Kerry Quade has been working with flowers for over 18 years, which is probably why it only took her two minutes to grab a flower and make a beautiful centerpiece.
In this video Kerry gives us an idea that is perfect to tuck away for when we want to have a quick punch of color at the dinner table or a nightstand.

The final product.
The centerpiece is made of one large Japanese Deco Mum placed in a low square glass vase. The leaves are used to decorate around the vase. In this season a large mum or similar flower is easy to find around town. I loved the use of the leaves, which usually are not showcased. And for those times when I am more preoccupied with (or have spent all my money on)the food shopping, this idea will be perfect.
Chrysanthemum links:
matt at apartment therapy dot com
Comments (18)
hey AT: "this clip is private."
is what I'm seeing . . .
Yeah, me too - perhaps you should check the security levels on items prior to posting about them?
All fixed! Sorry about that - it was clicked on private while editing. Now everyone can see :) The videos are a new feature - definitely let me know if you enjoy them. So far I have been very lucky to have fantastic volunteers to go in front of the camera (Kerry, and Byron at Logee's, were both fun and enthusiastic - something the video shows better than words) and hope to do this more if possible.
Hey matt,
It still says "this clip is private" for me.
Ditto here.
Yep, private, here, too. Maybe the mums are naked?
No naked mums...sorry for the spoiler alert. Although you will see a stem stripping...
Take a look now.
no naked mums here... just refresh. :)
I love the videos. Keep them coming, Matt.
Okay, a question for the class: regarding the drop o' bleach as a bacteria growth inhibitor--would a drop of tea tree oil or lavender essential oil work as they are both anti-bac and anti-microbial? I don't use bleach (or other toxic chems) so I wonder if this would work. Anyone tried it? I'm going to do a test this week.
Eek!
Now I'm distracted by the idea that the stem gets tossed in the garbage!
Compost, Kerry Quade, compost!
sorry about the private clip thing, folks. both Matt and i have trouble with that, because if you go to the blog to check your post it plays (because you are logged in on Vimeo) even if you forget and haven't changed it from "private." Twice i've not noticed until i logged onto another computer.
Just a quick note on the compost - I have been asking florists about this and always am told to keep cut flowers out of the compost unless you absolutely know where they are from or how they are grown (which is still information that is not passed along in many cases). Otherwise you may end up with a harmful pesticide in soil that will be used to grow your food.
Shanna - that is a great question - and I would love to know the answer, too. Let us know how your experiment goes!
It seems that the purpose of the post was lost in technical problems. For my part, I enjoyed the video. I am happy to see an easy and cheap centerpiece demonstration so that people have no excuse for not making one when they having guests over for dinner.
Love this post! One suggestion though... the leaves here look a little dingy. If your doing this at home, use a some lemon juice to shine them up. ;)
I love how she says "...and nothing goes wasted!" and then tosses the stem in the garbage. Great video though!
Great idea! Not much money left for a flower arrangement at the end of this paycheck, but I may just go ahead and buy one or two gerbera daisies and put them in bowls this way.
Chrysanthemums say 'funerals' not 'dining tables' to Europeans.