Personalized Floral Arrangements

Personalized Floral Arrangements "made to order" add a new twist to a tried and true “pick up me.” Everybody loves receiving a bouquet of flowers. Like a breath of fresh air, a bouquet of spring flowers has the ability to cheer us up and bring a smile to our faces – no matter how grumpy we might be. Smiles are even bigger when we receive flowers that have been personalized by taking advantage of our own personality traits, individual likes and dislikes, and the things that make each of us who we are: quirks.

Bouquets can be displayed in everything from bed pans to big shoes or boots, to roller skates and a malt glass. The key is to figure out what type of container would put a smile on the recipient’s face.

Personalized Floral Arrangement Suggestions:

• If the flowers are for your father, who is a retired Army general, for Father’s Day, perhaps a pair of old army boots would be best.
   
• If you need something for your mother for Mother’s Day, perhaps you might look for a pair of Go-Go boots, like the ones she wore when she was your age. Once you find them, fill them with wadded up newspaper to make them stand on their own. Then insert a vase with long stemmed roses and a bit of chocolate.
   
• How about a nurse? I say fill a bed pan with flowers, her favorite candy and then add a bit of humor. Maybe a couple of those candy-filled needles, a sponge, and a couple of coupons for “hospital food.” Stick everything onto a skewer and shove the opposite end into the potting soil. What nurse wouldn’t get a kick out of a floral arrangement in a bedpan?
   
• Is the floral arrangement for your brother-in-law who has been down with the flu for the past couple of days? Is he a cowboy or does he have a secret passion to be a cowboy? If so, pick up a pair of cowboy boots at a yard sale or the Salvation Army, and get to work with your floral arrangement!

Floral Arrangements Made Personal with Quirks

Yes, quirks! Quirks are one of the little oddities that helps make the world go round.

If you have never created a “floral arrangement made personal” before today, please don’t worry. Just think about the person you’ll be giving the bouquet to and then get busy.

Key to a Beautiful Floral Arrangement:

• Proper vase, container or basket for the size and/or type of bouquet
   
• Enough flowers, but not too many...
   
• Additional foliage and/or other filler
   
• One or two quirky items

You want to please all of the senses, if possible, and in a big way. For instance, suppose your son has the leading role in a local play. He’s 16 years old, his favorite snacks are sugar cookies, his favorite colors are yellow and blue, he’s ga-ga over gummy worms and reruns of the Ed Sullivan Show, and has a soft spot for daffodils. What kind of quirky floral arrangement would you bring to the dressing room?

Your Son’s “Quirky” Personalized Floral Arrangement could include:

• Container – a “really big shoe” (Ed Sullivan was quirky, too!)
• Small container of daffodils
• Blue gummy worms
• Sugar cookies cut out in “star” shapes, and covered in yellow frosting
• Wooden skewers

Creating a quirky floral arrangement:

• Sterilize the “really big shoe” or use a plastic clown shoe (something that can be washed). If you’re really creative, you could make the shoe.
   
• Re-pot the daffodils inside the shoe, making sure to leave approximately 2 inches of head space at the top of the shoe.
   
• Lace the shoe and tie.
   
• Cover the top of the soil with plastic wrap, tucking the edges between the soil and the boot.
   
• Grind up a few chocolate cookies and use as soil on top of the plastic wrap.
   
• Place the gummy worms on top of the cookie crumbs. Also take several skewers and break into smaller pieces. Using the shorter sticks, add gummy worms to one end, then poke the other end into the shoelace holes or dangle over the sides of the shoe.
   
• Wrap each sugar cookie with plastic wrap. Use a skewer to carefully poke a hole through the plastic wrap and insert skewer up through the cookie (to make a “cookie” lollipop). Insert the cookies into the flower pot, strategically around the flowers in the shoe. (Several different sizes of cookies are best.)
   
• Make a sign that says “Have a Really Big Shoe Tonight!” and use blue glitter (his second favorite color).
   
• Tape the “Really Big Shoe” sign onto a skewer and insert into the dirt.

Your Floral Arrangement Made Personal will be the hit of the “after curtains” party, and you know it. More importantly, your leading man will be the cat’s meow!

Now it’s your turn. Who in your world would welcome a Personalized Floral Arrangement?

~Helen Kay Polaski

Helen Kay Polaski is addicted to giving! She began surprising neighbors with unique and personally tailored gift baskets when her children were still young. Twenty-five years later “gift basket giving” is a family tradition. When it comes to creating the perfect gift basket, Helen knows her stuff!