Simple Ideas and Tips for Arranging Flowers
Hello friends! You may have noticed by now that I am pretty frugal. And if you are new here, that means cheap! While we all have very different ideas about what we are comfortable spending our money on, myself isn’t usually one of them. I skip a lot of personal indulgences because there are things I’d much rather spend on, like substantial things for our home, and pesky things like bills and groceries. I’ve always treated myself to fresh flowers sporadically… but in the last few months, I’ve been doing it on a regular basis. And it feels good! I get so much enjoyment out of the flowers I’ve been buying that I have every intention of continuing. Sometimes, it’s important to do nice things for ourselves. This is a splurge that I feel gives back tenfold. I’ve even picked up pretties for my sister in law & mother in law as well, because I know they too, really enjoy them.
It occurred to me, that while you too may like buying market flowers, you might be open to an idea or two on what to do with them once you get them home. So I’m here to share what I do with mine. When I say simple, I mean it. No floral tape or foam was used. So this is all easy and beginner friendly.
Box Them Up:
This rustic, shabby style is so easy to achieve! How easy it is to pop a few mason jars in a wood box? Pretty darn easy. Change the flowers color or style, or the paint finish on the box & handles… and you’ve got loads of variations on the look at your fingertips. Use white, or a natural wood and get a fab farmhouse flavor. you can see I left the rings on the jars for a little sparkle. I thought it was pretty with the mercury glass hardware. To find out how to make your own trough box with a few scrap wood pieces [click here]
Short & Sweet:
To get this look, I started placing my flowers on the outside first, slowly adding and arranging the roses towards the center. I didn’t even need floral tape, as the tightly packed buds held each other in place. Play with color too! You can see I alternated the hot pink and white roses, with the softer pink in the center.
Double The Delight:
If you spring for an 18 count rose bundle, you can split them between two vases. This easily gives you a bigger impact. You’ll have a larger, more voluminous arrangement, while still being casual and very easy to achieve!
I used a color-dipped vase I picked up at HomeGoods. The glass is bubbled and glitter infused. It’s so pretty. The tight neck allowed me to gather the blooms more closely, and they sprayed out in a perfectly clustered head. The etched glass Princess House pitcher was my grandmothers. I don’t use it often as intended, and this allows me to think of her when I see it. I know she’d prefer to see it used, whoever I choose to do it, and the larger opening allows the stems to fall more loosely, but offers support with it’s vertical height.
Wide & Wild:
Use a wide mouth vessel to get this carefree look. I’ll use just about anything that will hold water, to hold my blooms! Case in point, this crock (that is intended for utensils) was used in my spring kitchen. See the tour [click here]
Pink Peak:
This white pitcher has a smaller opening, offering more support for the flowers. It allowed me to add roses around the perimeter, and fill in towards the center. I left more length as I clipped the stems, culminating in a single, taller rose at the center, or peak of the arrangement. So it has a graduated height. This arrangement uses 18 stems.
Free & Easy:
Because free is always nice. If you’re careful.
- The wild roses landed in mason jars. They are cut to the level of the jars rim for support, as the stems can barely hold up the weight of the blooms. A sprig on Jasmine from our blooming hedge was added to an old creamer.
- Queen Anne’s Lace grows like a weed here in the open spaces. If you are willing to pull over and have clippers in your car, you can harvest away. Again, I’m using a beverage pitcher. This one in a vibrant pattern to celebrate Summer.
Just be advised… if you’ve got your cell phone tucked next to your leg, jump excitedly out of the car when your husband obligingly pulls over, and zoom off after you’ve gleefully gathered your haul… it’ll probably be in perfect condition, face down in the grit waiting for you, when you come back looking for it. And if you come within inches of running it over when you circle back you’ll know it was all worth it, because… Free Weeds!
Faux Sure:
I’m not above mixing in fake flowers when there are no real ones to be found! I picked up these long, willowy “Spring” blooms to substitute having any blooming trees on the property. I stuffed my rope wrapped vase with a swatch of burlap to hide the very fake stems! These did the job very nicely and gave me the Spring feel I was craving.
Lovely Layers:
This large, colorful arrangement needed more than a simple glass vase! By placing the glass vase inside the chunky wire basket, the visual weight became much more balanced. The distressed finish mimics the color of the white blooms, and suits the casual style of the Sunflowers.
Splitting Up:
I’m going way back with this one! I had a gorgeous arrangement delivered and as some of the blooms faded, I re-worked what was left. Even the Button Mums that were fading fast, had a little last-hurrah by being placed on the glass dish at the feet of the Calendulas. The single Hydrangea stands alone.
Garden Department:
You’ve seen me do this trick a few times. The paper bag. I know… but I love it. It’s neutral and always plays nice with natural elements, like woven textiles, baskets, natural wood and burlap. So easy to pop a few garden department flowers, pre-potting, in a paper sack and use them to jazz up a party. To see more [click here] & [here]
String Them Along:
I almost forgot about this one. Once, when I was on a tin can kick… I decided to create a living garland. I wired tin cans, covered them in burlap… and draped them in front of my fireplace. Then I filled them with water and added live flowers. It was so pretty and the great thing is, there are so many applications for this! You could use any can configuration, even paint them! And add any flowers you like. This would look amazing for a casual wedding or garden party. Sting along a fence, at the party entrance… so many possibilities with this one. To make your own [click here]
You Can Can:
It can’t be helped, I must mention the super causal, almost free way to showcase a few blooms in your home. In the humble tin can. Painted up, with a little distressing, it doesn’t get much cuter. And you can afford to give these away en mass. Brighten someones day with a little mini-bouquet. Add a little note and these would be great for teachers, a sweet neighbor, etc…
- SOURCES: If you are like me and live in a small town without a flower market like they’ve got in LA & San Francisco or a Costco or Trader Joe’s, etc… you can get flowers pretty cheap in the grocery store floral department. We’ve got a Wednesday Day market I like to frequent in the sunny months as well.
A cutting garden is also a wonderful source for flowers, but for me, it would just be a Deer buffet. If you are lucky to have friends that share that is wonderful! My sister in law shares from her big Lilac bush and I look forward to that every Spring. Plus, I’ve got a girlfriend who shares her Hydrangeas with me, as she’s got several large, mature bushes. Those are a treat to be sure.
Remember, the container can dictate the flow and the feel of the flowers. From rustic, to light & airy… and can compliment or really highlight a color in the arrangement. Play around and have fun. And don’t be afraid to put your flowers in something other than a vase. XO Shannon
Barb Hughes says
Bwahaha… I just KNOW you were craving some spring flowers so you conjured up this delightful post so you could have a “better” reason to go get some! 😀 They sure are lovely!
Shannon at Fox Hollow Cottage says
Shh… now don’t be telling all my secrets!!
(I’ve got a whole flat to plant this week, I’ll share them soon)
debbiedoos says
Your art of arranging flowers is beautiful Shannon!
Shannon at Fox Hollow Cottage says
Thanks so much Debbie. I do like planting 🙂