Spring Magnolia and Dogwood Table Centerpiece

Here’s a bit more about the dining table centerpiece shown yesterday. The table has always had all hard stuff on it — ceramic, metal, wood — and it was in sore need of some soft lushness.

I saw this planter at Hobby Lobby and pounced immediately. It was perfect — celadon with just a touch of terra cotta paisleys. I also picked up a wood candlestick that fits in the middle of the planter:

I already had an Archipelago Botanicals candle that smells wonderful (Seesa here agrees), and added it:

Next I placed blocks of green floral foam around the candle and started tucking in flowers. First was a ring of cream magnolia in a ring around the candle. Then I tucked sprigs of lime green dogwood flowers and longer sprays of dark purple olive branches. (I found all of the botanicals at Michaels.)

At first I evenly distributed the dogwood and olives around the planter. It looked messy and chaotic. So I moved the sprays to only two sides, cascading down over the sides, and it looked much better. Then I tucked in a few sprigs of dark purple dyed eucalyptus (same color as the olives) around the magnolia flowers for some contrast. I didn’t want too much squeezed in here. And as a centerpiece, it needed to be low. The final result:

There is one big problem though. Do you see it?

It’s what you don’t see. What the heck happened to the candle?! It quickly got engulfed by magnolia blooms. It’s 6″ tall but it’s still too short. I would not light the candle when it’s so close to fake flowers. I used to work in a burn unit. Don’t mess with fire, folks. This will need at least a 9″ tall candle to stand above the blooms. For extra insurance, I would set a glass sleeve around it. It’s easy to light a candle and forget about it, and as it burns down it would get closer to the flammable materials. Another option is to boost up the existing candleholder and candle by 3-4″, but I wouldn’t want a flaming candle that isn’t stable.

On the bonus side, the flowers could be changed for the seasons — I could see this planter being relevant for fall and winter too. But I can be really fickle. It’s likely you’ll someday see the planter in another room, and a totally different arrangement here in the fall!