DIY hand tied flowers

We celebrated Mrs M senior's big 7-0 at the weekend. I nipped to Waitrose to pick up a big bunch of flowers only to discover that their offering looked a little sad. Admittedly it was Sunday morning. Fortunately, they have started to sell packs of foliage, which is a huge plus. So, armed with foliage, lisianthus, freesias and roses, I headed home to dust off my hand tying skills. Skills is a bit of a stretch. Do you remember the course I did at the Academy of Flowers in 2012? It was great fun - but yonks ago.

From memory, you're meant to start with the foliage first and then poke the flowers in. That doesn't really work for me, I start with the blooms and then weave the foliage in, leaving a certain number of foliage stems to create an outer layer at the end. So, holding the first stem in your left hand, add each new stem at a slight angle, twisting the bunch around in your hand as you go. Tie the stems together with string, and then even off the ends so that it stands up. I was rather chuffed with how it turned out. When I was on the course I bought a huge roll of cellophane from the flower market - it's so handy. As we were going for lunch but not doing presents until later, I fashioned one of those temporary water bases and recycled the bag from Amanda Lacey's goodies at Christmas to carry everything upright.

Do love a bunch of fresh flowers. For proper inspiration, Amy Merrick has some beautiful arrangements as does Miss Pickering.

Have a lovely weekend.