I absolutely love the look of real floral garlands, but if you need to order them from a florist, the price can be amazingly high. Not that the price is outrageous--a lot of those gorgeous garlands use a huge number of flowers, and the construction of some styles can be very tricky. I truly believe that the florists are charging appropriately. But sometimes (usually) I just don't have the budget to purchase such lavish floral arrangements. But that doesn't mean I have to settle for fake flower garlands from the craft store.
Oh no. With a few basic supplies, a little creativity, and flowers from the grocery store, I can make a gorgeous floral garland out of real flowers and greenery, and for just a few dollars.
To make my flower garland, I needed floral wire, scissors, and wire cutters. And flowers, of course. I bought my colorful blooms at Trader Joe's, and spent about $12 on all of them. I had enough flowers to make two of the garlands you see in the photos with the chair.
The other secret to lush, beautiful, and affordable flowers is to use free materials. I used the purchased flowers as accents on my garland, but the bulk of the greenery was trimmed from trees in my backyard. Look around! See what you can forage! You could buy greens from a florist, of course, but gorgeous green filler is almost always available for free if you just look outside.
The technique is pretty much the same one I use to make my evergreen Christmas garland. To make the flower garland, simply start layering the leafy branches, and securing them together by winding green floral wire around all of the elements.
Keep winding, adding greens and flowers, until the garland is as long as you want it. Twist the wire several extra times around the end of the garland to keep it secure.
Then drape and decorate as you wish with your lush, floral creation! There's nothing like fresh flowers to make a party feel really special.