Bring Your Favorite Children’s Books to Life with These Flower Arrangements.

Do you love children’s books? Do you love flowers? If so, then you’ll love this blog post! In this post, I will show you flower arrangements inspired by favorite children’s books and how I created a Peter Rabbit themed flower arrangement.

These arrangements are a fun and creative way to celebrate your love of literature, and they are also a great way to add a touch of whimsy to a baby shower or children’s themed birthday party.

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Flower Arrangements Inspired by Children’s Books

This week I participated in the “Books Make Me Bloom” presentation at my garden club, Exeter Area Garden Club. Each member chose a favorite children’s book that they loved and interpreted the story with flowers.

So I decided to try my hand at making a flower arrangement inspired by the Tale of Peter Rabbit. I wanted to create something that would capture the beauty and whimsy of the story, so I chose a variety of flowers that would be found in the English countryside, and vegetables to represent Mr. McGregor’s garden that Peter snuck into in the story. I also included a small scarecrow of Peter Rabbit’s famous blue jacket he lost.

I’ve always loved The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. It’s such a classic story that I grew up with. One of my favorite things about the story is the illustrations. Beatrix Potter really captured the beauty of the English countryside, and her illustrations are full of charming details.

Let’s get started and then I will show you all of the other creative children’s story-themed arrangements to inspire you!

How To Make A Peter Rabbit Themed Flower Arrangement

There are two parts to this flower arrangement: Peter’s coat and the actual arrangement.

Peter Rabbit Scarecrow

To make Peter’s signature blue coat I outlined a rough shape on blue felt (folded in half), I had bought a yard of blue felt to make a larger version of this scarecrow for my cottage garden last year.

You could use 2 of the craft store squares of blue felt to make this jacket as well and just stack them together.

After I cut out the outline I cut it straight across the top of the coat to make it 2 pieces.

To make the felt cutout look more like a coat I made a couple of quick snips: a V shape at the bottom and a small straight snip at the top middle.

Then I folded down the felt and hot glued in place to form lapels. A couple of gold buttons finished of the little coat.

I ran a bead of hot glue around the edges to keep the front and back of the coat together. Also, Fabric glue or iron-on fusion tape works too.

There were plenty of sticks in my yard to choose from to create the scarecrow!! Wooden dowels work if you don’t have access to sticks.

Now here is the important part, you have to have the sticks in place first before you try and attach them together to make the cross form. Run one stick through the arm holes and then the second longer stick up from the bottom of the jacket.

Wrap twine around both sticks to secure them together.

Peter Rabbit Flower Arrangement

When I was thinking about creating this flower arrangement, I knew that I wanted to combine flowers and vegetables to convey the Beatrix Potter story. Peter didn’t listen to his Mom and went to Mr. McGregor’s garden for a snack and got chased, lost his coat and shoes, and finally made it home again in the end.

The illustrations in the book show lots of vegetables in the garden and Peter snacking on a few different things.

As an avid gardener, it’s hard to be rooting for the protagonist when he’s a rabbit…one of the most dreaded visitors into anyone’s veggie garden!!

Materials:

• 10 inch Terracotta Pot
• Assorted Vegetables
• Flowers
• Floral Foam
• Floral Stakes
• Blue Felt
• 2 Sticks/Twine
• Spanish Moss

Trader Joe’s is my go-to spot for flowers, not only do they always have so many bouquets to choose from they are cheap! The 2 bigger bunches were $6.99 and the smaller one with the ornamental kale was $3.99.

I actually couldn’t believe there was one bunch with an ornamental kale in it…so perfect for this arrangement!

At Trader Joe’s I also picked up an assortment of veggies to use for the arrangement: a bag of various colored carrots and one of radishes, mini zucchini(they are so cute), and an artichoke.

Prepare the Pot

A 10-inch terracotta flower pot is the container for the arrangement and I filled the inside with wet floral foam (soak beforehand) to keep the flowers hydrated while on display.

Since the terracotta pot is porous for a few hours after I made the arrangement there were water spots visible on the pot. If you are going to be using this right away then I would suggest lining the inside of the pot with plastic wrap to keep the water from seeping through.

Add the Flowers & Veggies

The first thing I added was the kale. The stem is thick so I just poked it into the floral foam to keep it in place.

To secure the artichoke, mini zucchini, and radishes in the floral foam I used wooden floral stakes the wooden skewers you find at the grocery store would work too, the only difference is the floral ones are painted green.

I wanted the arrangement to have an English cottage garden look and chose flowers to try and convey that feeling.

The mini Peter Rabbit scarecrow is on the right side of the arrangement at an angle.

When I added the carrots all I did was stick them into the pot, they crack if you try to use a skewer in them.

For a whimsical touch, I added a few teeny terracotta pots that were hot glued to the floral stakes.

The various colors of the vegetables added to the whimsical feel of the flower arrangement.

Around the edges of the pot, I tucked in clumps of Spanish moss once I was finished arranging the flowers.

And yes, of course, I had to hide a little rabbit in there too!

To add a rustic texture to the pot I made an arch with a piece of grapevine garland. It’s one of my must-have craft supplies that I always have on hand.

Finished Peter Rabbit Themed Flower Arrangement

Making a flower arrangement inspired by the Tale of Peter Rabbit was a fun and creative project. It was a great way to celebrate my love of the story, and it turned out beautifully. I hope you enjoyed reading about my experience, and I encourage you to try making your own flower arrangement inspired by your favorite book or story.

More Children’s Book-Inspired Flower Arrangements

Let me show you some ideas for other children’s book-inspired arrangements that were made by the Exeter Area garden club members for the Books in Bloom presentation.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle has colorful illustrations throughout the book of the caterpillar’s one-week eating journey on his way to becoming a butterfly.

It’s a popular theme for baby showers and wouldn’t it make a fun centerpiece?!

Hats off to Ann H. and her creative interpretation of a caterpillar made with florals!

Oh, The Places You’ll Go

The Dr. Seuss classic Oh, The Places You’ll Go is done in flowers by club member Diana. This is another popular theme for both baby showers and graduations. The various flower textures and shapes plus the colorful berries create a fun, whimsical look.

Calla lilies always remind me of something out of Dr. Seuss’ world.

Strega Nona

Strega Nona was one of my son’s favorite stories when he was little. The author Tomie dePaola lived here in New Hampshire.

This Strega Nona arrangement was created by Pat N. using all dried flowers. If you aren’t familiar with the children’s book in the story spaghetti flows from a magic pasta pot overtaking the village.

I love the use of the hairy dried grass to represent the pasta and the muted colors of the flowers that match the book cover.

Miss Sniff

Lee C. used her ikebana skills to recreate her childhood favorite book Miss Sniff the Fuzzy Cat. In the book the cat runs off and has kittens…she made the kittens in the basket from painted dryer balls (clever!) and red roses were used to create the blanket in the basket.

Little Red Riding Hood

Jill C. recreated the Trina Schart Hyman version of Little Red Riding Hood using red and purple flowers in a wicker basket lined with red and white gingham just like Riding Hood was carrying in the children’s classic tale.

And various shades of greenery to fill in the basket.

The Giving Tree By Shel Silverstein

Susan C. chose the children’s book The Giving Tree. It’s the story of a lifelong friendship between a tree and a boy. The tree provides for the boy’s needs throughout his life, selflessly giving its apples, branches, and trunk to make him happy.

Birches by Robert Frost

Johann’s flower arrangement inspiration was the poem “Birches” by Robert Frost and the illustrations in the version by Ed Young. The flowers were inspired by the colors of the paintings in the book and of course the twigs from birch trees as accents in the arrangement.

The country diary of an Edwardian Lady

This little arrangement in a teacup was made by Lyn B. in honor of the book The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady given to her by her parents in the 70s.

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The flower arrangements were put on display at the Wiggin Library for the remainder of the week along with the books that inspired them.

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