Petite Parisian Bouquets

The beauty of these bouquets is that they're hand-tied, so they're very easy to make. All you have to do is add a few decorative touches to bring out an entirely different personality.

Materials

flowers with sturdy stems (roses, freesia, lilies)
flat leaves or ferns
pruners
floral tape
vegetables (optional)
floral sticks (optional)
raffia (optional)
moisture-holding polymer crystals (optional)
cellophane (optional)

Step 1: Prepare the flowers
To begin, choose flowers with a sturdy stem, like roses, freesia or lilies. Start by stripping the foliage from the stem. If you're using roses, be sure to remove the thorns first.

Step 2: Arrange them
Pascal recommends choosing a flower at random and adding each one at a 45-degree angle. Turn the bouquet about a quarter turn, and add another flower at a 45-degree angle. Continue adding flowers in this way, turning the bouquet in the same direction each time. Pascal says the beginning is a little hard at first, but eventually the bouquet will pull together. You want to create a dome shape for the top of your bouquet, so you may have to adjust flowers in the middle that may be too low; give each stem a gentle tug.

Step 3: Add a "collar" around the flowers
The next step is to add a "collar" of leaves around the bouquet. Lemon leaves, ferns or any flat foliage works well for this. Position the leaves so they stick out a few inches beyond the bouquet. Snip off any that stick out too far. Now secure the bundle using floral tape. Wrap it around tightly, pulling and stretching the tape as you go. Then cut the stems, leaving three inches. Place the stems in water and your petite flower bouquet is complete.

Some more examples of Pascal's Parisian bouquets include:

• Provence bouquet: made with rosemary, lavender, dill, garlic flowers, roses for color and alstroemeria; very nice for a kitchen bouquet.
  
• Le Romantique bouquet: made with freesia, trachelium, lisianthus, wax flower and star of Bethlehem; perfect for a picnic table.
  
• Italian bouquet: made with red roses, other blooms in shades of reds and oranges, complete with a little terra-cotta pot filled with pasta.

Wrap the bouquets to go
These petite bouquets make wonderful hostess gifts, and Pascal has a great way to package them. Line a container with clear cellophane. Fill the cellophane with hydrated crystal polymers. Place the stems in the container, pull the cellophane up around the bouquet and tie tightly with raffia. Remove the bouquet from the container, and you have a festive presentation. The polymers will keep the bouquet watered until its new owners place them in a vase.