Photo shoot flowers DIY (1)

Just went to collect the flowers for the DIY project to prepare for tomorrow's shoot. And Mr Flowers Supplier had a little surprise in store for me. He apparently left the stall for a while during the day and came back to find that his baby's breath and forget-me-nots had all been SOLD OFF, by his ultra-efficient stall helpers. So we had to rush around a bit to find replacements. We did anyway, though for I suspect a high price, partly because it's the goddamn Valentine's Day season. Anyhow, we managed to produced the goods:

Pomander

15 stalks of fuschia roses (Mr Supplier did as told and removed the netting one day earlier to allow the roses to bloom fully, and he got me nice big ones from Holland). A big bunch of forget-me-nots (if I hold the bunch with both hands, my fingertips touch) for about $13 from another supplier who probably overcharged me. A 37cm-in-circumference wet floral sponge ball (bought earlier from FarEast Flora). Lilac ribbon. A satay stick and clear tape.

I prepared the sponge by submerging it in water completely for about 5 min to make sure it's thoroughly soaked. Poke a straw through the sponge, without pulling it entirely through. Use a florist wire to tie both ends of a 50cm long ribbon to it, and put the wire through the straw. Draw out the wire and attached ribbon through the straw, then remove the straw completely. Make sure the ribbon does not go through the hole completely. The loop at one end will be the handle and the tails at the other end will be used to secure an anchor at the bottom of the sponge. To make the anchor, cross two 4cm long satay sticks and secure with clear tape until tightly bound. Tie the cross anchor to the sponge with both ends of the ribbon. Trim away the tail-ends if desired, or u can leave them behind like in the photo above. Cut the roses, leaving behind 3cm long stems and poke them through the sponge at random spots leaving some space in between for the forget-me-nots. Trim forget-me-nots to desired length and fill in the gaps.