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Rittners School Of Floral Design
In Boston Presents....

How To Make A Large Easter Basket Arrangement

In the US we have a variety of interests, tastes and lifestyles. Our floral art reflects the myriad of possibilities inherent in our culture. It is an echo of who we are, where our interests lie, and where we are going.

This design is a good case in point.

This arrangement definitely says Easter.

Symbolism for the holiday includes the colorful Easter eggs and the picks wishing the viewer happy Easter.... Yet at the same time, this arrangement could be easily adapted to any situation where you need a big impressive basket design.

Easy to stylize, yet imparting a very rich expansive feeling, this arrangement will certainly impress your family and friends.....



What You Will Need

  • Basket container
  • Foam
  • Foliage
  • Flowering branches
  • Gladiola
  • Daisy poms
  • Miniature carnations
  • Styrofoam eggs
  • Plastic picks


  • There are so many lovely basket containers available today for contemporary floral artists.

    This is a lovely wicker basket, painted white with branch material glued onto the outside, giving a very interesting contrast in color and texture...Be sure to place a plastic liner into such a base prior to placing your foam.......

    To establish height in the design we are using gladiola. Glads are one of the most versatile flowers around. They are reasonable in price, huge in size and come in a variety of colors.....

    I think that glads have developed a rather bad image problem over the past few years...Folks all too often associate them with sympathy flowers. To be sure they are used in that context but glads can be used for anything from body flowers, to elaborate wedding bouquets, to contemporary floral art.....

    Therefore it is a particular pleasure to use them in this arrangement. Notice how they are clustered into the center left side of the design....

    Flowering branches are used to extend the arrangement to the left and the right...You have so many options available to you in this area. Leptospermum, waxflower, forsythia, peach, plum, or pussy willow would all be good candidates. Other substitutions could include heather, or even eucalyptus......

    The point here is that by using these kinds of materials, you really make this design very, very large and impressive.....

    Styrofoam eggs are attached together and placed in an overflowing pattern from the focal area, towards the lower right side of the arrangement. A few plastic Easter picks are added as well......

    Use a little foliage to cover the mechanics.....




    The arrangement above in the last step is pretty, but empty looking.... Let's remedy that now......

    To create more substance in this arrangement, let's start to fill in with our pom pons....The specific kind used here is our daisy pom which looks very much like a daisy, but is much tougher.....Notice the way we start at the top left of the design and gradually fill in on the left side......




    We continue adding daisy poms through the center and towards the right side of the arrangement.....The daisy poms really fill the area nicely. We could consider this arrangement completed at this stage......

    But we won't....... :-> Let's add but one more flower to the arrangement......




    Notice the change caused by the addition of our miniature carnations....The dark pink minis provide a strong contrast with the pale daisy poms.... The miniatures create a real visual punch to this arrangement!!

    This design could be adapted very easily for a wide range of occasions:

      Eliminate the eggs. Add pine cones or glass mm. ornament balls. Use pine instead of the flowering branches and Merry Christmas picks...You now have a very pretty Christmas basket.....

      Work a cluster of artificial fruit in place of the eggs. Eliminate the plastic picks and you have a great idea for a buffet table......

      Replace the eggs with a couple of teddy bears. Add a few roses. With the addition of Valentine's Day picks, this arrangement becomes one for your special friend on Valentine's Day.

      Eliminate the eggs. Add a profusion of bells of ireland radiating on the sides and front.....Use green and white glads, carnations and miniature carnations......Now you have a great St. Patrick's Day design...




    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. Please come and take one of our hands-on workshop programs!!



  • Floral Education Center returns you to our Floral Education Center.



    Your Webmaster is Dr. Steve Rittner, who may be reached at Stevrt@tiac.net. All photographs and text on this page are Copyright - Rittners School, and may not be reproduced, or used for any commercial purposes.

     

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