These are designs for those who love the silk arrangements as wreaths, swags, centrepieces or balls and want them in a hurry. A lovely wall or ceiling design, wreath and ball  with silk and dried plant materials, it will last  as long as you want it to and only take minutes to complete. For lessons each and every month delivered by email or post subscribe to 'floral design' magazine. Full details here.

.	A wreath that is  just so easy! These plastic holders have hooks on one end, eyes on the other, and open to allow you to add brown floral foam, designed for silk flowers, or use the green foam supplied with the holders for fresh flower arrangements.

	Fill 8 holders with dry floral foam or use the green foam supplied when you bought them,   and connect together into a circle. You can add more holders for a bigger circle but they will sag out of the circle shape if hung so only do this if your design will be on a table. Connect all 10 holders in a line and you have a swag to hang on a hearth, over a door, up a bannister or along a table edge.
	Lay a foundation of green silk plant foliage either  side of the holders, on their long edges so the foliage forms a base for the flowers. To make it interesting use a variety of leaves, some smooth, some rough, some shiny, some  dull. It looks better if they are all of similar size. The back is pictured on the left so you can see how far out the foliage goes.
	Bunch your flowers into little groupings  on the top of the holders. No floral foam should be showing when you have finished. If you have picked flowers of similar size and a pleasing range of colours, your wreath will  look harmonious and  unified.

You can make a very fast Christmas decoration with one holder filled with dry floral foam. Press the cut stems of silk conifer and around the holder, top, ends and sides. Leave the bottom  of the holder empty to make a smooth surface for stability. Add a pointsettia  on the top, near the ends of the holder and push a candle into the centre.  This should stand easily on a flat surface. Never leave the lit candle unattended as the silk plant material you use may be flammable.

Make a ball of silk flowers to hang by  pushing plant material all over the holder so the floral foam can not be seen. Attach a ribbon through the plastic hook and hang. Christine uses these to hang under her  shade umbrellas when entertaining  with a summer BBQ.

Flowers, Flowers,  Inspired Arrangements for All Occasions"

Paula's latest book, "An explosion of intense color mixes are accompanied by unique flower arranging recipes that include quantities as well as exact floral ingredients and methods needed to recreate the innovative floral bouquets for which Paula Pryke is internationally famous. " More...