As the church year draws to an end, the last Sunday before the beginning of Advent serves to lovingly remember the deceased. This is expressed by decorating the graves with great attention to detail. Traditionally, the cemetery is transformed into a sea of lights that subtly illuminate the magnificent grave decorations. As part of active mourning work, relatives decide to make grave arrangements themselves for the Sunday of the Dead, with the side effect of saving money. The following DIY instructions explain how to achieve this for sacred, traditional and modern design variants.
Classic plant cross
Religious symbols have long served as a template for classic grave arrangements for the Sunday of the Dead. The following instructions integrate elegant accessories that give the arrangement a tasteful touch.
Material requirements
- 1 Cross made of vine or rattan
- 5 fir picks (shoot tips with 3-4 branches, approx. 20-23 cm long)
- Green and cream wool cords
- 1 handful of fluffy wool
- 1 cream-colored soft rose suitable for outdoor use
- White acrylic bead pins, 6.5 cm long
- Silver or gold wire snails
- 2 decorative hearts made of weatherproof material with fastening wire, 5.5 cm x 5.5 cm
- Flower Wire
- 100 grams of reindeer moss
- Cutting material or grave soil for filling
This material list can be modified by choosing a different shape of mat. The color combination of creamy white and green with silver or gold accessories can be modified into other shades. Just take a look around the craft store to see what the range has to offer.
Instructions
You can give the mourning cross special stability by filling it with grave soil or cut-out plugs. 6 centimeter long hooks are formed from the floral wire to fix the Icelandic moss to the base. In the middle of the arrangement, use the wool cords and the fluffy wool to form a round nest with a diameter of approx. 15 centimeters. The whole thing is attached with pearl pins. Arrange the wool cords so that the two ends are draped to the right and left of the cross. Ideally, you wire these ends in a spiral shape. The next step is to embed the rose in the nest. Use the pine tips to fill the gaps at the four ends of the cross and work in the remaining fluffy wool to create even more fullness. Add the finishing touches to the mourning cross with the decorative hearts and the golden wire spirals.
Modern Mourning Heart
The following instructions for homemade funeral floristry attempt to bridge the classic heart motif as a base to a modern creation thanks to an asymmetrical shape and the use of contemporary materials.
Material requirements
- 1 tapered moss heart made of vine with a plantable center, e.g. B. 40x30x9 cm
- 2 branches with artificial, frosted berries in cream
- 2 small crosses made of birch wood, approx. 7-8 cm long
- 50 grams of flake moss natural
- 20 grams of hay made from flax fiber, dyed green
- 1 Soft rose in cream with open flowers made of weatherproof material
- rauerband, silver or transparent with black stripes, 4 cm wide
- Black and white mourning ribbon with wire edge, 4 cm wide, 2 m long
- 4 spruce cones for crafts, sprayed white or silver
- 1 small moss heart, approx. 7 cm tall in natural green
- Flower Wire
- Hot glue
Plant hearts come in an almost endless variety of shapes and materials. A weatherproof moss heart, made from vines, brushwood or similar natural materials, is recommended as a base for a grave arrangement for Sunday of the Dead. Unlike a stone heart, the moss heart is easy to handle.
Instructions
The mourning heart is filled with the flake moss and the green linseed hay can be loosely arranged over it. The large soft rose is shortened to 10 centimeters at the stem and then pushed diagonally into the moss on the left side in order to embed it decoratively. This is followed by the 4 white or silver spruce cones, which are arranged to the right of the rose. Wire the small moss heart from behind with the floral wire underneath the rose and cone. The birch cross is attached to the small moss heart with hot glue. The remaining gap in the moss is decorated with frosted berry umbels. Make sure the entire arrangement slides down compactly and firmly. Now place the black striped ribbon around the heart so that it can be knotted at the bottom. If it is still stuck in the upper heart cavity with hot glue, it cannot slip. Tie the second ribbon to it to create a beautiful tail. The second birch cross could be placed here.
Tie and decorate your own grave wreath
For hobby gardeners with their own trees or large conifer hedges, it is a matter of honor to tie and decorate a wreath themselves as a grave decoration for the Sunday of the Dead. In addition to the green binding material, the garden may provide dried or fresh flowers for the head garnish. Alternatively, weatherproof decorative materials can be purchased from a craft store.
Material requirements
- 1 straw wreath with a maximum diameter of 60 centimeters
- 1 brick plug-in material from specialist retailers
- 1-2 rolls of dark green non-woven tape
- Support wire for the flower stems
- Winding wire for binding
- 1 roll of green wire mesh from the hardware store
- Knives, secateurs and wire cutters, all ground extra sharp
- Bedge greenery, dried flowers, fresh flowers, berry branches, ivy and similar materials
For a large double grave, the wreath can be larger than 60 centimeters. In this case, the material requirement increases only slightly. Only one more brick made of floral foam needs to be planned.
Tie instructions
The fir branches, thuja shoots or similar greenery are cut to a length of approx. 5 centimeters and laid out in small bundles. Wrap the straw wreath with the green fleece ribbon so that the underside looks neat. Now place two bundles of greenery on each wreath and tie them tightly with 1-2 wraps. Always work from the outside in until the green touches the table top. The next row is laid out with a slight offset and overlapping. It is important to note that the tips of the new row cover the stems of the previous row. Since a head garnish is provided, the wreath is not completely tied. Instead, a piece the size of the pillow remains free. The wire ends remain long enough so that they can be knotted on the lower side of the wreath.
Tip:
Once a roll of winding wire has been used up, form a loop from the end. Pass the beginning of the new coil through the eyelet and twist a second loop to continue the wrapping work seamlessly.
Step by step to the finished decoration
So that your own hand-made funeral floral design creates an opulent look, 2/3 of a wreath should be decorated with a flower arrangement. The brick serves as a base and is soaked in water in a bucket if fresh flowers are used. Pack the brick into the wire mesh and attach it to the intended location on the wreath with wrapping wire. Place this exactly on the struts of the wire mesh so that there is still space for the decorative material.
Follow these steps:
- Put larger fir or leaf branches into the wreath around the floral foam on the back
- Ideally, the arrangement runs out to the sides in ivy tendrils or narrow conifer fronds
- For the front part of the wreath, use shorter branches that extend maximally into the middle of the wreath
- The creative arrangement on the cutting material starts in the middle with a large flower
- The lengths of the other materials are based on this in order to stand above the green and below the leading flower
- Stems that are too flexible are stabilized with support wire that is wrapped spirally around the stem
The finishing touch is laid out with flowers or decorative branches so that there are no large gaps between the greenery. When composing the colorful decoration, always start with stronger varieties and end the creation with the delicate accessories. For a grave arrangement, no more than 3-5 types of flowers should be used, which ideally appear in similar color nuances.
Conclusion
Beautiful funeral floral design is no longer just reserved for professionals. Equipped with the right materials and a good dose of creativity, you can easily make grave arrangements for Dead Sunday yourself. Use these DIY instructions as inspiration to decorate the resting place of a loved one for the high holiday.
