If you have been hanging around Grace Monroe Home for very long, you know we love a good lantern arrangement. It is one of our favorite ways to bring color to a front porch, a mantel, or even the center of a table, and it is so much easier to make than it looks. All you need is a simple white lantern, some artificial florals and greenery, ribbon, and a handful of zip ties. That is it.
We recently made a set of these together on camera, and we are walking you through the whole process below. You can also watch the full step by step video here: Lantern Arrangement Tutorial
Why We Love Lanterns for Floral Arrangements
A lantern gives you something a lot of other floral projects do not, structure. The metal or wood frame gives your florals a place to anchor, and the open sides let the greenery and blooms spill out in a natural, garden gathered kind of way. It also means you are not starting from scratch with foam or a vase. The lantern itself becomes part of the design.
Lanterns are also incredibly versatile. Set one on your porch for spring, swap the florals for something warmer in the fall, and you have a piece that works all year long. We used a soft pink and white palette for ours with peony style blooms, mums, and a touch of greenery, but you can easily shift the colors to match any season or holiday.
What You Will Need
- A lantern (we love the classic window pane style)
- Artificial floral stems (we used peonies and garden roses for the focal blooms)
- Filler flowers like mums or small clustered blooms
- Greenery stems, we like a mix of eucalyptus and a trailing greenery for movement
- Ribbon, we used a soft pink gingham check for ours
- Zip ties
- Wire cutters or floral snips
Step One, Build Your Small Bundles First
Before you ever touch the lantern, lay your stems out on the table and start grouping them into small bundles. This is a trick we use in almost every arrangement we teach in the DWTP Club. Instead of poking one stem at a time into your piece, you build little clusters of two or three stems, a focal bloom, a filler flower, and a piece of greenery, and secure them together first. This makes the whole process faster, and it also helps you keep your color and texture balanced as you go instead of realizing at the end that everything is bunched on one side.
Trim your stems down as you bundle so they are all roughly the same length before you attach them. Shorter stems are much easier to control once you start attaching everything to the lantern frame.
Step Two, Attach Your Bundles with Zip Ties
Here is where the zip ties come in, and honestly, this is the part that surprises people most. Zip ties are our secret weapon for lantern arrangements because they hold the stems tightly to the metal or wood frame without any hot glue, floral foam, or wire wrapping. Take your small bundle, hold it against the corner or top edge of the lantern where you want it to sit, and zip tie it right to the frame. Pull it snug, then trim off the excess tail so it disappears into the greenery.
Work your way around the lantern, attaching bundle after bundle. We like to start with our largest focal blooms first to establish the shape, then fill in around them with smaller bundles of filler flowers and greenery. Do not be afraid to let some pieces trail down the side or spill over the top corner, that movement is what makes the arrangement feel organic instead of stiff.
Step Three, Add Your Ribbon
Once your florals are secure, it is time for the ribbon. This is what ties the whole look together, literally. We love a wired ribbon because it holds its shape and lets you create those pretty loops and tails without them going limp. Cut a length of ribbon and start making loops, securing each one with a zip tie or a small piece of floral wire as you tuck it in among your blooms.
Layer your ribbon loops around the same area as your largest focal flowers so it reads as one cohesive cluster rather than a separate afterthought. Let a few tails hang down for movement, and trim the ends at an angle or in a V shape for a finished look.
Step Four, Fill In and Fluff
Step back and look at your lantern from a few feet away. This is the moment to catch any bare spots or gaps in your greenery. Add small filler pieces where needed, and take a minute to fluff and shape every bloom. Bend the petals of your faux flowers gently with your fingers to give them a more natural, just picked look. This small step makes a bigger difference than you would think.
A Few Tips From Us to You
- Work with two lanterns side by side if you are making a pair, it helps you keep them balanced and symmetrical
- Do not overthink the placement, florals do not have to be perfectly even to look beautiful
- Save your ribbon and greenery scraps, they are perfect for smaller projects later
- If a bundle feels loose, add a second zip tie rather than starting over
Ready to Learn More?
Lantern arrangements are just one of dozens of projects we teach step by step inside the Design With The Pros Club. Every month we walk you through new floral techniques, wreath designs, and seasonal decor projects, plus you get access to our full library of past tutorials so you can create beautiful pieces like this one any time you want. If you are not already a member, we would love to have you join us.
