2017 Fall Succulent Floral Tutorial

New for fall this year....lots of neutrals in shades of green. These RAZ succulents make a perfect combination with the copper tin pumpkin. Supplies: MC1016 Large Wooden Planter (not available on website, will be in kit only) F3702060 RAZ Succulent Set of 2 FH7780 Cotton Spray - 2 60126 Metal Copper Polka Dot Pumpkin MTG19874 Green Fuji Mum - 2 Purchase Supply Kit here: 2017 Fall Succulent Floral Arrangement Kit Other items needed that are not included in the supply kit: Scissors, wire cutters, floral wire, floral tape, floral pick, Styrofoam, Spanish Moss. Note: This blog will be left up even after supplies may have sold out, since basic instructions can be followed and other products chosen for a project. Summary: Wooden Planter: This planter comes in two sizes, a large and small. We chose the larger one for this project and will do something later for Christmas perhaps with the smaller one. It's about 15" x 15" with a depth of 5". It does have a metal container inside and two hangers on the back for wall hanging. It sets up nicely on a counter top too. The container is made of wood and has a corrugated tin top. There is a small chalkboard area on the front for writing. No chalk included. Rachel took a piece of Styrofoam and cut to about the size of the inner metal container and just pushed this down into the container. We did not use any hot glue for this, but you could if you felt you needed it. Our projects here at Trendy Tree are usually made without hot glue, so we can remove items and re-use later. RAZ Succulents: Rachel started with the two RAZ succulents. These come as a set of two, and are assorted. They have a really nice feel to them and look realistic. The stems are 12" in length, and the heads are 5-7" in diameter. Rachel started by positioning the succulents one in the center front and one toward the right with a little longer stem. We did not use any hot glue when these items were inserted into the Styrofoam, but you could if you wanted to. She just fluffed out the succulents to make them look fuller. It's always important to take most any spray and fluff out the pieces to take full advantage of each and every little leaf. Fuji Mums: The next step was to add the Fuji Mums. These were a light green in color and on a very long stem which had to be shortened. The stems are about 28" and head fluffs out to be even larger than the RAZ succulents. The mums are available on the website in green or a melon color. The mums were inserted on the left side with one in the lower front and one left taller on the left. A bit of space was left between the mums and succulents on the front to make a space for the pumpkin to be added. Cotton Sprays: Rachel used two of the cotton sprays for this project and placed one toward the back sort of in the center sticking up above the succulents and one toward the right side extending downward. The cotton sprays really make good filler and we've used them on several project for this year. We have several different styles in the cotton spray. The burs are real! Be careful, they are just as prickly as the were in the cotton fields! The pieces are wired so you can shape them. Metal Pumpkin: The metal pumpkin is a copper color with polka dots. It's sort of a rustic style pumpkin and it's metal pieces are easily re-shaped. You may have to shape the leaves a bit, just do it carefully as not to break the leaves off the pumpkin. The pumpkin measures about 6" Rachel created a pick to use on the pumpkin by taking floral tape and wrapping around a long piece of floral wire. This wire was inserted through the back of the pumpkin and twisted. She then twisted the wire around a wooden floral pick. Wooden floral picks come in a couple of sizes and she just cut off to the length she needed. The pumpkin was secured into the Styrofoam. To finish off this arrangements, Rachel placed a few tufts of Spanish Moss here and there to cover of any of the Styrofoam from showing. She also did this from the back too. We don't sell Spanish Moss at Trendy Tree, but here our affiliate link where it can be purchased on Amazon: Spanish Moss. This is a very versatile arrangement in that after fall is over, you could always pull out the copper pumpkin and insert something else in it's place. This wooden container would work for any season too and with the chalkboard area on the front, you could write all sorts of messages. Stay tuned as Rachel turns the small wooden container into something fantastic soon!