
With Thanksgiving and holiday decorating right around the corner we thought it would be fun to create a centerpiece made entirely from easy to find items from your local supermarket. A clustered arrangement like this can be just a few components, made in minutes, and is festive without being too fussy- and you could also class it up with one of your nicer vases. We celebrated this fine fall day with pre-Thanksgiving bites and brown ale!

Our local chain supermarket was our starting point where we spotted a pretty oatmeal can on a holiday endcap. We decided to carry the can’s neutral palette into our flowers as well. We wandered the produce and flower section choosing a variety of items in brown, green, white, and a touch of rusty red. After tossing around ideas using wheat, radishes, kalanchoes, and chestnuts we narrowed our final selection to mushrooms and seckel pears, eucalyptus, fall leaves, cream mini-carnations, white alstroemeria, and paperwhites.
CLICK HERE for the full arrangement how-to after the jump!

We started the arrangement by creating a base with the leaves, loosely leaning them against the sides of the can. Next we removed the leaves from the seeded eucalyptus to give it a more pod-like texture. We made two small rubber-banded bundles and added them in so the lowest seeds started just below the top of the can. At this point the can should be full enough with foliage and seeds that things are not moving around too much (to make placement even easier you could use a flower frog or oasis in the bottom).
Next we inserted some wooden skewers into the mushrooms and pears at different angles to make their “stems”. We added them in through the seeds to look like they were growing out of the can in bountiful little groups.



We wanted to continue using low clustered elements rather than long spray stems so we needed to do a little alteration on our flowers. The mini carnations had long stems with buds, leaves, and flowers, so we just snipped off the open blossoms with stems at least three inches long. We removed all the leaves from the alstroemeria and separated the four small flowers. The paperwhites were good to go! Finally, we just added the blooms amongst the foliage and produce in little groupings. We cut the stems short and pressed in so the blossoms were resting on top of the foliage (with no stem exposed). Easy as pie. Mmmm pumpkin.














24 Comments
LOVE it. :)
love the idea of being things at a supermarket as you already have to go there shopping and it makes one less stop to the farmer’s or flower markets.
Leave it to Studio Choo to dress it up or down, this lovely arrangement is so versatile… yummies included! I can’t wait to bbq the mushrooms and make pear tart!
Beautiful! I love what the mushrooms and pears bring to the arrangement, they’re so unexpected but still look as if they belong.
not to be a killjoy, but isn’t that a waste of food :s
I love your column. So many great ideas for original and non-formal “flower” arrangements!
I love this idea! So creative. I also love that oatmeal and eat it nearly every winter morning– soaking it overnight in hot water and yogurt, as per the instructions in Nourishing Traditions, means it cooks up in 5-10 minutes!
i think the idea is that the food isn’t wasted: the mushrooms and pears only have skewers in them and totally edible. as novi said, bbq those mushrooms and whip up a pear tart once the display has served its purpose. and i would save the can to use over again. totally ecologically- and economically-minded display. well done!
What a wonderful idea! I love it. Thanks for sharing.
Take care.
i love that it isn’t too flowery – perfect
ohhh i love the little mushrooms.
What a creative idea. Really earthy and beautiful. Looks fun to do. Thanks!
~jamilyn
nice decoration =) what a pity i can’t make it in my country =(
Gorgeous arrangement! Easy to find items and quick to put together!
I love this! So clever!
Great elements too!
Love the use of autumn leaves, flowers and fruits, but less convinced about the mushrooms.
great blog keep more articles about this topic, good job
Perfectly elegant……
Looks great! Suddenly i feel hungry
Oh so very lovely and inspiring. Thank You!
Perfect timing! We’re hosting an early Thanksgiving tonight, and my plans for the centerpieces were proving impossible. This is great!
Love it! How did you come up with using real fruit in a flower arrangement? The best ideas are the simplest ones, right?
This is wonderful- I am pretty sure it is the first time I have ever bookmarked a flower arrangement.
Cheers!
I crave Mccann’s at this time of year, replacing the typical omlette order with something more warming in the winter months.
It has that basic wholesomeness that these arrangements suggest. Pure, simple, seasonal, warm bouquets that are entirely unpretentious.
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