How to Make a Thanksgiving Centerpiece from a Walmart Bouquet

Here’s another fun craft project I did for Walmart this month, and that I hinted at in my Thanksgiving Mantle post.  It’s a beautiful (if I do say so myself) Thanksgiving Centerpiece I arranged myself from a basic Walmart bouquet!

I learned how to make a floral arrangement a year ago when I attended the Walmart Mom’s holiday trip to Bentonville Arkansas–they had a florist come in and show us how to do them.  I promise you–they are far easier to make then they look.  You CAN do this!

To start off with you need to gather your supplies.  Of course you need flowers, but they won’t be enough to flesh out your entire arragement–so you are going to need some “filler” material.  I just go outside and hack some pieces off of the plant by my front mailbox.  It’s a lovely varigated yellow and green and it always needs to be trimmed.  I have also used evergreen branches, ferns, hosta leaves–whatever I can find.  (You can find more tips in my “Dressing up an inexpensive bouquet” post)

You will also need some clippers, wet foam (it’s actually dry when you get it–but it needs to say wet foam so you can add water to it and keep your flowers fresh)  and something that will hold water to keep your arrangement in.  I choose a really cute chicken wire basket from the floral/wreath aisle at my Walmart, then found a glass vase/container that would fit in side.  Since I did not want to see my wet foam through the wire and glass I ran over to the fabric department and picked up a half yard of burlap.

Now it’s time for the fun!

1.  Cut your foam to fit inside your container with a steak knife, then soak the pieces in water per the directions on the package.

2.  Place the vase/container inside of the basket–I cut a square of burlap to fit in between–it looks so good!

3.  Start clipping your flowers and inserting them.  You want to start with a single flower going straight up, then put one heading out at each of the cardinal points (North, West, East, South).  You will get a feeling for how long to clip the stems.  These were mostly just a couple of inches long because I wanted a shorter, more compact arrangement.  When I did the Christmas floral arrangement last year I was going for a taller, more full look so I left the stems longer.

4.  Fill in the rest of the flowers.  Start by putting one between each of the “cardinal” points–but up at a 45 degree angle.

5.  Keep going until all your flower are in, then start adding your filler.

6.  Turn your arrangement as you work, looking for gaps and places you can see the foam. Continue to fill in until it looks done or you run out of stuff!

If you keep the flowers watered they will last for quite a while!  When they are past their prime, add them to your compost.  The vase, basket and burlap can be reused over and over again.

****This is a sponsored post****

Disclosure: As a participant in the Walmart Moms Program, I’ve received product samples and compensation for my time and efforts in creating this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.