Weddingbee Blog

When we first became engaged, I defaulted over to the four-letter-word (the only one I won’t say—*wink*) website. I just happened across the picture because, at this time, inspiration denoted clothing and not wedding. I apologize that I did not save the picture and therefore can’t show you. Trust me, two years ago I would have given my today self a swirly—it’s that bad. Oh right, the point: I saw a picture of a beautiful manzanita tree with pictures of deceased relatives. It was a memorial manzanita, or as I like to call it, a dead-people tree. It was the first wedding decoration that I had. to. have.

Welp, I made my dead-people tree a few weeks ago! I just need to track down the pictures of our relatives and hang them. I used an old Patron bottle for the vase. I love those bottles for more than what they contain! Mrs. Lab used a different brand* of faux water last year. You can find her tutorial here. I’m not going to lie—I saw the directions on the box and almost decided against the project. You want to me to do what, how, and without a flux capacitor? It was terribly easy, and I’m glad I followed through better than that last half season of softball in seventh grade…

Tip: Before you start this project, practice arranging your flowers/sticks/feathers.

Prep your materials next to that box o’ cupcakes you should have already thrown out.

Boil real water and place the faux water bottle in the middle of the pan. The water should cover 2/3 of the bottle.

Once the faux water has boiled for 15 minutes, empty the real water out and place your vase into the warm (but dry) pan. Let the vase sit for a few minutes. Warming the vase prevents bubbles from staying in the faux water.

Pour the faux water into your vase while it’s still in the pan. Be careful not to drip into your pan. Your food will taste funny! No worries, though. This particular faux-water brand is reusable if you reheat it.

Stare in fascination while waiting.

After a few minutes, you can remove the vase from the pan and start your arrangement. You only have 15 minutes to arrange. Luckily, it only took me about five minutes to put it together.

This is the finished product (without the pictures attached). I am lucky that I used the Patron bottle, however, because there are bubbles in the faux water. I have a little more editing to do at the mouth of the vase. It looks a little cluttered. All in all, a project well finished.

*I used Craft Water that I believe I purchased at Walmart. It might have been Michaels. It was a while back when it was on sale.