Post #203085 by tikiwinebear on Wed, Dec 14, 2005 10:57 AM

Thanks so much for your compliments! No, I don't do arrangements for a living.. I work in computer software. I am lucky to have a fantastic floral shop nearby who gets fresh Tropicals every Wednesday. I got all the flowers you saw in the arrangements for under $70. The heliconias really make the arrangement. I got the idea of adding the Douglas fir boughs from Mama's Fish House in Maui, thus instant Christmas arrangements.

I use 4 or 6 inch floral pin frogs to hold the stems - with frogs you can angle the stem, or make it stand straight up. I place a plastic drink coaster between the ceramic bowl and the steel pin frog so I don't scratch the bowl. I use all my bowls; the TV Kava bowl is great for longer stems, while the smaller bowls are great for a few flowers, or to be used for nuts / dried fruits / party favors, as suggested by Formikahini and Cherry Capri. The Mai Kai Mystery bowl can hold lots of wider stems like the down-turned heliconias or gingers.

For my summer tiki parties, I have used birds of paradise, proteas (all sizes and colors, but especially love the pincushion variety), tuberose, and lots of tropical leaves / greenery. Here's a link to some of those:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mykecmi/album?.dir=51c5&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mykecmi/my_photos

Merry Tiki-Christmas to you all.

• Myke