I think I did something illegal last week. I grabbed plant cutters, threw them in my car, and drove around LA to find tall grass to make a foraged arrangement.

I end up stopping at a public park to cut overgrown Miscanthus Sinensis. While at it, the possibility of doing something illegal came to mind. It went something like this: “Wait a minute Mila, you do NOT live in Chile anymore. Am I allowed to cut random greenery in public parks here, Los Angeles, CA, one of the most regulated cities in the world? A place that doesn’t allow you to smoke, drink or swear in public spaces?” I wondered with the cutters on my right hand and a bunch of grass on my left one. I decided not to take the chance and run to my car with what I had cut already.

Once in my car, I realized that I didn’t have enough greenery to make an arrangement and how sad it was to cut greenery that remained unused in the end. I braved up and went out of my car to cut some more. From my point of view, the Miscanthus Sinensis bushes needed trimming anyway. They had grown two feet into the street, so the city was OBVIOUSLY not doing its job of keeping us safe, so I did. Although, the question remains, is it illegal to cut small amounts of greenery in public spaces? Greenery that needs cutting anyway? I am yet to have an answer, and I am afraid to Google it.

So, before you make a foraged arrangement, learn your rights and the laws of your city. Of course, it is a lot more convenient if you live near the countryside and don’t have to worry about breaking the law when beautifying your home!! In any case, the result is gorgeous, isn’t?

The vase I used is a vintage vase used for pressing cheese. I got it at the Rose Bowl last month. As I mentioned before, the greenery is Miscanthus Sinensis. It took the Miscanthus two days to flower and expand. In the beginning, their shape was not as full and happy as shown in the photos.

Let’s take a look at more images:

How easy, simple and cute! Isn’t?

So that is my post for today. Giving you small ideas to beautify your life for close to no money (although a lot of danger). It is not often that I see grass used as flower arrangements, and I liked the result, don’t you?

If you enjoyed this post and if you are the kind of person that wakes up in the morning happier when looking at a flower arrangement, you might like the following posts:  how to make a romantic flower arrangement, a visit to the Flower Market in DTLA, and a flower arrangement workshop.

Have a great week!

In preparation for our Easter brunch, I tried doing a lavender wreath to use as decoration.

Difficulty (1-5): 3  Time: 45 mins  Cost: $50 (EXPENSIVE!!)

Materials:

• Dry lavender – I used 5 bunches like the one you see below. Each one of them was $9 at the Flowers Market, DTLA! Fresh lavender is even more expensive ($6 a small bunch with 6-8 flowers), so I didn’t try that.
• 12″ wire wreath
• Floral wire – I used 22 gauge, but other thickness would work too.
• Wire cutter
• Pruning scissors

Instructions:

1) Choose a place to start on the metal wreath and do a little knot with your floral wire.

2) Cut the lavender as you go. Eventually, I realized that the shortest you cut the lavender the better. I did not want branches to show, so there was no need to have long branches just using up space. 3″ of the green branches worked best for me. Here is an example:

I started with longer branches, as you can see in the picture below. That was a big mistake. They were hard to cover and my wreath had a weird shape by the end. I had to re-do the beginning of it. There is a photo of it later on this post.  3) Wrap floral wire around the branches to attach the lavender to the wire wreath. 2-3 times is enough.  4) Keep on adding branches on top as you go. TIP: You don’t want the wire wreath to show. The best technique to avoid this is to spread each bunch of lavender from the inside to the outside of the wreath so they cover all the space you need to cover, as you see in the pictures below. A dry lavender wreath is NOT forgiving, and it is difficult to fix this kind of mistakes once they are done. Unlike the Holiday wreath I did a couple of months ago, it is nearly impossible to go back and “add” branches of lavender to hide the wire because lavender breaks, so, make sure you are covering everything you need to as you go. Today’s lesson is to SPREAD THE LAVENDER. 5) The end of the lavender wreath is the most difficult part. Cut your branches short and stick them in there somehow. It is possible! OK. First I will show you my FAILED version. I added Víctor to the mix so the photo doesn’t look totally horrible. Ready? Here it is:

You see how the first branches I did are much longer than the others and they look out of place. Something similar happened to me when I did the Holiday wreath, so I had to go back, took out the floral wire, and did that section over again.

Here is the final result. I was planning to do more wreaths, but after learning how much they cost, I decided against it. At least the one I did will last for a very long time. Cute, isn’t?

Hope you like it!