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Extra Features and Video Online FloristsReview.com R E A D O N L I N E 47 Extra Features and Video Online FloristsReview.com R E A D O N L I N E 47 STEP 1 Step by Step STEP 2 Punch heart-shaped holes in three or four Aspidistra leaves using a heart hole punch. Cut off the stems from the customized Aspidistra leaves, and line the interior perimeter of a short, wide glass cylinder vase with them. STEP 3 Coil stems and branches of fresh curly willow, and place them inside the vase as a mechanic for holding the fl owers in place. Next, place a thick stem of curly willow inside the vase, across the center, to help hold it all together. Curve an Aspidistra leaf to create a loop, and bind the tip to the stem with red crimped (bullion) wire. Repeat this step with three other leaves. Punch heart-shaped holes in the looped leaves, if desired, for added interest. STEP 4 MATERIALS BOTANICALS • Gerbera jamesonii (African daisy, Transvaal daisy, Barberton daisy, Veldt daisy) • Rosa spp. (spray rose) • Alstroemeria aurea/A. aurantiaca (Peruvian lily, lily-of-the-Incas) • Aspidistra elatior leaves (cast-iron leaf, barroom plant leaf) • Eucalyptus spp., seeded (seeded eucalypt, seeded Australian gum) • Xerophyllum tenax (bear grass, elk grass, Indian basket grass) • Salix matsudana/S. babylonica 'Tortuosa' (corkscrew willow, curly willow, contorted willow) HARD GOODS • Short, wide glass cylinder vase • 28-gauge crimped metallic (bullion) wire—red • Floratape ® Stem Wrap • Pearl-headed pins • Wired wood picks STEP 5 Arrange the looped leaves and stems of seeded Eucalyptus into the vase. Arrange spray roses and Gerbera into the vase, in groupings (spray roses on one side of the design; Gerbera on the other side). Next, arrange stems of Alstroemeria into the vase, toward the "back" of the design. STEP 6 STEP 7 Bind the tip ends of two small bundles of bear grass together with red crimped (bullion) wire, and wire a wood pick onto the end of the tips. Next, bind each of the stem ends of the two bundles of bear grass with a wired wood pick. Insert the wood picks into the arrangement so that the two bundles of bear grass form a heart. (You can also bind the stem ends of the bear grass together to form the center of the heart, and insert the wood-picked tip ends into the sides of the arrangement; use whichever method produces a heart shape that you prefer.) Insert a pearl-headed pin into the center of each Gerbera. STEP 8

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