How to Make Ombre Floral Centerpieces

For our Easter table this year, I made ombre floral centerpieces. You could use this same technique for any party, using any color of flowers. This look is simple to create, doesn’t cost a fortune, and is a great way to highlight your party color palette.

Instead of one central flower arrangement, I made a series of five small arrangements. All together, they created an ombre effect down the center of the table.

Ombre Floral Centerpiece Supplies

For vases, I chose 3-inch square glass vases from Dollar Tree. (I’m not seeing those online now, but Michael’s has similar vases.)

We chose white and green flowers from the grocery store including:

• Green hydrangeas
• Green mums
• Green pom-pom mums
• White hydrangeas
• White carnations
• White roses

Spider mums would be another good choice as would something tall, like delphinium.

The roses were on clearance, so our total was only $46 — a good price for the quantity of flowers we got.

The pattern was:

• Two white flower arrangements
• One white and green arrangement in the center
• Two green arrangements

How to make Ombre floral centerpieces

Before making the floral centerpieces, I trimmed the ends off of each flower and stored everything in a 1-gallon glass cookie jar. Fill the jar about halfway with cool water and a packet of floral preservative. This gives the flowers a chance to acclimate to your home and refresh the store cuts to absorb more water.

Pour a packet of floral preservative in each vase, then fill 3/4 of the way with cool water.

Make a criss-cross grid on top of each vase with Scotch tape or floral tape. This will help each flower hold the position you place it in. That’s especially important since you’ll trim the stems so short, making the flowers top-heavy and floppy.

Cut the stems approximately 4-1/2 inches long. You can always cut them shorter, so err on the long side for that first cut. Remember to cut the stems at a 45 degree angle.

Special tips for hydrangeas:

• After you make the 45 degree angle cut, make a vertical cut up the stem.
• Dipping the cut stems in boiling water for about 30 seconds may help them absorb water. When you do this, keep the bloom away from the steam so it doesn’t wilt.
• When your arrangement is done, pop it in a cool space, like your fridge, but keep it away from fruits and vegetables. (A separate shelf is fine.) Or, add an ice cube to the water.

Strip off lower leaves. Save the hydrangea leaves to use later as filler.

For flowers that aren’t fully open, turn them upside down and gently roll the stems between your hands. You also can run your fingers inside flowers like roses and carnations to encourage them to open fully.

Place your largest bloom in the vase first. The flowers will rest at an angle.

Add other flowers in groups of three or more to create more impact. You’ll have a section for each type of flower. Criss-cross the stems for support as you add them to your vase.

Pay attention to the shape you’re creating. You want a domed shape. Turn the vase as you work so you can look for gaps on each side. Also look at the arrangement from above. Fill in any gaps with extra blooms and hydrangea leaves.

I placed one hydrangea in each vase, then filled in with like colors.

For the white and green arrangement, I used both a white hydrangea and a green hydrangea, as well as white roses, white carnations and green mums.

When you’re done, place the vases down the center of your table, with equal spacing between each vase.

Here’s an all-green arrangement.

Here are two views of the green and white arrangement.

You can see the full Easter table here. Would you try this centerpiece idea for a party?