This year, I decided to push myself out of my comfort zone and participate in more Halloween decorations. I thought I could tackle that best if there were flowers involved. Not everything has to be soooo dead, dark and brooding, right? I put that thought to the test after coming home with these gorgeous stems from a local pop up shop. A clothing boutique, fresh flowers and cupcakes? The best way to spend a Friday lunch hour. I also thought these colors were perfect for an October floral arrangement.

I recently really started getting into to floral arranging and taught myself the little I know from the amazing talent all over Pinterest. I am definitely NOT saying I know what I am doing, but I will share with you how I put this piece together. What I have found, after trying a few different techniques, is pairing hearty branches with delicate florals makes an interesting arrangement. It gives it texture, and movement, which is why I grabbed a handful of the pepper berry branches to drape over the sides of the bowl. The stalky dahlias were the perfect contrast to that, and in the perfect October color. The filler is simple and adds bits of pink hues and green throughout the piece. The color combo certainly doesn’t scream Halloween, but I do think there is an old, Gothic and somewhat eerie look to it. Follow the steps below to get the look!

HOW-TO

Step One: Start with long flowing branches

I first started with the the pepperberry branches and added them to the base of the floral foam I put in the bowl. Floral foam definitely makes creating something like this so much easier and it helps the flowers last longer. You can see an example of how to use floral foam here. Like I said, I am not a professional, but I wanted to work from the bottom up. That way I wouldn’t have to work around the branches that were more full of leaves.

Step Two: Add filler

After the pepperberry, I added pink flowery branches (forgive me for not knowing the actual name) evenly around the arrangement. I like to add few branches here and there, take a step back, and then keep adding to make sure it’s coming together how I like.

Step Three: Add focal point

The dahlias added the perfect pop of color, texture and height to this piece – making them the perfect focal point among the branches. Their deep red hue definitely sends out a moody vibe. They can also hold their own when they are placed in the middle of wild looking branches.

Step Four: Fill in any gaps

Finally, I went through and added bits of greenery to bring it all together. If there are visible gaps, that is the perfect spot to add pops of green, or more of the filler you started with in step 2. Enjoy!