DIY Floral Arrangement

Being a creative person and a designer, I expected floral arranging to come easy to me. I took sculpture classes for my Fine Arts curriculum in college and have a good idea of how I want an arrangement to look, but achieving results is another issue. Long story short- I'm not so awesome at it and I don't have a ton of time to spend learning. I've found some hacks throughout the years that have saved me a lot of time and money! It really all has to do with the vase.... here's a short little tutorial for people who hate floral arranging. Step 1 // Find a mixed bundle at your local grocery or floral shop. You really don't have to spend a ton of money to get a nice looking arrangement. All of the flowers and arrangements in this post were under $20 (excluding the vases). Step 2 // Cut off the end of each stem...on an angle, in a downward direction. Step 3 // Proceed to strip the leaves off of each stem, until you're almost to the bloom. Step 4 // Mix up some flower food. You really shouldn't skip this step because this stuff truly does make your arrangements last much longer. Step 5 // Select a vase that is easy to work with. This is the KEY concept, folks. If you take nothing else away from this post- this is the thing to remember. In my opinion, the easiest vases to arrange are the following shapes: round, tall and skinny, small, and single bud vases. I'm going to show you an example of each... Bud Vases: Anyone can put together a floral arrangement with a bud vase. It's so small, you just have to squeeze 1-5 blooms, depending on the flower size, into a tiny vase. There's really no right or wrong way to do this... they automatically fill out the vase perfectly on their own. Just make sure to refill their water every few days and keep them out of direct sunlight. Bud vases are probably the most versatile type of floral arrangement because their small size allows them to add a pop of color and texture to so many different spaces. I use them on my nightstand, on the bar cart, a side table, or even styled into a built-in. I have a lot of bud vases for this very reason... Round Vases: It's pretty instinctual to fill a round vase. Keep crisscrossing the stems until they form a full circle on the top and the blooms fill any gaps. Remember this peachy detail on my coffee table? Roses work great or any type of bloom that has a nice, full round shape. Tall and Skinny Vases:  Unlike many of the large, clear vases a florist sends you... an arrangement in a tall and slender vase doesn't look as full. The shape of the vase helps to hold the flowers upright in a condensed formation. Just add a little greenery to fill the gaps near the bottom- that's all there is to it. This type of arrangement looks best when it isn't fussed over. I literally just let the flowers do their thing and go their own way. My favorite greenery is silver dollar eucalyptus... Small Vases: Small vases, around 6" - 7", work best with large blooms. Try sourcing peonies, hydrangeas, or dahlias. Use an odd number of stems (3 works well with large flowers) and cut them to 3 different sizes. Just like the tall vase, add a few sprigs of greenery to fill the negative space. Working with shorter stems is always much easier. The flowers hold their position and you can easily manipulate their placement. A smaller diameter or opening at the top of the vase makes this super simplistic. For more DIY ideas: 6 DIY Projects to Try out for Spring | 9 Ways to Decorate with Flowers

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