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Colton Poeppelman, 5, Maria Stein, cuts a flower stem before placing it in his arrangement during a floral arrangement class led by Floral Reflections at the Mercer County Fair on Tuesday.
CELINA - With a little patience, minor direction and a ton of fun, a group of fairgoers turned 15 carnations into a pink, pig-shaped arrangement at the Mercer County Fair Tuesday night.
Floral Reflections hosted a floral arrangement design class at the rest tent, west of the Junior Fair Building. Participants learned how to handle the surprisingly resilient and cost-effective carnations.
The local florist, which has locations in Celina and St. Henry, is owned by Nychole Stammen and her daughters Maria Wourms and Michaela Poeppelman.
Although the arrangement pattern they used for Tuesday night's class isn't unique to the company, the trio wanted to tie in to the prominent role agriculture has in the county.
"Last year, we did a basic arrangement, and this year we wanted to do something tied to the fair," Wourms said. "We thought the pig was cute and it's close by."
The final product of the flower arranging class was shaped into a pink pig.
For $10, participants assembled the pig's head out of six or seven pink carnations, cutting the stems to length and quickly placing them into saturated floral foam. For the snout, they cut a flower a bit longer and stuck it in the foam, making sure it protruded from the face to give the effect of a three-dimensional look. The ears were made of one flower each, placed higher above the face. The feet were done in a similar manner below the face.
To give the pig an extra pop of color, the florist provided greenery made up of leatherleaf, a type of fern, and gunnii eucalyptus.
For additional details, participants could cut black pipe cleaners into small lines for the nose and the feet and affix them using a floral adhesive. Instead of buttons for the eyes, participants used googly eyes. They also formed a pipe cleaner into a curlicue to mimic a pig's tail.
Class participants used a combination of carnations, leatherleaf and gunnii eucalyptus to create their porky pals.
Wourms said the use of pink carnations was purposeful, as the carnation is the "easiest to build an animal out of" because of the flower's texture and shape, and its durability and longevity.
The carnation is a loosely tufted, woody-based herbaceous perennial that features fragrant double flowers on stiff 30-inch tall stems clad with narrow, linear, gray-green leaves, according to information from the Missouri Botanical Garden.
Floral Reflections imports its carnations from national and international nurseries.
Using flowers valued at $2 a stem, participants took home an arrangement worth more than $30. The arrangement should last two weeks if cared for properly, Wourms said.
Karyssa Long, 19, Miller City, and Riley Lefeld, 20, St. Henry, cut and place flowers into their arrangement during a floral arrangement class at the Mercer County Fair on Tuesday.
Mother-and-daughter duo Sara and Riley Lefeld of St. Henry and Riley's college roommate Karyssa Long of Miller City explored their creative side at the event. They had never done such an activity and joked it was a bit stressful because they only had three seconds to place the stem into the sponge after they cut it.
Riley said she looks forward to the fair every year because she grew up with it.
"I've been coming to the fair since I was 8, so I love everything about the fair. I think this year, (because) I'm not showing anything, my favorite thing has been to watch the other kids in the show. I've been in 4-H since I was 10, so I just love watching everyone else."
About 20 people attended a floral arrangement class led by Floral Reflections at the Mercer County Fair on Tuesday.
