Fresh Flowers Don’t Have To Break The Bank

I told you in this post that I like to buy flowers from the grocery store because they generally last 4 weeks or more.  So, a couple of weeks ago I bought flowers for myself.  I bought them off of the 3 for $12 stand at my local grocery store (I know, the price went up), and the vase was $2.50 at Walmart.  I got home and decided to take some pictures of how I put them together so that you can see how simple it is.

1.  Pick out some flowers that you like and that you think coordinate with each other.  I think 3 different types of flowers looks best (for a small bouquet when you’re on a budget.) 

 

2.  When you get home, cut open each set and spread out the plastic so that when you are finished you can just fold everything into the paper and throw it away.  Empty one of the packets into the vase and fill the vase with water.  (I use about a 1/2 in of hot water to dissolve the powder and then finish filling the vase with cold water.  Now you are ready to start on the flowers.

3.  Start with your base flower (generally what you have the most of and what is best at filling space).  Measure the flower stem against the base of your vase (just made me think of Ace of Base, random…).  Decide how tall you want the flowers and cut the stem at an angle.  (I saw the si-ign, and it opened up my eyes. I saw the sign.)  Also, pull off all the leaves that could potentially end up in the water because the leaves can make the water toxic to the flowers.  Then, place the flowers into the vase.  If they all stand at the same height try to make the stems cross in the vase to force them to stand at different heights.  If that doesn’t work then cut the bases of a few of them, but only cut them slightly.  You want them to lay as if there is a bowl upside down and on top of them, like bowl hair cuts. Ha!  Remember those?

4.  Start on the next flower.  I like to use a small bud with lots of leaves for my base, then I do something dramatic for the middle level, and something tall for the third layer.  Do your second layer about the same height as the first.  Gently place the second later flower into the vase so that the flower is resting on top of your first layer. Then, do the third layer.  In this arrangement I chose to cut the tall flower so that it was shorter than the others, but you can still see that it’s skinnier than the others.

5.  The finale.  Turn the vase all the way around and arrange the flowers so that there are no holes (like the one above), and then put them in a place where you can enjoy them everyday.