Little Italy

I have always dreamed of living in Italy. Granted I don't know near as much as I would probably have to to actually live there (like how to speak Italian) but one can dream. It's such a romantic place. I visited once with my family on a Mediterranean cruise and now I'm OBSESSED! Everything taste better, looks better, and sounds better.

So how can I introduce a little bit of that Italian feel in my own home without traveling over 5,000 miles? The easiest way I like to do this is by creating an Italian inspired floral arrangement. Super simple, fun, and inexpensive.

First step is to pick out my container. I went with a textured ceramic basket. To me this screams Italian farmers market. Texture is also a very important element that I believe should be present in any arrangement.

Next step. Picking out the flowers. There are plenty of color pallets to choose from, but today I went with a soft peach and sand color with a sage green accent. If you're feeling adventurous you can throw in some flowers that are a more vibrant pink. Perfect color combo to capture the paint colors you would see on the buildings lining a quaint little cobblestone street.

Now for the fun part. Arranging the flowers. First I started by making my grid. Today I used chicken wire. Typically I like to create a grid out of the greenery, but since I decided to use minimal greens and I am working with a larger mouthed container chicken wire seemed like the most appropriate option.

Once my grid is in place I start layering in my orange garden roses. I like to start by forming my tallest point in the design to help me with scale and then I work my way in. I'm not as practiced with using chicken wire as my grid so I will admit that I had some difficulties getting started, but once you get enough flowers worked into the design you will find that they help each other stay in place along with the chicken wire grid.

Once I placed all of my orange garden roses in the design I moved onto my peach stock. I love the fluffy texture of stock. It helps fill in any gaps you might see forming in your arrangement and also helps break up the roses. It comes in so many beautiful colors. If you haven't used it before I highly suggest picking some up and playing around with it.

At this point I felt I was missing something so I decided to layer in some quicksand roses. The name perfectly describes the color. They look like a beautiful sandy beach. In addition to adding the roses I also threw in some olive branches. You can't make an Italian Inspired arrangement without adding in olive branches!

After a few more little tweaks and rearranging of some stems I came out with beautiful basket of blooms. The perfect statement piece for a dining room table or foyer. If you're feeling ambitious go ahead and make some whimsical minis and spread them around your home. This way you'll have your own little Italian oasis in every room.