how hard is it to recreate them at home? Can you walk us through the steps? So far we’re stuck at getting our stems out of their wrappers.

 

It’s super simple, we promise! To start, lay all your stems out on a clean surface, like a large table or even the floor. Pull up your inspiration picture and take stock of each piece of the puzzle. Grab your tallest stem and eyeball measure it to your vase. You’ll want it to stand roughly double the height of your vase. Next, add one or two of the next largest stems in secondary positions on opposite sides of the vase. You’re aiming to create a nice balance of height and texture. Then, you’ll add your smaller accent stems and greenery to finish out the arrangement. 

 

Resist the urge to overstuff your vase, you can always add more. And if you have extras you can sprinkle them around your space in bud vases.

 

 

 

How do I know how far to trim each stem? 

 

Start tall—you can always trim more off, but you can’t go back. If the tallest stem stands twice as high as your vase, from there you want to create layers and dimensions by alternating heights, a little taller or a little shorter than what you cut last. 

 

 

 

 

I love the look of minimalist arrangements, but when I try to make them nothing seems to stay in place. How do I achieve the simple look?

 

You need to create a base for your bouquet to work from. Try gridding your vase. You just take clear tape and create a checkerboard design on the top of the vase. This provides a structure for your design, all you have to do is slip stems into the squares. It’s a cheater’s version of a floral frog (which is also a great tool).

 

 

 

Are there any rules of thumb to follow when building an arrangement?

 

The rule of thirds works wonders! You can follow it in two ways. One: create layers and height by looking at the full design in thirds. Then, always use odd numbers of florals, say three anemones versus four.

 

 

 

 

Obviously, these look great as is, but do you have any tips to shake them up a bit and update an existing arrangement to a new season?

Keep your favorite neutral element in place, say eucalyptus, and swap out the main floral for something a bit more seasonal. For example, you could remove the anemones and add poppies or ranunculus for a bright spring look.

 

 

 

Try your hand at their tips by snagging one of our arrangements. We promise it’s as easy as it’s good looking. Shop the full collection here.