By Dee Archibald
When I say ‘basket’ I’m not meaning your classic run of the mill, woven-cane basket. I’ve put a modern spin on it- twisting birch branches and moss to resemble a birds nest look. Teamed with some fresh flowers, fossicked greenery and wrapped chocolate eggs, it’s the perfect table decor for Easter brunch!
You will need:
-Some birch or willow branches. Fresh is best so they bend before they snap
-Flowers. 2-4 varieties in your favourite colour palate.
-Greenery. I fossicked mine from my neighbours garden. (I asked first, promise!)
-A floral bowl and piece of floral foam
-Cable ties
-Moss
Instructions:
- Wind a piece of birch into a circle and wrap the excess around to hold it in place. You might need to secure with a cable tie to get started. Keep adding pieces to your circlet twisting them around the first piece. Continue until you have no more birch left or your basket is thick enough, adding cable ties in when it needs securing.
- Cover the cable ties by glueing moss or lichen on in places. Cut your foam to a size that fits your bowl, wet it by dropping in a bucket of water (don’t push it under the water as it will create air bubbles, let it soak the water up) then secure it in with rubber bands or string. Place in the centre of your nest.
- Add a greenery layer on a horizontal angle, only coming out as far as the edges of your basket. Cut all your stems on an angle to make them sharp and remove any leaves or bumps from about 3 cms from the bottom of the stem for easy insertion. Any bumps will stop the stem from staying in the foam securely.
- Continue adding layers of greenery on more of an angle with each layer to create a 3D dome, use up all your greenery varieties before adding your flowers. You may like a more messy and loose look in which you will add some longer and some shorter pieces to add depth, otherwise keep the stems fairly similar in length to create a tidy dome shape.
5. Add your flowers. Start with the smaller heads and filler flowers, keeping them slightly longer than the greenery pieces, then add the bigger blooms in a bit deeper to give depth to the arrangement. Nestle the eggs in last. If they don’t stay in on their own you may need to pop them on a skewer and insert the other end into your floral foam.
