I rarely buy flowers for myself. (I’m sure many of you can relate.) Even though they’re
so pretty, flowers just don’t last long enough to justify the purchase. If I do have
flowers around my pad, it’s because I snuck over to my neighbor’s yard and snipped a
bloom or two. Hey, it’s a rental. They didn’t plant the flowers, so I don’t think they
mind…hopefully. But, even that’s rare.
So, when I do actually have flowers, I get super excited. They just make a room feel
so…happy! Today’s my birthday and my sweet boyfriend bought me a bouquet. True to
my vintage-loving self, I arranged the flowers in a couple of mason jars and a vase
from a secondhand shop. Check out how I did it.
The aisles at thrift stores and secondhand shops are usually overflowing with all
sorts of vases—tall, skinny, round, glass, ceramic, you name it. Because I’m cheap,
I always buy vases ast secondhand shops. I love the eclectic assortment…and the
price. Most run $1 or less.
I got the cute milk glass vase pictured above at a secondhand shop. I love taking a
large bouquet and splitting up the flowers into several smaller vases. Then, I can
put one in every room of my home! This vase looks perfect with just a few small
buds. They stand at exactly the height I wanted because I secured them together
with a leftover twist tie from a loaf of bread before sticking them in the vase.
One thing to remember about flowers is that their stems will ALWAYS be way too
long to fit in the vase. You can’t be afraid to cut the flowers. I used to feel bad for
some reason to trim the stems very much. Then, I’d end up with wacked out
looking arrangements with the flowers protruding out of the vase way too far.
Don’t be afraid to cut the flowers. A lot if need be. I probably trimmed these flowers
down to a third of their original length. But now their size complements the size of
the jar. Speaking of the mason jar, I love how the bright pinks, oranges and yellows
of these flowers pop against the transparent blue of this Ball mason jar.
I placed the fuller blooms from the bouquet in a slightly larger blue mason jar. To get
a pretty arrangement start with one flower, then work your way in a circle adding
flowers as you go. This way you can check out what your arrangement looks like
from all sides before placing it in the vase. You can also secure it with a rubber band
to make sure that all of the flowers stay put exactly the way you arranged them.
What do you use to display your favorite flowers? Do you like the look of mason jars
with flowers? Feel free to tell me your thoughts on vintage vases in the comments
section.
Keep Up With Red Leaf Style!
Keep up with Red Leaf Style author Kirsten Hudson on Twitter @kirsten_hudson,
Google+ and Pinterest.
August 2, 2012
Really loving your blog — glad I came across it! xo
August 2, 2012
Thank you so much!! I need to work on getting some new posts up soon!
November 13, 2012
Thanks for an amazing article! I’ve ordered compositions at http://megaflowers.com/ usually but now I’m trying to make a bouquets by myself. Thanks againg for useful tips!
February 4, 2013
[…] bouquet of flowers is inexpensive and you can do a lot with just one bouquet. Check out my tips on how to arrange flowers and make the most out of your […]
March 24, 2013
[…] could remind you of spring more than flowers? Pretty spring blossoms just make a room feel happy. Grab a bunch at your local farmer’s market […]
February 13, 2014
[…] bouquet of flowers is inexpensive and you can do a lot with just one bouquet. Check out my tips on how to arrange flowers and make the most out of your […]
March 3, 2016
[…] could remind you of spring more than flowers? Pretty spring blossoms just make a room feel happy. Grab a bunch at your local farmer’s market […]