Happy February!

To celebrate the beginning of February, I decided to purchase some roses before the prices increase 3x for Valentine’s Day.  It’s the Connecticut Yankee in me.  I also bought some red carnations.  I think carnations are considered inferior to other flower types, which is unfortunate.    A few years ago I used roses and carnations in a centerpiece I created for a charitable event.  After making 110 centerpieces, I thought I would never want to even look at another rose or carnation, but truly, I like the combination of both flowers with their red tones and textures.  Plus carnations are more affordable than roses and are good fillers.

In looking for a different container, I found an old white milking pail, with rust and all that we purchased for one of our barn sales.

I soaked some floral foam in water.

And then placed the wet foam inside a large Ziploc bag to keep any excess water away from the metal bottom of the pail.

I added the roses first, pushing them into the foam.

Carnations typically come with their petals tightly closed.  With some gentle manipulation, you can get a fuller carnation in a few seconds.

After using the 12 roses and the 12 carnations, the container still needed some filling.  I roamed the yard and clipped some greens to add to the empty spaces.

After the arrangement was completed, I thought I would hang it with a red ribbon on the red front door.  However, the red ribbon and red flowers just got lost against our red door.  Too much red. So I hung it on the side gate which leads to the rose garden.   It really pops against the dark green door!

With our chilly morning temperatures, I expect this will last for quite a while.  Of course, you could easily make this with high quality artificial roses and dry foam as well.  Here is another shot of the milk pail with my trusty companion, our pocket beagle, Sox.

May your February be filled with love and joy!

P.S. Thank you to Megan, my daughter, Elisabeth’s friend for lending her beautiful hands to this photo shoot!

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