Mastering the Hand-Tied Bouquet

This bouquet is the epitome of order and structure. It’s perfectly round and creates a perfectly even and concentric spiral of stems that you suspect would spark joy for Marie Kondo.

This neat look is not only cathartic to the person who is relaxed by a well-organized pantry and color coordinated closet, but it’s also simple to learn.

The Prep: 

As with all flowers, you want to ensure that they get a 45 degree angle snip and good amount of time to hydrate in some clean water before you begin arranging. Peel off leaves and bits that would go below the waterline in a vase. This will ensure your water stays clean and your flowers last longer.Take off rubber bands and packaging, organize the stems by type, and lay out something to keep your space clean. Your future self will thank you a million times over. 

Oh, and don’t forget to compost your green waste and recycle packaging. 

Ok, PSA over. Now where was I?  

Step 1: Pick a stem to start with that you’ll want at the very center of the bouquet. Hold the stem straight. Piece of cake.

Step 2: Take a second stem and cross the stem of this next flower at a slight angle. While the first stem is straight, this second one is diagonal. 

Step 3: Holding both flowers, give it a small quarter rotation to your left (or right, doesn’t matter as long as you keep going in the same direction later). Then add your next flower, making sure to point your slightly diagonal stem in the same direction as that last one. 

Step 4: Rinse and repeat. Rotate, add flower or foliage in a diagonal fashion with the stem angled the same way. You can turn the bouquet towards you to ensure the pattern pleases you. As you keep doing this process, the bouquet will get rounder and your stems will start spiraling. 

Step 5: Take some twine and tie it at the most compact part of your stems. This is the part that looks like the narrow part of an hourglass. Tighten the knot and wrap the twine to keep everything in place before finishing it off with a second and final knot. 

Step 6: Evenly snip the stems straight across. The true test of balance is if it can stand on a flat surface on its own.