At its heart, “Build a Bouquet” is about building Presbyterian Women. For PW in the Congregation, Presbytery or Synod, that may mean building community, conversation or supporting regional ministry.
Consider using flowers or bouquets as a community builder at your next in-person or virtual meeting. Adrienne Knight, who serves as Synod Representative from Mid-Atlantic on the PW Board, asked participants at a recent Inclusive Caring Community (ICC) meeting to share their favorite flowers and why that flower is special to them. As the meeting concluded, Adrienne shared the video that she had put together with each flower.
Other ideas include asking participants to bring a state flower to the gathering to build a large bouquet, making available materials to craft flowers or bringing pollinator-friendly seeds to share. Know of PW friends who can no longer attend meetings? Flowers and good cheer are nice to give and receive. Or build a collage to build a bouquet: ask women to bring photos or clippings from a magazine of favorite flowers and perhaps quotes or thoughts and adhere them to a large poster board. Explore spirituality types (heart, soul, mind, hands) and ask participants to reflect on how their favorite flower aligns with their faith.
Build a Virtual Bouquet
Do you know of a software to build a bouquet? Although not an endorsement of any product, a few ideas have emerged:
Canva is an online design tool that may be worth exploring; you will need to register to use Canva but a free (limited) option is available.
PowerPoint is a slideshow maker in the common Microsoft suite that may be helpful in building bouquet presentations.
LINE Camera has been a useful smartphone app for Sue Liu, who serves as Asian American Member at Large on the PW Board and is a member of New Brunswick PWP. Sue said, “I use a photo editor app called LINE Camera that has different kinds of flower stamps available. I used the flower stamps (which are available on the app) to create an image. There are more tools in this app to design it and make it more personalized. You can write, draw and even download a photo from your album (or take a photo from your phone) and then design on it. Maybe you can print it out from your phone to a printer too.”
However you use bouquets to represent the variety of the PW garden, share your story and/or photo with Carissa Herold.