Using Artificial Flowers and Foliage to Decorate Your Home

While it is nice to decorate your home with real flowers, sometimes that's not always possible. Depending on the time of year and your location, real flowers may be unavailable or cost too much. Even if they are readily available or inexpensive, the downside of using real flowers is that eventually the blooms fade and you are left with wilted or dead stems. Enter the alternative: fake flowers. Before the purists turn up their noses at the idea, reconsider. Artificial or fake flowers are no longer a neon sign used by hillbillies and "trailer trash." These days, artificial flowers are so well made they rival their real cousins with authentic colors and textures.

When shopping for artificial flowers, take the time and spend the money on best that you can afford. I like to buy silk or fabric flowers that are true to their counterpart in nature. Fabric flowers are easy to clean, most needing only a vacuum every few months, or a brief trip in a steamy shower. There is a great selection of faux petals located in Michaels stores, or you can visit their web site at www.michaels.com. There are other floral retailers, which you may be able to find locally or online. These include aFloral (www.afloral.com), Kincade Studios (www.kincadestudios.com) or Flower Factory (www.flowerfactory.com). I prefer to shop in person for the actual flowers and foliage, and shop online for supplies such as floral tape, etc.

Never fear if you're not at all crafty. For the design challenged, you can still come up with a nice piece using something as simple as a vase and one stem. In one of my photos, I took a red vase and put a very realistic yellow African daisy in it. This is decorating a shelf in a small bathroom where there is no window. The primary colors are bright and play off each other, and bring interest to an otherwise mundane black and white bathroom.

While shopping at a Pottery Barn Outlet Store, I found giant white calla lily stems on clearance for $2 each. The fabric of the flowers is silky and smooth, very much like the real plant. At that price, I picked up an armful. These I arranged in a tall vase (also a sale item from Pottery Barn Outlet), the stems anchored to the bottom of the vase with a layer of pebbles.

For those who are a little more adventurous, try decorating a grapevine wreath with your favorite blossoms. For this project, you will need a wreath (usually around $4 at Michaels) and the buds of your choice. Fasten to the wreath using a hot glue gun. Decorate with ribbon and hang.

Don't be afraid to try other projects, including floral arrangements. For these, you will need a vase or bowl, frog or Styrofoam base, plenty of flowers, scissors or wire cutters, floral wire and floral tape. Start by cutting your stems, then wrapping from the base of the bud to the end of the stem with green floral tape. To lengthen, wrap a length of floral wire with tape and then include the blossom. Position the larger flowers in the bowl first, then fill in with greenery and smaller blooms. It is possible to find classes, but to me, it was easier to experiment with the fake flowers myself.

No matter if you choose a simple project or something more complex, decorating your house with artificial flowers is fun and can add instant interest that will last for months.