100 DIY arrangements in Studio Choo’s ‘The Flower Recipe Book’
For years the neighborhood florist was the go-to place for special-occasion arrangements and the occasional pick-me-up of cut flowers. Now as grocery stores, farmers markets -- even hardware stores -- have made fresh flowers so readily available, designers Alethea Harampolis and Jill Rizzo of the San Francisco firm Studio Choo have another suggestion: Make your own.
Harampolis and Rizzo share their floral arranging skills in “The Flower Recipe Book,” a new how-to guide for creating 100 arrangements for all kinds of occasions. The book is set up as a series of recipes, with lists of ingredients, step-by-step instructions and photographs making each arrangement simple to comprehend. The book also includes tips on choosing tools and vessels, advice on proper cutting technique and a frame-worthy ingredient chart.
Because I view flower arranging as an instinctive process, I was cynical as I walked with book in hand to the Los Angeles Flower District, the huge market downtown. I presumed that following a recipe was going to take all the fun out of creating my own arrangement. I was wrong. With its streamlined approach -- recipes often use no more than four ingredients and sometimes only one -- the book was a helpful resource in an overwhelming environment. I have never been in and out of the 50,000-square-foot market so fast.
I could not find the exact ingredients for the thistle recipe I chose, but it was easy and fun to look for something similar at Mayesh, my favorite stall at the market. By mimicking the flower shapes, colors and textures pictured in the book, I easily swapped eucalyptus greens for acorn branches and orange montbretia for euphorbia. Following the pictures and instructions, I assembled it in a few minutes. And just like with many culinary recipes, my flower arrangement was different from the book’s, and that was fine by me. (To see the result, click to the end of the photo gallery.) My total expense for what ultimately became two floral arrangements: $29.43.
But you don’t have to go it alone like I did: The authors of “The Flower Recipe Book” will be in town Sunday for a floral arranging workshop at West Elm, 8366 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles. The cost is $65, which includes instruction, materials and a signed book. Reservations are required.
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