ikebana and life in japan

a blog about ikebana and life in japan

12/12/12

Christmas Ikebana with Candles

Do you know how much I love Christmas?

So much that I put my Christmas tree up on November 23, I've been listening to Christmas music non-stop since then, and I've been doing Christmas ikebana with my students for the past week. I think you can never have too much Christmas!

All last week, my students were creating beautiful Christmas arrangements. I was practicing for my monthly ikebana test, so I wasn't able to do one myself. But this week, during my lesson, I finally got to do my Christmas arrangement.

I wanted to do a one-row form arrangement, and I also wanted to use silver in my arrangement this year, too. I had a bunch of silver candles, so I decided to use those as the main "stems" of the arrangement. I spaced them out creating an asymmetrical rhythm in the arrangement. I then added the green base using some cedar and Asparagus myriocladus. I had found some dark red spray carnations at the flower shop that I thought would go well with the silver candles. I also found some white branches at the flower shop that I thought I could use to give the form some height and balance out the length of the two containers. And last, to give it a bit more sparkle (and make it a little more festive), I added some silver ornaments throughout the work. I tried to use a variety of sizes and textures to make the ornaments more ikebana-ish.

A sophisticated silver Christmas ikebana arrangement.
 I think the silver candles and white branches give it a cold, wintry feel. With the addition of the red carnations, it warms up the feel of the arrangement and gives it a little playfulness, too.



with the candles lit



Christmas light -- Christmas hope


I am going back to the states next week to spend the holidays with my family. This once a year trip is something I look forward to each year. Being able to spend Christmas with family makes the holiday perfect for me.

What makes the holiday special for you? Do you have any special plans for the season?
Feel free to leave any comments in the comment section below.

Merry Christmas!

2 comments:

nadia said...

I just think you did such a beautiful job with this arrangement. The use of candles as flowers, Iike flowers of light. I think you started a new trend.
The one row style is so well suited, I would never have thought of it. My great admiration!
It is so refreshing to see your arrangements. Thank you and best wishes for the holiday season.

Unknown said...

nadia,

thank you for the lovely comment! it's nice to see that people are enjoying my blog. i thought the arrangement turned out well, too. better than i thought it would. sometimes the picture in your head doesn't quite translate to the flowers, but this time it did. i have it near my front door, so every time i come home, it puts a smile on my face!
i hope you have a wonderful holiday season, too!