Craft stores have a decent selection of silk flowers and plants, but we wanted to find where the high-end designers shop and if we can recreate the look for less.
Harwin Drive in southwest Houston is known for its fashion clothing and accessories, but it's also a place to find home decor.
Just down the street at USA J&L Flower, the store is packed with silk flowers and greenery, and has pre-made arrangements that start at $10. We found fall swag for $14 and an autumn wreath for $35.
Our next stop is a shop called Arcadia Floral and Home Decor located off Beltway 8 in southwest Houston.
"All these rose are high quality," Kim To at Arcadia said.
Kim has been designing faux flower arrangements for 25 years. She says her store is where Houston's top interior designers shop. That's because her materials are so life-like, it could almost fool you.
"All the petals, you can slowly shape to what they are," to said.
Kim's own team of designers create one-of-a-kind arrangements for their clients. The price tag can be a hundred bucks and up, depending on the size.
But thanks to web sights like Facebook and Pinterest, she is seeing a boom of do-it-yourselfers who are getting inspiration and creating thier own custom designs and their staff can help.
"We can show you different elements, different components. We show you what look good right now according to your personal taste," she said.
And Kim says in five minutes, you can create you own arrangement.
Tip number one: Focus on the vertical height.
"So we are using something tall," she said.
The next tip...
"The trick to an arrangment, you have to make the artificial leaves look alive, so use your thumb and finger and bend it up," she said.
Next, vary your height.
"Don't be afraid to bend them; because they are good quality, you can bend them," she said.
And group your items opposite of each other and at different lengths to create a natural look. Next fill in the base with smaller, fuller pieces.
And the final step is choosing your focus, which can be a flower that pops.
So our arrangement, had a designer created it, would be $200. But if you do it yourself, it's $50.
Find Patricia on Facebook at ABC13PatriciaLopez or on Twitter at @patricialopez13
