Do you ever wonder how to put together an arrangement using flowers bought at the grocery store? We suggest designing a hand-tied bouquet. When starting your first hand-tied bouquet, start by using one or two bunches of flowers bought at your local grocery store (the pre wrapped bundles of flowers). Here's a step-by-step guide on do-it-yourself hand-tied bouquets.

Step 1: Step 1: Items Needed

1-2 bunches of pre-wrapped flowers bought from your local grocery store or farmers market, vase with water, 22 gauge wire or bark covered wire and Crowning Glory finishing spray.

Step 2: Step 2: Selecting & Preparing the Bundles of Blooms

Select your bundle(s) of flowers from the grocery store or farmers market.

Open your bundles and spread all of the flower materials out across your counter, placing the greens out separately. Place the wire in a readily available location

Step 3: Step 3: Designing the Bouquet

Start by placing the first flower straight up and down in your left hand (if you are right handed. If you are left handed your hands and direction will be the exact opposite). This is your ‘center stage’.

All other flowers placed will be the seats around your center stage. Place the second flower crossing to the left and pulling it in so that it rests right next to your center stage.

Turn the entire bouquet to the right after each flower is placed, forming your first circle of seats around your ‘center stage’. You will be repeating the cross to the left, turn to the right motion until the first row of flowers is placed.

Once the first row of ‘seats’ are formed around your center stage, you will continue creating another row of flowers, crossing to the left and turning the bouquet to the right until all flowers are placed. If done correctly, you should have a nice flat round shape across the top of your bouquet. If your bouquet looks like the dome of an igloo across the top, you are not placing your flowers flush with the last flower placed.

After all of the flowers are placed, take the greens material and tuck it underneath the last row of flowers. This creates a ‘collar’ of soft greens under the outer edge of the bouquet. When placing the greens, make sure only a small amount of the leaves are peaking out past the last row of flowers. Making the greens to ‘bushy’ will take away from the finished look of your bouquet.

Step 4: Step 4: Securing the Bouquet

When all flowers and the collar of greens are placed, you will need to secure the bouquet together using 2 or 3 pieces of 22 gauge wire or bark covered wire.

Secure the bouquet with the wire by turning your bouquet sideways so that you can see the bottom edge of your bouquet and stem lengths. Place the wire high under the ‘chin’ of the bouquet, so that the wire will be wrapped as high underneath the flower heads and greens as possible.

Pull both ends of the wire tightly together around your bouquet like a horse’s reigns and twist the ends together securely against the stems of the bouquet. You will know the wire is tight enough when your bouquet holds firmly together and the materials do not shift in their places.

After the wire is twisted in place, squeeze all of the flower stems together and cut all at the same length approximately 18 inches or more from the flower heads.

Pinch the ‘waist’ of the bouquet, right at the wire. Focus directly at the center of the bouquet and firmly tap the entire bouquet up and down on the counter surface. Tapping the bouquet up and down will make the top of the bouquet slowly round out and rise at the center, creating a dome shape at the top and spreading the stems out at

the bottom.

Once the bouquet is tapped out, reach up underneath and clean all of the excess leaves so that the stem lengths are clean of all leaves, etc.

Step 5: Step 5: Free Standing Bouquet or in a Vase

After all of the stem lengths are clean, you have two choices. This bouquet looks fabulous standing on its

own stems on the table top (Always an attention getter) or you can place it in a vase of water. If you choose the free standing option you are finished and should spray the flowers with Crowning Glory. Your flowers will last several hours and still look fresh, but will eventually wilt, as there is no water source.

If you choose the vase option, hold the bouquet up to the vase, resting the flower heads on the lip of the container. Measure the stems accordingly and cut so that when placed in the vase, the stems will not be touching the bottom.

Place the bouquet in fresh water and spray with Crowning Glory finishing spray (Crowning Glory is available on Amazon.com)