Varieties and selection of New Year's bouquets

A New Year's bouquet is not only a stylish decor element that instantly creates a festive atmosphere, but also an actual gift for friends and family. Despite the abundance of varieties presented in stores, making a festive product is much more interesting on your own. This is how it will turn out to take into account all the preferences of the person to whom the present is intended, and create it with an individual approach.

In New Year's bouquets, as a rule, either live or artificial branches of coniferous trees are used as a basis: fir, pine, spruce or thuja. They are immediately immersed in a vessel with water or placed in a container filled with a floral sponge. The durability of compositions for the New Year depends on whether only living plants or exclusively artificial materials are used. In the second case, the bouquet, with proper handling, will retain a presentable appearance for more than one year, but in the first, sooner or later, the branches will begin to turn yellow, and the needles will fall off.

The simplest New Year's bouquet looks like an armful of coniferous branches, decorated with a couple of cones and Christmas tree decorations, and then placed in a suitable container. Such a composition is created in just a couple of minutes, but it has the right to be called a bouquet and creates the necessary festive atmosphere in the room. I must say that to create a classic composition, basically nothing is required except cones and living branches. By the way, this type of New Year's decor can be made generally only from cones.

An important component of a winter bouquet is the container in which it is placed. A vase, pot or other vessel should not only be decorated in a festive way, but also in colors and stylistically combined with the floristic composition. Almost any item is suitable as a container. It can be a glass, a plate, a wicker basket, a vase, a felt boot, or a classic flower pot. Miniature artworks will fit perfectly in a mug or wooden box. As for the form of the New Year's creation, it is not at all necessary to be limited to the classics.

All kinds of bouquets for the New Year can be divided into three categories.

• The first implies the use of only natural materials. Such a bouquet turns out to be the most fragrant, atmospheric and environmentally friendly, but, unfortunately, it lasts for a short time. Spruce branches, cones, fresh flowers, rowan branches and often tangerines are used to create a floristic composition. The combination of fir branches and snow-white roses, decorated with unobtrusive decor, looks very elegant.

• The second category includes bouquets made only from artificial materials. As a rule, artificial tree branches are taken as a basis, which are then decorated with Christmas balls, candles, satin bows, miniature figurines and other decor. The same category includes soap products, in which individual bars are made in the form of cones, tangerines and other thematic items.

• The third category includes combined work. For example, spruce paws can be decorated with balls or bows, or artificial branches and ripe citruses can be combined. Such products also do not differ in durability.

Sweet edible bouquets stand apart. In principle, they cannot be called only New Year's, since this type of gifts is relevant all year round. But, adding a few thematic details, unusual compositions can be presented when going on a visit to celebrate the New Year, or placed in the center of the table. Most often, edible bouquets are made fruity or performed from sweets and dried fruits.

When choosing or creating a New Year's bouquet as a gift, it is extremely important to consider who it is intended for.

Women are almost always happy to receive flowers as a gift, so you can buy some classic bouquet from irises or calla lilies, but decorated in a winter theme. When creating a floral arrangement on your own, it is recommended to use green, blue, white and red shades. Sprinkle the twigs with artificial snow, and dilute the bright combination with cotton bolls. It is better to give work in a basket or on a unique frame.

The ideal masculine bouquet does not contain flowers, but consists of delicious details. These can be both small bottles of alcohol and a variety of sweets, depending on the taste of the person being done. Sets of sausages or some kind of alcoholic drink packaged with a snack look interesting. It is better to decorate a bouquet for men in dark colors while maintaining clear lines.

A baby bouquet should not only be beautiful, but also original. It is recommended to give preference to bright colors and original shapes, for example, to assemble a composition in the form of a Christmas tree or a snowman. A must-have addition to a gift for a child should be a themed soft toy or candy.

To make a classic winter bouquet of spruce branches on your own, you need to choose a fairly strong and stable vessel as a basis, for example, made of clay or ceramics. It is better not to take a vase, as the hanging branches can create an unnecessary excess, leading to the overturning of the decorative element.

However, if there is only such a vessel, then it should be additionally weighted from the inside by putting, for example, a few pebbles on the bottom. To preserve the freshness of the bouquet, it is better to use a floral sponge. You can buy this filler in a specialty store. The sponge must be tightly placed inside.

The basis of the bouquet is fresh spruce branches. The processing of individual elements will be carried out using scissors and a sharp knife. First of all, the spruce base is formed - individual branches are simply inserted into the floristic sponge. If they do not hold very securely, then you can create an additional frame made of aluminum wire. The branches, securely fixed and beautifully placed, are decorated with rowan berries, ribbons, nuts and cones. The finished work is covered with a layer of artificial snow or sparkles.

It is just as easy to make a New Year's bouquet of fruits. Such a decoration can be put at the head of the table, and at the end of the evening, offer guests as a dessert. Apples of different varieties, tangerines, oranges, tough pears, slightly unripe bananas and grapes can be used for work.

All fruits should be taken fresh and visually perfect, that is, without any damage, but with a waxy coating. If the work is planned to be stored for several days, then even not quite ripe fruits can be purchased.

After washing and drying the fruit, you can start forming the bouquet. All fruits are planted on wooden skewers. The more the weight of the fruit, the more wood sticks are required for the base. This means that the largest fruit can be planted on 3 or even 4 sticks. If citruses or pomegranates are used in the work, then the top is cut off, and the pulp is protected from winding with cling film.

Between themselves, ready-made fruit sticks are fastened with a wide adhesive tape. Twigs of green plants are inserted into the gaps between the fruits. If flowers are used as a decoration, then they should be inserted into special floristic extensions. The finished bouquet is wrapped in craft paper and tied with twine.

Ready-made bouquets can also inspire your own creativity.

Combined bouquet decorated in festive red color will create a unique atmosphere. Live or artificial coniferous branches are used as a basis. The center of the composition that sets the mood is a glass bottle of Coca-Cola, which many people associate with the winter holidays thanks to advertising. Other edible items are ripe chopped pomegranate and striped candy. Bright red glossy apples, rather, perform a decorative function, and therefore artificial fruits can be used.

The New Year's bouquet is originally decorated with fruits, berries, nuts and other decorative elements. You can decorate a festive table with such an unusual composition.

Another luxurious New Year's bouquet is decorated in golden colors. The lush composition is also based on coniferous branches: artificial or real. Edible decorative elements of the work include ripe tangerines and candies in golden wrappers, fixed on wooden skewers.

From artificial details, you can find Christmas balls and toys in matching colors, some of them are additionally covered with sparkles. The highlight of the product are forest cones and cinnamon sticks.The bouquet also contains thin branches of deciduous trees, painted with white paint. The finished work is packed in glossy gold-colored paper.

For information on how to make a New Year's bouquet of tangerines with your own hands, see the next video.