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A bouquet of decorating ideas

An expert offers advice on making your home more festive by using fresh flowers.

A bouquet of flowers is often just the right elixir to make someone's day special or to chase away those blues.

But did you know that a fistful of gerbera daisies, a few dabs of moss and a colorful length of ribbon can be used to dress up an empty soup can, making it a one-of-a-kind centerpiece?

The answers to your holiday decorating questions just got a little fresher thanks to simple, do-it-yourself projects from the Flower Promotion Organization. A reporter talked with Jill Slater, floral design consultant for the FPO, for pointers on how to make your home brighter and festive using fresh flowers from your garden, florist or nursery. As a result, we are providing two easy-to-make recipes that you can try before your guests arrive; then in November and December, we will provide additional recipes for decorating inspiration.

You can visit the FPO Web site at www.flowerpossibilities.com but don't peek too far ahead; use your imagination instead and practice mixing flowers and trimmings. Here are a few other comments from Slater.

How easy is it to decorate with flowers?

I think Floridians would have an easy time decorating with flowers because you are surrounded by beautiful botanicals all year long, and because you have so many beautiful flowers and foliage. It's good incentive to bring it inside.

You don't need a lot to enhance a room with fresh-cut flowers; just one flower can make an office seem like your home or make the kitchen spicy and fragrant. Flowers are natural air-fresheners and they are natural mood picker-ups, so you don't need to spend a lot of money or a lot of time, or have floral expertise to decorate with flowers.

What's a good palette for Floridians?

I would combine pinks, reds, yellows, purples and maybe some, or all, of those, and a little white. White makes every color clearer.

Use metallics if you're using yellow flowers; and if you're using whites and reds, bring in silver and maybe some green. Green is great, but it's whatever your heart desires. . . . Anything goes these days.

Here's an idea: Take a Christmas bulb (ornament) and take off the cap; fill the bulb with water, put a flower, such as gerbera daisy, in it (cut it short); get a napkin ring and set the bulb on top of it so it stays in place; write a name on the bulb and you have a place card.

Everyone gets poinsettias for the holidays, what's the quickest way to spruce one up?

Cut them and use them as fresh flowers or in a combination with other flowers.

What you must do with poinsettias is sear their ends. When you cut the poinsettia it will exude a milky substance, so sear the ends with a candle for a few seconds. Once you seal the ends, the milky substance stays in and the poinsettia stays fresh. Next, combine the poinsettia with white alstroemeria - they are available year-round, are long-lasting and are in the lily family.

For someone who is all thumbs, what is a no-panic, no-fuss design to use as a holiday gift?

We suggest that you don't bring a bunch of flowers that the host has to put in a vase. Bring a floral gift that is ready and can be set on the table.

Here's something to try: Get a glass ice bucket and fill it with fresh cranberries, get several water tubes (get them at flower shops, craft or grocery stores). Get one or two stems of stargazers or rhubrum lilies; cut all the individual stems and put them in the water tubes; insert the tubes into the cranberries. This is a goof-proof recipe, and you've given a gift that keeps on giving.

What are trends in floral designs or arrangements?

Keep things simple. Don't get overwhelmed by big arrangements.

Use one kind of flower in a simple container - something you already have on hand, or you can try two kinds of flowers. Simple is stylish and is the trend. At FPO, we stress easy and inexpensive, and that you don't have to be an expert.

Here's something to try: Take a coffee mug or teacup; use Scotch tape to make a grid pattern across the top; get five roses and cut them short (just so the heads are on top) and stick them inside the mug.

You can use this as a setting for a long table or a short table.

- Staff writer Sheila Reed contributed to this report.