Potpourri Ivy Bowl

Last updated on March 6th, 2016 at 12:23 am

PinThis pretty as a picture ivy bowl smells sweet too – it is filled with homemade potpourri and makes a practical and decorative home accent almost anywhere in your home.

by Jane Lake

Just fill an ivy bowl with purchased potpourri or, even better, a potpourri that you make yourself, then top the bowl with a selection of dried and silk flowers.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

glass ivy bowl
white doily to fit up to the bowl rim
homemade or purchased potpourri
dried baby’s breath
small silk flowers – for our bowl, we used peach roses, white roses, and a selection of other small peach colored flowers
pre-gathered lace trim or pretty ribbon
string pearls (optional)
glue
rubber band

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Project Instructions:

Place the ivy bowl in the center of the doily, and gather the doily around the bowl, fastening in place at the neck with a rubber band. Adjust the folds and allow the doily to extend just beyond the rim of the bowl.

Fill the glass bowl with homemade or purchased potpourri. A peach scent would be appropriate for this color scheme; if you change the color, pick a potpourri scent to match.

Tie the pregathered lace or a pretty ribbon around the neck of the bowl, covering the rubber band and forming a bow, as shown in the photo. Optionally, you can add string pearls around the rim.

Insert several stems of dried baby’s breath, approximately six to seven inches high, into the potpourri. In this example, the very tiny flowers are commercial baby’s breath, commonly used as filler in floral arrangments, while the airy, white flowers shown are dried gypsophylia from my garden (also known as baby’s breath). We have instructions on how to air dry flowers, but commercial alternatives are widely available at reasonable cost from craft stores.

Add the peach roses (or whatever color you choose), white roses, plus another spray of small-scale flowers in the same color scheme. Take care to position the flowers at equal spaces throughout the arrangement, but at different heights, filling in the gaps between the baby’s breath and adding focus to the display.

Remove the stem on one peach and one white rose, and position on top of the bow; use glue if required to fasten.

Suggestions:

This simple design is easily adapted to a wide variety of floral styles. Vary the color scheme; substitute satin or velvet ribbon for the lace, or even tie with raffia for a country style. Rather than this open and airy look, you could opt for a more formal home accent by using shorter, more densely packed florals.