DIY FAUX/REAL ORCHID ARRANGEMENT

Today I have a quick and easy idea for you.  Orchids are one of my favorite choices of flowers to buy.  If cared for well, the blooms last several months and put on quite a show!

I always feel bad about throwing the plant out once the blooms fade.  Usually I move them to my bathroom which has a big window and try to remember to keep watering them.  I've had good luck with a couple of them re-blooming, so I always feel like I should give them a chance.

I bought 2 especially pretty plants earlier in the summer, and the blooms finally gave out a few weeks ago.  As usual, I moved them to their sunny spot in the bathroom, until I had a better idea!  Last year I was in a fancy home where a decorator does everything and fresh flowers are rotated in and out on a regular basis, and there was the most beautiful, huge blue and white bowl filled with orchids. I filed that idea away for someday.

Then, recently during the most fun visit with Pam while we were perusing the aisles of Homegoods together, I came across the perfect bowl and I had to snatch it up.  I originally planned to do a faux orchid arrangement in it, but then I thought why not use the real plants while they're waiting to re-bloom?  By adding faux blooms to the real leaves and pots, the arrangement is a little more convincing even though the blooms are artificial.

To assemble it, I gathered 3 plants that had spent blooms, my new bowl, some faux orchid stems, and some spanish moss.  I had also saved the tiny clips off of the real orchid stems, adding them to the faux stems is another tiny detail helping them appear more real.

I used a little bit of putty to level out the plastic pots in the bottom of the bowl and slightly secure them, a layer of small gravel probably would have worked nicely too.

Then, I added the faux stems to the pots.  I used the mini clips to attach a wooden skewer to them, much like real orchids have some type of stick for support too.

I covered everything up with a layer of spanish moss, making sure to tuck it in the center too and cover the rims of the plastic pots well.

That's it!  Now I'll try to remember to keep watering the leaves (I might try Gwen's tips for encouraging re-blooming), and still enjoy an arrangement while I wait for fresh blooms to come back!

In the past I've shared another DIY faux orchid arrangement with you, but in that post I told you about the best faux orchid leaves I've found if you don't have real leaves to use.