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1. After purchasing your flowers from your local florist, grocery store, or farmers market unwrap your flowers and lay them on a clean countertop near a sink.

2. Choose your vase and clean it well with soap and water. Now fill it 3/4 the way to the top with tap water and add your flower food according to the directions on the packet. 3. Take one flower at a time and de-leaf each stem. The reason you want to de-leaf your flower's stem is that whatever is attached to the flower's stem nearest to the bottom or water source will receive the water first and so on and so forth all the way up to the top of the stem where your flower is. Well if you have several leaves, guess what? Your flower gets the leftover water, if any, which will cause your flower to have a much shorter life span.

4. Now that all the flower stems are de-leafed, take your pruners and cut one stem at a time on an angle. The reason you want to cut your stems on an angle is so that the flower will be able to drink as much water as possible. If the stem cut is sitting flat on the bottom of the vase its not able to get much water, but if the stem is sitting on the edge of the angle then the cut side is fully open to the water and able to drink well. The reason you want to cut one stem at a time is that after you make your cut, immediately the stem starts to heal itself and starts the process of closing up the cut, so the sooner you get the cut edge into water the better your chances of the cut not closing up. Even cutting your stems inside the water is the absolute best way, but difficult to do while also trying to design.

5. When making and designing a bouquet of flowers, you should first cut and place all your greenery. This is your base and background for your color & flowers. When determining where to cut the flower stem so that it's the correct length you want, take the flower and tip it up side down. Place the flower on the countertop and then look at the end of the stem and determine where on the stem you want the flower head to be and now cut the stem in the same place. Take the flower and right it up then immediately place it inside the vase where your want it. Do this with all your flowers. You will want your flowers in the center to have longer stems than the flowers around the outer edge of the arrangement. This should also apply to your greenery.