{"id":888254,"date":"2025-12-21T22:15:36","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T03:15:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/floristsreview.com\/?p=888254"},"modified":"2025-12-21T23:03:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T04:03:09","slug":"tutorial-wired-for-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floristsreview.com\/tutorial-wired-for-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Tutorial: Wired for Love\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Gear up for a modern take on Valentine\u2019s Day design. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Floral design and text by Kat Castagnoli, AIFD 
Photos by Max Castagnoli <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cupid called. He\u2019s upgrading his arrows for wire! This fun and imaginative Valentine\u2019s Day design takes wirework to heart\u2014literally. With just a few simple materials and a splash of blush color, florist wire is transformed into a sculptural design that radiates modern romance. Whether creating for a client, a display or a class demo, this design is equal parts whimsy and sophistication\u2014proving that all you need to spark a little romance is wire, flowers and imagination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Step 1<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gather two bunches of florist wire, 10 wires each. Bind each bunch with stem wrap and then combine the two bunches into a single long piece. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Step 2<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Form the single long piece into the shape of a heart. Secure the loose ends with stem wrap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Step 3<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cut the remaining 20 pieces of florist wire in half. Beginning at the middle section, wrap a short wire around the heart four times, leaving both ends of the wire sticking out. Repeat this step at intervals around the structure.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Step 4<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With wire cutters, trim every other wire shorter, following this pattern: one short, one long, one short, one long\u2014all the way around the heart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Step 5<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cut your single Torka stick in half. Add an adhesive dash near the end of each stick; position one on each side of the heart directly across from each other. Firmly secure both sticks to the heart with bind wire. Next, coat the entire structure with Colortool Spray\u2014front and back\u2014including all the wires. Allow it to dry completely before proceeding to the next step. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Step 6<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Add a few layers of chicken wire into your ceramic container. Add an adhesive dash just inside the lip on each side of the container. Insert the sticks of your heart structure firmly into the chicken wire, affixing them to the adhesive dashes for added stability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Step 7<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remove all leaves from six stems of Hypericum<\/em> and cut off the berries individually. Thread the berries onto the wires around the heart, alternating placement. Push every other one all the way down to the base of the wire. Continue until each wire has a berry at either the top or bottom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Step 8<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fill your container with properly proportioned flower nutrient solution. Next, place your blooms. I designed my arrangement with seeded Eucalyptus<\/em> (five stems), roses (10 stems), Alstroemeria <\/em>(10 stems), Veronica<\/em> (five stems), peonies (five stems) and carnations (10 stems)\u2014taking care not to obscure the wire heart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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MATERIALS:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BOTANICALS<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hypericum androsaemum<\/em> (tutsan, St. John\u2019s wort), creamy pale pink <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eucalyptus gunnii<\/em>, seeded (seeded cider gum, seeded eucalypt) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rosa<\/em> spp. \u2018Mondial\u2019 (garden rose) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alstroemeria aurea\/A. aurantiaca<\/em> (Peruvian lily, lily-of-the-Incas) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Veronica longifolia<\/em> \u2018Skyler\u2122<\/sup> Pink\u2019 (long-leaf speedwell, garden speedwell) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paeonia<\/em> hybrid (peony, garden peony), fuchsia <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dianthus caryophyllus<\/em> \u2018Merletto Crimson\u2019 (carnation) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

HARD GOODS<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Florist wire (20 gauge), 40 pieces <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Floratape\u00ae<\/sup> Stem Wrap (Green) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Torka stick, halved <\/p>\n\n\n\n

OASIS\u00ae<\/sup> UGLU\u2122<\/sup> Adhesive Dashes <\/p>\n\n\n\n

OASIS\u2122<\/sup> Bind Wire  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Design Master Colortool Spray, blush <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chicken wire <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ceramic pot (6 inch), pale pink <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gear up for a modern take on Valentine\u2019s Day design.  Floral design and text by Kat Castagnoli, AIFD Photos by Max Castagnoli  Cupid called. He\u2019s upgrading his arrows for wire! This fun and imaginative Valentine\u2019s Day design takes wirework to heart\u2014literally. With just a few simple materials and a splash of blush color, florist wire is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":888269,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[10563,11661],"class_list":["post-888254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-to","tag-floral-tutorial","tag-valentines-day-floral-design","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/floristsreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Step-8-1-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1029&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/floristsreview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/floristsreview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/floristsreview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floristsreview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floristsreview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=888254"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/floristsreview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888254\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":888271,"href":"https:\/\/floristsreview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888254\/revisions\/888271"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floristsreview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/888269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/floristsreview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=888254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floristsreview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=888254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floristsreview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=888254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}