On a recent pass through the Dorcas Thrift Shop in Cary, NC, I found a striking silver plated champagne cooler, badly tarnished but otherwise in good condition. It needed a huge arrangement of flowers, and I had been looking for a container for a set of recycled remnants.
The first step was to make sure the flowers I had created would work with the container. I protected the bottom of the champagne cooler so that the wire stems would not scratch the silver plate, and loosely grouped a selection of flowers.
(The vivid magenta flowers in the picture above didn't blend into the final arrangement so they weren't used.)
The flowers in Silver Hydrangeas were made from a misty blue organza, white brocade with silver threads, silver gray sheer curtaining, white with black flocked sheer, and a bronze metallic organza remnant.
The green ribbon hanging over the edge of the champagne cooler extends under the floral foam; the ribbon can be used to remove the foam from the container if the arrangement needs to be rebuilt. The champagne cooler has not been permanently altered.
The flowers were made deliberately larger than usual; I wanted to create the feeling of hydrangeas.
The flowers are arranged with a tightly spaced inner dome, with larger specimen flowers extending from the center in a larger, accent dome.
Roses made from a white sheer fabric, with a black flocked design, filled out the core dome. The white roses with a folded edge on either side of the center gray flower are made from a silver brocade fabric.
Pale green satin leaves and a few pale gold silk roses (one in the lower right) completed the arrangement.
The champagne cooler has been wrapped to protect it from tarnish.
This is a wonderful full and loose arrangement, viewable from all sides, waiting for exactly the right niche or center table.