How-To: A Blooming Heart

On the hunt for an atypical Valentine, we had a bright idea when we spotted some of our favorite forced branches in the greenhouse. A few snips and some floral wire turned a pair of branches into a sweet and simple heart-shaped wreath. Our wreath is made from budding pussy willow cuttings and a scattering of fresh flowers, but this DIY would be equally pretty with any flexible, blooming branches.

What You'll Need:

Pussy willow branches
Cut flowers (we used ranunculus, hellebore, and muscari)
Floral wire
Pruners

1. Choose two branches and snip them to size depending on how large you'd like your wreath to be. Gently bend the branches into a teardrop shape (as shown above in Slide 2), using floral wire to attach the base and ends. Leave the branches in this shape for around half an hour-- this helps to soften and bend the branches, making it easier to shape the heart and preventing breakage.

2. Unfasten the branches from the teardrop, then line them up and wire the wider ends tightly together about an inch from the base, then two inches above the first wire.

3. Carefully bend the branches outward to form a heart. This may take some patience! Once you've achieved your desired shape, wire the thin ends of the branches together to make the bottom point of the heart.

4. Snip your choice of flowers and attach them to the wreath form with floral wire.