Simple DIY Flower Arrangement Using Faux Florals
How to make classic DIY flower arrangements for centerpieces in this step-by-step tutorial using realistic faux flowers.
Years ago, when I was making my own DIY wedding centerpieces, I WISH I’d known then what I know now.
I am by no means a professional florist, which definitely explains why I gravitate toward realistic faux flowers more often than buying expensive real flowers that make a mess and die within a week. (A realist over a romantic? I don’t know but my practical side wins out a lot.)
But the other week, I whipped up a couple of DIY altar flower arrangements for our church and thought it would help to document the step-by-step tutorial if you ever need to make your own DIY centerpieces using faux florals.
This would be perfect to recreate for Mother’s Day, Easter, birthdays, or adapted to any other holiday of the year to reuse on multiple occasions.
How to Make DIY Artificial Flower Arrangements for Centerpieces
Supplies
- Footed Bowl
- Half Sphere Florist Foam to fit the bowl (use wet floral foam for real flowers)
- Wire cutters (or florist shears for real flowers)
- 12 Stems Large Faux Hydrangea
- 12 Stem Large Faux Roses
- 4 Stems Faux Ruscus
- 8 Stems Faux Ranunculus
- 1 Bush Faux Mixed Eucalyptus
Tip: Follow this video tutorial for more tips on how to arrange real flowers. If you plan to make DIY floral arrangements as wedding decor or for a special event, consider ordering wholesale flowers in bulk ahead of time from the grocery store.
Footed Bowls for All Budgets
Steps
Step 1 – Place Foam
Tip: You can make an inexpensive footed bowl yourself by gluing together a dollar store bowl and candle holder with E6000 adhesive and spray painting with texture spray paint.
Place the half sphere of florist foam in the footed bowl or cut a florist foam block to a similar shape using a knife. Use a little double sided duct tape or hot glue in the bottom of the bowl to keep the foam in place if you’d like.
(I kept my foam unattached so that I can easily change out the flowers seasonally to reuse the footed bowl as a base. If you’ll be transporting these centerpieces, I’d highly recommend securing the foam to the bowl.)
Tip: If you don’t have foam, a good alternative is to use a chicken wire floral cage in the bottom of the bowl or place floral tape around the rim of the bowl to separate the stems.
Step 2 – Trim and Fluff Faux Flowers
It really helps to give your faux flowers a little “fluff”. Shake the stems (or even blast them with the hair dryer) to loosen petals. Or you can gently spread the faux petals with your hands to make blooms look more full.
I found these realistic faux hydrangeas in a pack of 5 stems for less than $25!
Decide the height you’d like for your centerpiece and trim the stems with wire cutters, leaving at least 2 inches of extra length to stick into the foam. I cut mine at about 16″ long.
Step 3 – Place One Bloom in the Middle of the Bowl
Push the end of one stem in the middle of the florist foam so the flower is sticking straight up. This will be the maximum height of your flower arrangement.
Step 4 – Place Two More Stems in a Triangle
Place the next two stems below the first stem to make a triangular pattern (see image below). Turn the bowl 180 degrees and place two more stems on the other side in the same way.
See the triangle shape below? It’s always best to arrange in clusters of odd numbers.
Step 5 – Continue Placing Stems in Triangular Patterns
Continue to the last row of stems placing them near the rim of the bowl in a triangular pattern so they are staggered from the second row of stems you placed in Step 4.
Step 6 – Separate Ruscus Into Smaller Stems
To start filling in greenery, use the wire cutters to separate the large ruscus stem into smaller sections of leaves.
Step 7 – Fill In Gaps With Stems and Blooms
Place the ruscus stems between the hydrangea stems in the florist foam and begin filling in gaps.
Repeat the process of filling in gaps with the large roses and ranunculus stems evenly spaced out until there are no more holes between blooms.
Step 8 – Add Floral Accents
Add interest using any final floral accents you’d like. I chose to add a few stems of faux seeded eucalyptus.
Finished DIY Flower Arrangement
That’s it!
I’m definitely no professional at floral design, but I promise you if I can handle assembling this faux flower centerpiece, anyone can do it.
You could easily add in or substitute a brighter accent color like pink, blue, or yellow to adapt to any holiday or event’s color scheme.
I plan to add blue flowers for Father’s Day and incorporate a few red and blue blooms for July 4th.
Related: You can see more of my favorite realistic faux flowers and floral centerpiece ideas here!
These would be so pretty as wedding day floral arrangements at an altar or as dinner table centerpieces at a wedding reception.
If you prefer to do DIY projects before your big day, these are a great way to save the budget by shopping after-season sales on faux flowers.
Think you’ll try this DIY fake flower arrangement yourself?!
Even though I ended up transporting these to our church to be used as altar flowers, I love how they turned out so well that I might make one more to keep at home.
More Floral Decorating Ideas
- Where to Find the Best Fake Flowers That Look Real
- Best Artificial Indoor Trees and Tips to Make Them Look Real
- DIY Pressed Flower Art
- Simple DIY Fall Centerpiece Ideas + the Best Fall Branches
