There is not a week that goes by without fresh flowers in my home. Major kudos to my sweet boyfriend who will often times gift me beautiful bouquets, but I also love creating my own floral arrangement. Creating my own floral arrangement is like creating a piece of art for my home…only it smells more beautiful.
What you need to build your bouquet
Cutting shears
Vase with water
Flowers of your choice
Greenery fillers
Where to purchase flowers
Head to your local farmer’s market to find an assortment of freshly cut flowers. For any residents in Southern California, check out my other post on my favorite farmer’s markets selling flowers. Another place that will sell flowers is your local grocery store. A majority of stores will have premade bouquets, but I prefer Trader Joes because they have a large display of flowers divided into their own type, allowing me to grab a few separate bouquets to later compile into my own.
The details
Step 1: Find a vase
You don’t want just any vase. You want a vase that will most importantly fit your flowers and also one that will complement them.
Consider three things:
- Vase height
- Vase color
- Vase volume
Vase height: Think about where the vase is going to go in your home. You don’t want to put your beautiful bouquet in a tall vase and then find out later it doesn’t fit in your kitchen nook. Similarly, you don’t want a tiny vase to be in the center of your large kitchen table. The height of your vase should match the space that it will end up in.
Vase color: Find a vase that matches the design of your home. Perhaps you have farmhouse decor, so a ceramic vase or watering can will fit the part more than a glass vase would. Maybe your design is more modern, in which a minimal vase would be more appropriate than a brightly patterned vase. The vase should also tie in to the type of flowers you are assembling. If you are purchasing brighter flowers, you may want a more neutral colored vase. On the other hand, if your bouquet is predominantly white, you will want a vase that stands out to not blend in with the flowers.
Vase volume: How many flowers do you plan on getting? This will determine the volume of the vase you will need. I can’t tell you how many times I have run out of vase space just because I went on a flower spree and bought way too many to fit in my vase!
Surprisingly, I had a much harder time finding a vase for my flowers. In fact, I went to three different stores and didn’t have much luck. I resorted to shopping online and ended up finding some beautiful ones. I absolutely love the vases from Winnoby Home store. To make it easy on you, you can click the link or photo below to browse some vases for yourself!
Step 2: Choose your flowers
Depending on the season, you will have an easier or harder time finding certain flowers. Seasonal flowers will be more affordable. You have to think about 2 things when choosing your floral bouquet:
- Color of flower
When thinking about the color of flower you want, think about any upcoming holiday. Is Valentine’s Day around the corner and you want the focus to be red? If summertime is coming up, how about choosing shades of yellow? - Type of flower
The type of flower is equally as important. This bouquet will be in your eyesight, so you want it to be a flower you enjoy looking at!
Be sure to pick up two kinds of flowers: focal flowers and filler flowers. The focal flower will steal the show, but the filler flowers will add more interest and bring your bouquet to life! You do not want both of these flowers to be of the same exact color- different shades of the same hue is okay- but if they are the same color they will blend in and the focal flower will get lost in the bunch.
My favorite filler flowers:
- Baby’s Breath
- Feverfew Daisies
- Snapdragons
Step 3: Choose your greenery
The greenery will help fill in the empty spaces. Choose a green such as:
- Ferns
- Myrtle
- Grevillea
- Ivy
- Poms
- Eucalyptus
- Honey bracelet branches
My favorite greenery to use is baby blue eucalyptus leaves which also provide a fresh scent as if I was in the outdoors.
Step 4: Prepare your flowers
Freshly cut the stems at a 45 degree angle using your cutting shears so it can drink up the water after you place them in the vase. You will also want to remove all leaves or thorns that will be immersed below the waterline to help your flowers live longer. When the leaves get soaked in water, it will create bacterial growth and cause an unwanted smell coming from the water.
Step 5: Assembling your bouquet
Here comes the fun part!
- First pour room temperature water into the vase. You do not want to add water of extreme temperatures because it will shock the flowers
- Second, add in your greenery
- Next, add in the focal flowers (the larger ones) and rotate the vase while putting them in to make sure the flowers are equally balanced throughout
- You will add the filler flowers in last to take up the space
Putting your flowers in partial sunlight will help your arrangement last longer. By putting them in direct sunlight, your flowers will wilt quicker and the water will have more of a foul smell since it gets too warm. You also want to be sure your home does not get too hot inside. My flowers fade so fast when the inside of my home gets into the 80s. A typical bouquet in good conditions will last about a week.
6. Clean up
When your beautiful bouquet has wilted and it is time to toss them out, keep any of the greenery or filler flowers that have not wilted and use them for your next flower arrangement. That will help you save some money the next time around!
Clean your vase with baking soda instead of dish soap. This will help your next flower arrangement to not wilt as fast. I have found that the dish soap residue gets left behind, even when I thought I washed it really well.
I hope you enjoy making your own flower bouquet. I guarantee every time you see it, it will add some bliss in your heart and bliss in your home!
3 Comments
[…] Head to your local farmer’s market or grocery store and pick up your favorite flowers! You might even have new blooms springing up in your backyard to pick. I like to pick one colorful varietal to stand out, along with some greenery or white accent flowers. I love to create my own because the flowers can go along with my current home design/color theme and I can make it however large or small I want to go in the right place of my home. I have found that making my own bouquets actually give me more flowers than a single premade bouquet so I can divide them up into several arrangements to put around my house. I have created a post on how to create your own floral arrangement here! […]
Great tips!
I am glad you found them useful!