If I were a huge fan of the traditional holiday color palette of red and green, flower arrangements would be a little easier to put together around this time of year. But I typically lean towards lots of white, metallics and a color that is in our home year round either way... coral/pink. 

I found this bunch of flowers at my fave, Trader Joes, and wanted to share a few tips for putting together a similar arrangement in just a few steps. I found these cute little berries and thought they added a festive touch without having to go with an obvious color palette. They usually have these in different colors there, so it's an easy way to stick with the normal flowers you would buy and make them fit with the season!

I used peach roses, white tulips, orange/peach berries and some greenery from the yard. The only greens I ever buy from the store are eucalyptus... otherwise cutting a branch or two from our yard (or neighbors, shhhh) does the trick! I really wanted to use the persimmons but they ended up being too heavy for the small vase. I ended up just setting the branches next to the arrangement and it looked really nice that way as well! While we are lucky enough to have a persimmon tree in our back yard, you can also find these at your local flower shops when they're in season.

I've read tips and taken quick classes on arranging... but to be honest what always works best for me is making it up as I go. I do have a few tips that get me started and make an arrangement looked finished though, so I'll share those with you here.

First, I always start with 2-3 large leafy branches. I use these to set the "shape" of the arrangement. I like them to be wild and asymmetrical (so i don't have to worry about making anything look perfect!). These larger more sturdy branches are also a good base for lighter flowers like the tulips.

Always use super sharp scissors (floral shears are best... but i've never actually searched those out) and cut your stems at an angle. Place them in the water right away after trimming them.

After I have my bigger branches in, I start to add the fullest flower I have. In this case it was the tulips that were already pretty open.

To prep the roses, remove the outer petals. They actually protect the rose and are supposed to be taken off for them to properly open. Wish I learned that earlier! Also make sure to remove any leaves that will be below the water line. Since the roses were much heavier, I added these closer to the end so there was already a nice structure built with the other stems.

The stems with berries were tucked in at the very end. I always have a filler like this to tuck into any open gaps and add some movement if the arrangement started to get too symmetrical. This is also when I add in a few more branches of greenery, again, to fill in any empty spaces.

And that's it, with just a few bunches from the grocery store, you can make these for your next holiday get together.

Images by Sunny Kim