How To DIY Flower Arrangements For Friends
How To DIY Christmas flower arrangements for friends for a personalized gift that is always appreciated. One of my favorite hostess gifts to bring to a friend is a flower arrangement. When you go to a party, it’s often an unexpected surprise that you can coordinate seasonally and to go with your friend’s home decor! Today I’m sharing a few easy tips and a DIY on creating an inexpensive arrangement using grocery store flowers.
I’m always on the lookout for great containers for both floral arrangements and for plants. When I see something with possibilities when out shopping and the price is right, I generally grab a few. Do you check out the dollar bins when shopping? I found these galvanized buckets that can be used for many things and when the flowers have passed their prime, can be repurposed as I’ve done HERE.
How To DIY Flower Arrangements For Friends
- Purchase a few inexpensive containers either in the dollar bin or perhaps off-season to have on-hand.
- For the best value on flowers, head to your local grocery store. Purchase several different types of flowers for interest, and greenery for fill in. If you have a garden you can definitely stretch flower arrangements further by clipping your own.
- Gather everything that you’ll need on a table and don’t forget some scissors, clippers for woody stems and a bucket of water.
- My daughter recently asked me the best way to trim flowers for an arrangement that she was making. I like to turn my flowers upside-down so that I can get an idea of the height next to the container.
In going with a traditional red and green holiday theme, I purchased red roses, carnations, assorted white flowers and holiday greenery. The scent of fresh cedar and pine make the DIY flower arrangements even more special!
Flower Cutting Tips
- Cut your flowers one by one at an angle
- Be sure to strip the leaves that will fall below the water line.
- I like to give my flower a gentle shake before placing in water to remove any loose petals. Debris in the water causes them to have a shorter bucket life.
Be sure to use garden clippers for woodsy stems like cedar and pine. You don’t want to ruin your beautiful scissors!
I save ribbons and bows year to year to repurpose. They are often just too pretty to pitch and can be reused for homemade gift baskets and adorning packages.
Arrangements like these can be loose and unstructured. I’ve often read that you should start with the greenery, but I have done hundreds of flower arrangements and work with flower placement first. Look at your flower arrangements from all sides and fill in as necessary!
I hope that you found this How To DIY Christmas flower arrangements post helpful in some way! Spread joy and cheer this holiday season with flowers that you’ve arranged yourself!
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I love the idea of using a bucket for a gift of flowers. So many great ideas here. And, can I tell you how much I love Easy Spirit. My very favorite sandal came from there and I still have them. They are a black patent slide with a cork wedge heel. Perfect for casual or dressy in the summer and the comfort is huge. Now I need something for all the crazy weather on its way up here in the north and I will definitely be looking at Easy Spirit. In fact, those flats you have own may be just the thing. 🙂
Thanks Patti for stopping by! I know that I’m going to be ordering more styles from Easy Spirit. It’s unusual for me to find shoes that are comfortable enough to wear all day straight out of the box.
Everything you do is just perfect. Love opening my mail and hearing from you. Janet I live in central florida and just fell in love with the little table that you were sitting beside. I have 2 chairs that were given to me by a friend and they are the same color. I have been trying to determine the color but have not seen anything like them until now. Love that pale natural color ( or washed color). Can you tell me something about it? Thank you,
Gloria
Thank you so much Gloria! If you’re looking for the table it’s very affordable and it’s linked in this post: https://shabbyfufu.com/master-bedroom-makeover-itips/
Cute shoes, and I never thought about purchasing containers off-season! Great tip, Janet! Thanks. 🙂
Thanks Julie…glad you enjoyed and hope you have a great week!
I love the tip for putting the flower upside down next to the container! I don’t know how many times I plop my flowers in and out of the container, re-cutting them each time, trying to get the height just right! Oh, and I probably have 6 pair of Easy Spirits. They’re so comfy!
Glad that you like the tip, which I learned from a magazine stylist shooting my home years ago! Easy Spirit are the most comfy shoes and are coming out with up to date styles these days!
I love the idea of taking flowers as a hostess gift. I am not skilled at arranging them though so this is timely.
🙂 gwingal
It doesn’t have to be perfect…this is definitely the easiest way!
Question – do you arrange the flowers and leaves in water only in the bucket or do you recommend placing some marbles or other items in the bottom first so that all the elements don’t “swoosh” around inside the bucket once you add the water? Although that may add extra weight to the bucket. I do like that you save holiday ribbons to be repurposed for a nice gift like this.
I use water only and often travel long distances that way. Just be sure to wedge the bucket in and don’t overfill with water.
Lovely idea for friends using those pretty buckets. The easy spirits sound like a great show I will check them out. Thanks Maria
Thank you for stopping by!
Lots of great tips here Janet. I for one am all fumble fingers and wouldn’t know how to do this on my own. You have given me a great guide to start with.
What a great idea Janet. I know I always love receiving flowers, but really never thought about gifting them as well. And keeping a stash of containers on hand is a brilliant suggestion. Thanks for all the great tips. Oh, and those shoes look great…perfect shoe for cooler months when you don’t want to go barefoot!
Lot of great tips. I often find yard sale treasures or thrift pretty containers that still have the UPCs on them (almost new!). For silk flowers I use discarded styrofoam from packing and glue Spanish moss over it to hide it rather than buy floral foam (which is great for live flowers). I make some for my church’s annual bazaar–no two are ever the same with thrifted containers! Does everyone know the trick of reviving non-fragile bows with a curling iron? Not good for chiffony-type or plastic material, but for cotton/burlap, etc., it is slick! Sometimes a “shot of steam” from my steam iron works well too as I don’t have a steamer.
Thanks Kathy and a great tip about the curling iron!!