12 Tips For Fooling People With Fake Flowers

Why Fake Flowers?

Some people prefer fake flowers, because they require little or no care, don't die and never go out of season. 

 

 Image: Pany Floral Corp

 

 Even though we don't sell fake flowers at Fly Me To The Moon, I admit, even I have some at my house. I live in an apartment in New York City,  where it's hot all year long unless the air conditioner is on. Not the best conditions for keeping fresh flowers alive.

But let's face it. There are good fake flowers and bad ones.

I know. I know. I'm not supposed to call them fake. Some people call them artificial. Others refer to them as silk, though they aren't. You can call them faux flowers if that makes you happy. And the floral industry gets a kick out of calling them permanent botanicals.

But, no matter what you call them, there's really no reason for them to look fake anymore. Here's how to keep people guessing:

 

 12 Tips For Fooling People With Fake Flowers

 

1.  Research fresh flowers. Before you can buy good-looking fake flowers you need to know what real ones look like. Visit a florist or look at images of real flowers online. Be sure to check out the leaves. Each flower has its own leaf shape. Makers of fake flowers blow it on this point all the time. By the way, different types of flowers don't all grow on one stem either. I'm just saying.

 

 
Image: Pany Floral Corp.

 

2.  Choose flowers in realistic colors. Look for fake flowers in natural colors. There are no black lilies or roses in nature. No neon blue flowers either. If you're creating flower arrangements for a cutting edge special event, then go ahead and play with color. But, if you want those unrealistic colors to match your sofa they may look nice, but they won'r look natural. Which is fine, if that's the look you're going for.

 

Image: Polyvore 

 

3.  Invest in good quality fake flowers. Realistic fake flowers aren't cheap. But they will look a thousand times better than cheaper ones for years to come.

 

4.  Buy great looking inexpensive fake flowers. If you can't afford expensive ones, buy those that look like them. Visit a store that sells high-end fake flowers and study them. What makes them look real?  Notice that they're never shiny. How do they display them? Pottery Barn is a good place to get ideas on how to incorporate fake flowers into your space. 

 

5.  Avoid weird details. Some fake roses have plastic water droplets on them. You can just peel these off. Others have little baby's breath type growths. Remove these too. Flower manufacturers think these things make the fake flowers look prettier. They're wrong.

  

6.  Beware of super thick stems. Bunches of fake flowers are wired individually then enclosed in thick plastic to create one giant stem. You get lots of flowers for the price of one. Hide those stems in a vase you can't see through. 

 

 

Image: Welcome Haven

 

7.  Divide and multiply. Just because your fake flowers may come in a bunch doesn't mean they have to stay that way. Separate bunches of them into different vases. Use wire cutters to cut the stems. If you use your good scissors, they won't be good anymore. An inexpensive pair of wire cutters should do the job. Learn how to make flower pens out of fake flowers here.

 

Image:  Pottery Barn

 

8.  Go monochromatic. Find one fake flower you like. Buy lots of them in the same color. Place them in a clear glass vase with the stems arranged in an orderly design. I think this is one of the most stylish ways to display them.

 

 

Image: Doryn Wallach
 

 

9.  Limit your color palette. Decide on a color scheme. To achieve an elegant look, use no more than 2 or 3 colors. Those colors should relate well to each other. If one flower is mostly pink, but has a hint of green and white use those colors to complement the first flower. Using 25,000 different colors will make your fake flower arrangement look all over the place. Focus on a few colors for the best result.

  

10.  Dust them. If you don't keep dust off your fake flowers,  they'll look an awful lot like fake flowers.  Real flowers don't get dusty! Unless you're one of those who bring your fresh flowers home, put them in a vase and allow them to die in place without a single bit of care. 

 

 11.  Add fake flowers to real flower arrangements. If there are real flowers that are too expensive or not in season for a special event, replace those with high quality fake ones. If you follow the tips above, few will even notice. 

 

12.  Just add water. Some people add water to their fake flower arrangements in clear vases to give the illusion that they are real. 

So those are my 12 tips for fooling people with fresh flowers. 

 

Articles on faux flowers:

Not Your Grandmother's Centerpiece: Five Fresh Ways To Use Faux Flowers - Apartment Therapy

Why Faux Flowers Are Really Chic - The Wall Street Journal

Fake Flowers: Fabulous or Faux Pas? - HGTV

 

 

Image: Fly Me To The Moon

 

Actually, at  Fly Me To The Moon Florists, we have the opposite problem. People have the illusion that our real flowers are fake. Either they think they're too pretty to be real or they've never seen them before. Not a bad problem to have I think.

What tips do you have for working with permanent botanicals fake flowers to make them look real? let me know in the comments below.

Mimi

 

 

Comments

[Lisa @ Life is Crazy Beautiful]

Great tips! I have been using fake flowers less and less, but do sometimes still use the more realistic ones. You've encouraged me to not totally give up on them - since I don't have a lush garden to cut flowers from or the $$ to buy fresh flowers all the time :)

[Mimi]

Thanks so much for your comment Lisa. Great looking fake flowers have a place. If you check out the Pottery Barn you'll find out how to do fake flowers right! At our shop, Fly Me To The Moon Florists, we only do fresh flowers though. Please stop by again!

[Calling it Home]

I have fake hydrangeas, they make me happy!

[Mimi]

Flowers have a way of doing that. Even the fake ones sometimes!

[Leanne]

some very good advice here, our family uses them for christmass, it is on of our little traditions to have a flower arrangement on the table for the main meal , we also use dried flowers that we have made and collected over the years - something very similar to what you have in the picture with the candles

[Laura]

My tip is have someone else dust them - they look best this way.

[Mimi]

Laura, thanks so much for your comment. I agree. dusting fake flowers is very important.

[June Huston]

Thank you for posting! I love the picture you shared for number 8! I'll try to make something similar!

[Mimi]

June, I appreciate our comment. Monochromatic flower arrangements always work well whether the flowers are real or faux. Let me know how your arrangement turns out.