Spring Buds

I got my very first Pottery Barn catalogue a few weeks ago (yes, my friends are all shaking their heads at my lack of shopping panache), and I was delighted to find so many great ideas in there! Just about everything in the catalogue was outside my price range, but a lot of the decorations were things I could make myself for lots less money!

One of the things that I knew right away I wanted was the spray of twigs table arrangement.
Now, I know that you can get the real thing by bringing the stems inside and "forcing" them to bloom, but that takes time and I'm too impatient. My way allows me almost instant gratification combined with being able to reuse the stems.

To start, you'll need a small selection of branches. If your branches are to thick and woolly, thin them out a bit. We want the airy and delicate look, not the "I-haven't-shaved-in-weeks" look.
Plunk or place your stems into the vase of your choice. I secured my stems into a glass hurricane vase with a judicious amount of rocks, but you can use whatever you like. It's easier to glue on the flowers artistically if you know exactly where they're going to go on the stems. That way you can burn yourself in a more exciting way. (I have a love/hate relationship with my glue gun. It's a phobia of mine that I've never gotten over.)

Get about two bunches of flowers (I found Dogwood blossoms, yay!) from the Dollar Tree or wherever you want, and cut off the bottom nubs.
Insert rant here: For my sake, stick to flowers that actually grow on tree branches. Daisies are pretty, but I dare you to show me a horticultural example of a daisy in a tree.
Then you just start gluing the blossoms wherever you like! Don't make them too close together, and don't put them all at the end of the stems. Also, it's a good idea to rotate the arrangement to ensure that the blossoms aren't all facing the same direction.
If you have a few extra blossoms, scatter them inside your glass vase or around the base of a vase that isn't clear.
Finally, place your beautiful new spring arrangement on top of your piano that is sadly in need of a good dusting. Enjoy how sophisticated it looks with the echoing repeat of itself in the mirror. Feel smug. Then go bandage burnt fingers.