The Best Floral Design Tools

Hello! Does this sound familiar? You’ve just scored some of the most beautiful seasonal blooms at the store or farmers market only to bring them home and not quite know what to do with them? Never fear! No longer will those lilies stare back in intimidation at you in your kitchen! First up, get yourself the proper tools! Yes, you probably could get away with using something in you already have, but you will increase the life span of your flowers (and your confidence!) if you use the proper tools. The basics aren’t expensive, and I think you’ll find them a worthy investment once you have them at the ready.

The Best Floral Design Tools

The best part of dipping into the wonderful world of floral design is that you don’t need many items to help you to be successful. To start you need flowers (obviously!), and vase, water, and some clippers. That’s it. However, if you are ready to up your game just a bit and feel more confident I would like to introduce you to a few more tools that will help you in that endeavor! Pictured below are my favorite items, clippers, clear floral tape, & green corsage tape. This is really all you need to start with. And I promise you, these items will change your life! I can’t live without them.They are literally in my purse at all times. You never know when beautiful blooms or your creativity will strike! 

Basic & Best Florist Tools

All of the pictures below are active links! If you’d like more information on the item, please click on the picture.

Best Floral Clippers:

First up, and arguably the most important. Floral Clippers. Florists cannot live without these. I have one in my purse at all times. You just never know when you are going to need them. Ok, the cream clippers pictured (they come in many other colors as well!) are my absolute favorite. They are amazing! They are sharp, heavy duty, and feel great in your hand. These are a bit more expensive than the red clippers I’ve listed next, but they are well worth investment! You can literally cut through bushes and branches. So if you plan on trimming some greenery out of your yard for your arrangements, these are the clippers that you want! I promise you won’t find a better pair of floral shears. The Best! 

These flower shears are a great one for beginners. Excited about learning flower design, but not sure how often you will get to it? These clippers are for you! I personally used these for years, and I still use them in a pinch. They get the job done. These clippers are not as expensive, but are great ones to have. They aren’t quite as heavy duty as the ones above, so don’t be trimming any branches with these! 

 

These little beauties are gorgeous! Truly. They come in multiple colors.  I love the style and look of these. They feel good in your hand. These flower clippers are sharp, get the job done, and are perfect for those who don’t like flower clippers with springs. I personally love using clippers with springs, so although I do recommend these as well I don’t reach for these as often as I do with the first ones. But if you are like me, you appreciate having some options. Great option! 

Best Floral Tape

 

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this tape!!! I cannot overstate enough how much I love this tape and how much it will change your life. But really, it totally will change your life. Next to my clippers, this is the most important purchase you could make to be successful at floral arrangements. In a pinch you could use some scotch tape, but you will find a couple of problems. It’s too thick and its not water resistant. This is not expensive and it lasts a long time. This is literally my secret weapon, I promise you will be blown away by how much this little florist tool will assist you in your designs. It will change your life. Promise! 

Green Corsage Tape. This tape is incrediable. It is made of beeswax, and holds together through stretching and pulling it tight. I know, it sounds like magic but I promise it really does work. This product really shines when making handheld bouquets, bridal bouquets, corsages, any boutonnierres. It tears easily, and its superpower is that it is green and can be hidden easily in your design work. This is a florist staple in design work. 

 

Okay, this tape is a game changer. It’s super power is that it is green, skinny, and water resistant. If you are interested in hand held bouquets, (you should be interested! They are so fun to make!) this tape is amazing as well! Oh and did I mention that it is water resistant? Ever gotten a hand cramp while holding all your flowers while creating a hand held bouquet? This tape comes in clutch to relieve those hand cramps. It holds so well, hidden easily, and it a great addition to your floral toolbox!

This green floral clay has so many good uses! I always have a bit of this in my tool kit as well. Its most known role is as a tool to connect a floral frog (please see below!) to the bottom of your vase/vessel. It is water resistant, which is a really important feature here since it will almost always be underwater. It is your underwater VIP! 

Best Floral Tools to Create Structure

Chicken wire! This is the BEST TOOL to design everything from small vase arrangements to large scale installations. Designing with chicken wire is your secret weapon! Seriously. I can’t believe that there was a time in my life as a floral designer where I didn’t know that this existed. It creates an immediate structure for your arrangement. This is for serious designers who want to go a step further from the clear tape I shared above. You will be astounded at how this little tool will up level your designs. This is the perfect amount to start with to see if you like it. Chicken wire can be reused over and over! Yay! So a little goes a long way. You can see how I used chicken wire here!

Green coated chicken Wire. Chicken wire comes in silver or green.This is just like the silver chicken wire above, but it is coated in green plastic. I love working with this chicken wire. It is easier to hide since it is green, and with the green coating it is easier on your hands. This roll goes a long way. So have a baby shower coming up? Or perhaps a wedding? This is the one for you. Or perhaps you are upgrading to larger vases and arrangements. So Fun! This will be perfect for you!

Please allow me to introduce you to the floral frog. Or in floral speak, frogs. These little guys are deceptive. You may be thinking, geeze these are pricy little guys. Well, they are HEAVY and SHARP. (they legit could be used as a self defense weapon in a pinch!) And as much as I would like to have one of these with me at all times I don’t. They are so heavy. And they last forever. So despite the cost, they really do enable a unique technique in your design. I arguably don’t use these enough. Japanese design, Ikebana uses these almost exclusively. They go in the bottom of your vase (attached with the floral clay I introduced above!) and you push your stems into their sharp little points. They hold the stems amazingly well, and enable great angles in your design. Looking to step up your design game? Look no further! This frog is 2.4″ in diameter.

Floral Frogs come in all sizes. You will want to coordinate the size of the vase with the size of the frog. This floral frog is 3″x 2.5″ Perfect for larger designs! 

Cheers to your new tools for your incredible floral designs. May these tools help to create a bit of joy in your life. Happy Designing!

xo

Emily