Episode 96 – The DIY Bouquet

It’s Mothering Sunday here in the UK and a bouquet of flowers is a traditional gift to receive from one’s offspring, although other presents are also gratefully received (thank you Kate!). This year one of my sons surprised me with a 581-piece kit to make my own wooden bouquet. As I had not much else planned for the day, I decided to get straight on with it and soon realised that he had also given me something that you would want to read about.

The finished bouquet would include a sunflower, a rose, camellias, some lilac and some eucalyptus. I decided to begin with the camellias. The pack for this included some flat sheets of wood – red, green and yellow – and each had numerous shapes printed onto it which I could press out as I needed them. Each piece was accurately shaped with small tabs that fitted together. I would not need any tools or glue to construct my bouquet. Some of the shapes were even scored so that petals or leaves could curve.

Soon I worked out the meanings of the symbols on the instructions and had constructed my first small flower. The kit would make two flowers and also a vase into which they could be slotted for display. I decided to make the vase, even though I would not need it when I had made all the flowers and was ready to construct the final bouquet. After about an hour and a half I had this delightful little ornament. I was really impressed by how accurately the shapes were designed and cut and how robust it was when they were all fitted together.

Next, I moved on to the sunflower and soon that, too was displayed in its own pot. After this I realised that the pots for all the kits were the same and I decided not to make any more. At some point in the future, I may deconstruct my bouquet and display the flowers separately, but not today.

Moving on to different flower types involved slightly different construction techniques, with the lilac definitely being the most fiddly. With some of the flowers I was surprised how much of my workmanship was hidden as the structure that supported the petals did not even show in the finished articles.

Finally, all my flowers were complete and I found at the bottom of the box some plastic greenery, some ribbon and some special paper for wrapping the bouquet. This last job was just as tricky as making the flowers but I decided to persevere rather than take the easy option of displaying them in a vase of my choice. Again, I may rearrange them in the future. It was all finished off with a wooden bow which I had made as part of the eucalyptus kit.

Finally, it was done. I did have a short break for lunch and another for the most welcome delivery of a ready-made bouquet from Adrian that just needed putting in water but I had spent about seven hours constructing my bouquet. It was challenging and fiddly but I am extremely pleased with the results so thank you, Robert, for the gift. It will definitely have pride of place at home for a long time. What do you think of it?