The calming activity of corsage-making

I was anxious to get back to floral design class again this week since I missed both my classes last week due to illness*. I wasn't sure what everyone else would be doing, but I knew I had missed the class on fine-tuning our corsage-making skills, so I figured I'd just do that.

I came to class with one small $3.99 bouquet from Trader Joe's in hand that had 5 red roses and some white alstroemeria in it. I knew I didn't need a lot of flowers for a corsage. I took my chances that there would be some flowers left in the classroom fridge that I could use for filler. As it turned out, there were three pretty calla lilies and three sweet orchids left in the fridge that were "begging" to be made into a corsage. So I ended up building two during our 3 hour class.

Making a corsage is an interesting activity that I find quite soothing and relaxing. The pre-work is what is so time-consuming. It involves making a bunch of "floral picks" with bunches of filler around a central flower all taped to a tiny water source and wire with floral tape. We have blocks of stryofoam that we stick each pick into once it's done, then we move on to the next one until we have enough picks to gather together and tape to make a corsage. The act of taping each flower is repetitive and doesn't require a lot of heavy-duty thinking, so I find it relaxing as I sit and think or quietly chat with my classmates next to me as they work on their arrangements.

Corsage-making was just the calming activity I needed today as I'm finally feeling well again after fighting the nasty virus I had*. The corsages made me happy with their lovely colors as I twirled them in my fingers, twisting the floral tape around and around their stems. That is the epitome of soothing for me.

What calming and restful activity do you like to do?

*Illness Note: We suspect I had the H1N1 flu, but the doc didn't feel the need to swab me to verify it. He said a flu is a flu, that they're all A-type flu viruses, shrugged his shoulders and exclaimed that he didn't understand what the big hubbub was about. It's just a normal flu season, in his opinion. In my opinion, everyone needs to calm down, take care of themselves, and be responsible enough to quarantine yourself if you are sick--even if you think it's just a cold. This flu is much like a cold if you are not immune-compromised. So be thoughtful and don't put someone who IS immune-compromised at risk. Stay home.