Floral and party consultant Dale Rohman shows how to accent a crowded dinner table with a unique centerpiece that hangs from the chandelier. Make an unusual centerpiece by decorating the chandelier instead of the tabletop. Begin by twisting smilax foliage around the chandelier. Use soft chenille stems (pipe cleaners) to secure the foliage to the chandelier. Dale used glass water tubes, available at a florist's supply shop, to make tiny flower vases. Attach a water tube to each end of a length of grosgrain ribbon by hot-gluing the ends of the ribbon together around the tube (figure A). Drape the ribbon over a section of the chandelier (figure B), and adjust the height of the water vials as desired. Use chenille stems to attach the ribbon to the chandelier.
Make as many pairs of tiny vases as you'd like, then add water and small blooms such as daisy chrysanthemums and paper-white narcissus (figure C).
Make a nosegay for each guest to take home after the party, and hang them on the chandelier as well. To create a nosegay, cut an X in the middle of two layered doilies, insert a tulip and a piece of greenery in the hole, and tape the tulip stem to the paper with corsage tape. Stretch the corsage tape as you attach it for a more secure hold. Make a small grosgrain bow, and attach it to the nosegay with hot glue (figure D). Flatten the tulip petals so the flower looks almost like a magnolia bloom, and attach the nosegay to the chandelier with a chenille stem.
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