Saturday, June 7, 2008

Manzanita Branches in a Tall and Narrow Vase

Manzanita Branches typically have a short stem ranging from a couple of inches to maybe six inches or so long. This means that you get a "branchier branch," but also makes it difficult to fit a set of Manzanita Branches into a narrow vase, and most importantly, keep them there and stable. While in many situations displaying Manzanita Branches in a short, wide vase works well, using a tall, narrow vase allows you to create a tall centerpiece with relatively short (and inexpensive) branches, and boost the centerpiece above the sightline so your guests aren't trying too peer through and around the branches to see each other. 

Here we created a 4-5 foot tall, two foot or so diameter wide display by using three 24-36" Natural Manzanita branches ($150 for 12, and that INCLUDES the rather substantial shipping) and a 23" tall, 4" diameter vase.



To do this, we added a prosthetic stem of sorts to each Manzanita Branch, which greatly increased the stability of the Manzanita Branches, and then filled the vase with stones to conceal our work and weigh down the display. The supplies are pretty simple - sticks cut to length (in this case our Natural Burned Bamboo), cable ties, and pliers to help pull the cable ties tight. 


Secure your prosthetic stem to the Manzanita Branch with a few cable ties. Repeat. 


One down, two to go. 


And here's the display before we added the stones. As mentioned previously, the vase we used (with a 4 inch outer diameter and a 3 inch or so inner diameter) was a bit too narrow - the branches filled up almost the entire opening making adding the stones rather tedious.  


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is exactly what I want for my wedding. Amazing. Your blog is so helpful to brides, especially. I look forward to ordering from you!!!!
-Christy

Justin said...

Hi Christy - We're glad you find the blog helpful, and we hope that others do too! Like a lot of other posts, this started with a question from a customer, so don't be shy about sending us email! - Justin

Anonymous said...

Thank you for taking the time to post this; I really appreciate it. I thought you had forgotten. Thank you again.

Justin said...

Sorry for the delay in getting the post up! - Justin

Anonymous said...

I LOVE THIS!!! Thank you sooo much for not only giving ideas, BUT actually including directions! Again, much thanks!

Anonymous said...

where did you buy the tall vase?

Unknown said...

Question: Can I hang votives from this arrangement? I know you suggest setting the branches in plaster but would 5 lights per arrangement hold for a reception? I'm planning on using LED lights, so no danger of fires. Thanks for the advice!

Justin said...

Yes indeed, I think 5 LED votives would be just fine - make sure that the arrangement is balanced and stable when you make it though. Now if you said that you were using real votive candles, I'd do my best to persuade you to set them in plaster, but with a flame free display the worst case scenario isn't anywhere near as bad.