How to save on your DIY flower bouquet

How to build a better DIY flower bouquet for less – it’s easy!

It seems we are always looking for a little gift for a friend. A thank you for a friend who helped us, a pick-me-up for someone who had a rough go, a thinking-of-you birthday surprise, a hostess gift for an impromptu party…for so many occasions there’s a place for flowers.

For the longest time, we stayed away from gifting freshly cut flowers. The pre-made arrangements at floral shops were always so expensive, and those picked-over grocery store bouquets didn’t impress. We always wanted to gift big, beautiful arrangements that made a statement…but who can afford the florist price tag every time? Not wanting to add a line item to our annual budget for flowers we decided to get our DIY on.

While we’d never claim any expertise in the area (still practicing!), we have spent more time than reasonable sifting through Martha Stewart magazines and Pinterest hacks to learn a few tips to share. Let us save you the research time…check out our secrets below!

Note: Tip #2 applied here – we chose flowers in different shades of the same color

If you’re a beginner like we are, you just might like our favorite tips to zhuzh up a store-bought flower bouquet – a cheater’s guide:

Top tips for choosing flowers for your DIY bouquet:

1. Stick with one type of flower in a few different colors. For instance, all roses in a variety of complementary colors, or all hydrangeas in different colors.
2. OR go monochromatic. Choose a few different types of flowers, all in the same color palate. You might find a lot of purple flowers in the case when you’re there – go with it! Select your purple flowers, keeping in mind you’ll want to choose flowers with a variety of shades, shapes, and sizes.
3. Purchase some extra filler or greenery to “fill out” your bouquet. Again, keep in mind your overall theme. If you’re going for monochromatic, don’t toss your theme overboard for the sake of your filler. Eucalyptus (the seeded kind is always a favorite), Bells of Ireland, Hypericum, Dianthus…all make great fillers.
4. Find a few “extras” for intrigue. Scan your home garden or landscape! We have lilac bushes and tulips in the spring, and a huge supply of white hydrangeas in the summer. So, we try to add in a stem or two of these when it fits the bill. Don’t forget about those herbs, too! Sometimes a few sprigs of Rosemary adds just the right amount of intrigue. Evergreen and Holly make beautiful additions to bouquets at Christmastime.
5. Choose a nice vase, but don’t go nuts. Try to keep your flower vessel neutral. You’ll want the stems in your DIY flower bouquet to stand out, and you might not know the taste of your recipient. One of our favorite places to scour for vases is Homegoods – it seems we can always find reasonably-priced vases, jars, or canisters in the clearance aisle that work so beautifully with cut flowers. Look for a color, shape, and size that complements your flowers. Remember, larger vases call for larger arrangements and smaller vases work best with smaller (or shorter) arrangements – choose wisely! Note: a bouquet also makes a nice gift wrapped in brown Kraft paper.

Note: we LOVE buying flowers from Trader Joe’s. They usually have a great selection of flowers, greenery, and other filler for a reasonable price. Grocery store flowers are generally very convenient to find/purchase…but sometimes the really gorgeous varieties get costly fast.

Note: Tip #1 applied here – we used all roses, but blended different colors together.

How to DIY a flower boquet – big, beautiful arrangements:

Materials:

1. Variety of flowers, greenery/filler, and any “extras”
2. Your choice of vase – a jar,
3. Sharp scissors to cut the stems
4. Scotch tape

Instructions:

1. Lay out all your flowers so you know what you have. Throw away the plastic wrapping and get out all your materials.
2. Add water to your vase, then use the tape to make an open grid pattern over the mouth of the vase. This tape grid will serve as a guide to help give your arrangement a bit of structure. Sure, sure…the pros don’t use any such cheating method…but we’re paying the DIY rate here, aren’t we? 🙂
3. Hold your flowers up to your vase so you know how tall you want them to be. You don’t want to cut your stems before you’ve made a plan! Keep in mind you’ll want your stems to suit the shape of your arrangement.
4. Cut your stems. Using sharp scissors, cut each stem at an angle and remove any extra or bruised leaves from the bottom of the stems. If your greenery is in an unruly bunch, cut the bunch into smaller, more manageable stems.
5. Using your tape grid, begin to build your flower arrangement! We like to start with the greenery to build a foundation. Beginning in the center square of the grid, add a few stems of greenery, add in your flower stems, gradually working to the outer edges of your vase. Once you’ve built the majority of your arrangement, look for bare spots and places to fill out. Add in extra filler where needed. We usually try to add a little greenery to the very outside of the arrangement.
6. That’s it! Add a nice note and gift away!

How to gift flowers without a vase

If you’re gifting your bouquet NOT in a vase, you’ll want to arrange your flowers much the same way. It will be easier, because you’re laying them flat instead of upright in a vase. (And the arrangement doesn’t have to hold its shape.)

Cut a large square of brown Kraft paper, and fold down one corner to make a triangle (flat side of the triangle facing up). Arrange your flowers in the center of the paper triangle until they look the way you want them to. Gently fold up the bottom of the paper triangle, tucking in the bottoms of the stems. Then, fold the corner on the left side over the stems, and the corner on the left side over that. (You’ve essentially folded a burrito…or swaddled a baby.) Secure the package with a piece of tape, wrap with string or ribbon, and you’re on your way!

Presentation is everything…that’s what Grandma always said.