Here is a classical round arrangement easily translated into a cutting edge design with the use of foam mini cubes.....
Foam mini cubes---brought to us by the folks at Smithers-Oasis, are a terrific medium for creative floral art with a 21st Century flair. We love them.
The foam mini cubes come in a variety of colors.
They are easy to use and they give a cutting edge look to designs in glass bases.
Decorative wire
Foam Mini Cube--Round Arrangement---Variation One
Start by preparing the base. The foam mini cubes come precut into small one inch sections. The glassware in this case is a small glass ivy bowl.
Fill the glassware with the white mini cubes as shown. Make sure the mini cubes are saturated with water.
Now place some small sections of salal into the base. Some are placed around the outside to form a doily like effect.
A few pieces of salal are placed in towards the center of the ivy bowl. This will create contrast and texture as our roses are added.
Start placing your roses into the design. We are working from the outside towards the center as illustrated below.....
![](picts/Foamcube2.2.jpg)
Continue going around in a circle with the roses.
After placing roses in a circular fashion around the outside of the arrangement, place a few in towards the center to create a gentle mound effect. The overall "mono" or "monochrome effect" is pleasing, and gives the feeling of a classy floral piece.
We could stop at this point..... But wait.... There's moooorrrreeee!!!!
Foam Mini Cube--Round Arrangement---Variation Two
The roses alone are pretty.
But sometimes a little contrast is called for......
Notice how the addition of a few red-violet poms changes the appearance of this arrangement.
Contrast is sometimes a very potent floral art tool.
But let's also compare this to another one of our designs using mini cubes:
Our flowers are very similar in both of these units. In this one, we are also using some birch branches and lime green mini cubes.
The esperance roses and the red-violet poms are common however to both designs....
Comes down to the old saying, "It's not what you have but what you can make out of it.. " Although these two designs have a shared heritage in terms of content, one is a classic beauty, the other a rather avante garde piece. Both work, but in very different ways. Each may be appropriate for a different customer.
Foam Mini Cube Round Arrangement-Variation Three
Want to make your cute little round design feel even more "outworldly"?
Consider some of the wonderful decorative wires available to us. The folks at Smithers Oasis make these wires available in a rainbow of colors.
Notice how a small weave of gold decorative wire makes this arrangement feel quite different than the last variation....
Here is the complete design with the wire added:
Way cool, isn't it?
We hope that you really enjoyed this brief floral design lesson. At
Rittners Floral School in Boston we provide floral design instruction
that includes a wide range of different styles and techniques. Folks attend Rittners Floral School, because we are great floral designers, and just as importantly because we are outstanding teachers!! So send your family and friends to take a course with us and YOU come and take a course with us as well!
Your Webmaster is Dr. Steve Rittner, who may be reached at Stevrt@tiac.net.
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