As a post-lesson challenge, I ask my Teacher Diploma level students to make a quick arrangement from their leftover material or the material they had thrown in their bin. "Trash and Treasure" is one of my favourite quick activities as it challenges creativity and helps my students see the beauty in what they would have otherwise thrown away.
With in-person classes gradually getting back into full swing, my organics bin is now full of discarded plant material. Rather than throw it directly into the compost, I decided to also give my daughters a ‘trash and treasure’ challenge.
At first, they were both a bit disappointed that they would be arranging with leftovers. They soon began to realise how beautiful and interesting leftovers could be. Seeing the discarded tulips in the bin, they were immediately reminded of one of the photographs in my ikebana teacher, Ilse Beunen's, new book “Inspiring Ikebana”.
They tore and intertwined the tulip leaves and placed them in a vase.
Finally, they added a tulip flower that had dropped its petals, using the bright yellow stamens as a pop of colour.
