:: another thing that's harder than it looks ::

This past weekend I took a flower arranging class at the Boston Center for Adult Education, and let me tell you folks, it ain't easy. The instructor was fabulous and while I didn't LOVE the flowers when I first saw them, they're sitting on my mantle now, and they're growing on me.

The whole process takes way more foresight than I expected and there's real ~technique~ to it, rather than just bunching together what looks good to the eye. There's height and texture and form and lines to think about. Here's a start to finish...the squishy one in the middle needed a definite redo. I ended up with the bouquet on the right as my finished project. She survived the subway home and I vow to change her water regularly until she takes her last breath.

And while we're here arranging our blooms in a vase, our European neighbors have mastered the art of the hand-tie, which they then place in a vase. Super hard. But super pretty. Instead of sharing my monstrosity of an attempt, the video below demonstrates the technique quite nicely: