Get into the celebratory mood and create a fun end of year get-together with this bright table display! Using kenzans, any bowls or dishes from around the house and some brightly coloured flowers, this will make everyone at your table smile. Watch our short video demonstration or read the blog to find out how to create one of your own.
Video: 1.29 minutes | Reading time: 10 minutes
STEP ONE :
Get the bowls and kenzans ready, and grab your flowers. We used an extra large, a medium, a small, and a mini kenzan, and some bowls & dishes from around the house. The flowers were a mix of phlox, foxgloves, penstemon, scabiosa and heuchera, but you can use any bright mix from the garden. In total there were approximately 30 stems, but you can adjust this for the size for your table and how many kenzans you're using.
STEP TWO:
Start building your display. We started with the largest/tallest flowers so that we could make sure they were pressed solidly into the kenzans. If you start with the tallest flowers, insert them more upright, or counter-balance them by placing a stem on either side of the same kenzan (see below).
If you have any trouble inserting thick stems, just make a cut at the base going straight up the stem the split it, this will make it easier.
STEP THREE:
Once you have finished with these, it's time to add the next flower type. I find it makes things easy to add one type of flower at a time, as you are only thinking about the spacing and placement of that one variety, rather than trying to think of the whole arrangement at once!
We popped in some foxgloves next, and placed them a bit lower than the phlox. Make sure that no two flowers are exactly the same height - it looks much more natural if everything is a slightly different height.
After the foxgloves we added a few penstemon stems shorter and placed these lower in the arrangement. Make sure you keep moving around the table, placing things on all sides of each kenzan to keep them balanced.
STEP FOUR:
Add the last of your flower varieties in. We always leave the ones with the thinnest stems until last, as they sometimes don't fit on the kenzan pins. This doesn't matter as you can just thread them through the other flowers, or lean them against other stems and leaves to keep them upright.
As long as they are in water, they don't necessarily need to be in the pins. Our final varieties were the scabiosa and a couple of heuchera flowers.
Don't worry if you can still see your random kitchen containers at this point - these can be hidden by plates of food or some well-placed fruit!
STEP FIVE :
It's time to style! Finish setting your festive table with your favourite plates and glasses, some drinks, or some grazing plates if you are hosting a casual family get-together. We used some fruit cut in half and some bunches of grapes to hide our containers, but you could also use leaves, candles, or bowls of nibbles.
Lastly, make sure your water is topped up, and take a pic of your lovely table display!
We ship our Australian-made kenzans nationally, they are such an amazing tool to have in the drawer for when you feel like entertaining! They last a lifetime and can be used with any container that holds enough water to cover them.
Shop our kenzans and more lovely gifts in our Local Store.