DIY Hand-tied bouquets

How to create a hand-tied flower bouquet

What you’ll need

A pair of sharp scissors Some string for tying off Ribbon Flowers (Harriet has used our Harper) Brown paper (newspaper or wrapping paper also work) 20 minutes

1. Prep your stems

First, snip the stems by about one inch, then lay your flowers out in groups. This makes it easier when you arrange your bouquet. You can also strip some of the foliage off the lower parts of the stems, which makes it cleaner when you come to group them all together in your hand later.

2. Select the focal point of your bouquet

Grab a real showstopper, such as a rose, and then pick a fluffier flower or a piece of foliage. Hold them in one hand. Now add another type of stem and lay it on top of your flowers on a diagonal, under your thumb. Give the bouquet a little turn with your other hand. This insert-and-twist technique forms the basis of ‘spiralling’ used by florists. You’ll use this to form the full bouquet.

3. Keep spiralling different textures and styles

Continue to lay single stems on a diagonal and keep twisting the stems in your hand until the bouquet is full. By doing this, you are locking them into the bouquet and building out from your central flower. You can check how the arrangement is coming along by looking down at it every few stems. As your bouquet grows, it will get easier to hold the stems in your hand. Top tip! Try not to squeeze your stems too hard, as this may crush the stems. Relax!

4. Once the bouquet is full, adjust your stems

Holding the bouquet fairly loosely allows you to wiggle any stems into place if you want to alter the arrangement. Check if any have slipped down while you’ve been arranging and pull them gently back into place. Sometimes it’s easier to go to the bottom of the stem and wiggle them up. You can also pull out and swap any stems of foliage that might look better on the other side. Play around and spend a moment perfecting your blooms!

5. Tie off your bouquet with string

Gently place your bouquet down on a table. Cut around 50cm of twine. Create an open loop by holding the string in the middle, so you’ve got two loose ends of even length. Now wrap this around the bouquet stems, with your fingers through the loop. You should be able to reach through and pull the two loose ends through the loop. Now split them, and wrap them in opposite directions around the stems a few times before tying them off.

6. Trim your stems to the same length

During spiralling, the stems will have become higgledy-piggledy at the base of your bouquet. Trim them straight, so they are all the same length when you put them in a vase.

7. Create the brown paper wrap for your bouquet

Ever wondered how florists wrap up their flowers so beautifully? It’s using this simple technique. Cut two pieces of paper into rectangles. Now, take the first piece and bring the bottom left-hand corner to the top middle. Fold it here. It should look like a zig-zag. Repeat with the second piece.

8. Wrap your bouquet

Put your bouquet in the centre of one of the folded pieces of brown paper. The top flowers should be in line with the zig-zag shape, and the stems should be peeking out of the bottom. Fold it in on both sides, like a cone, squeezing the paper above where the string is. Flip it over and repeat with the second piece of paper.

9. Secure it with string and ribbon

Cut another length of string and tie in your brown paper (be careful not to squeeze too tight!) Tie it off and give it a knot. As a finishing touch you can add some nice long ribbon and tie it in a bow.

And that’s everything! Don’t forget to check out our handy flower care tips here to get the most out of your beautiful hand-tied bouquet. Not feeling so crafty? No worries. You can treat yourself - or someone else - to a hand-tied bouquet here.