Have you ever bought some beautiful flowers at the grocery store only to be disappointed when you take them home because you’re not sure how to make a flower arrangement that looks as good as something you’d find at a florist shop? You’ve come to the right tutorial because the basics of DIY floral design are pretty simple, even for a beginner who doesn’t know a hydrangea from a peony. With just some simple hacks, you can turn grocery store flowers into a beautiful floral arrangement that will be sure to impress the next time you need a centerpiece or a hostess gift for a dinner party.
Things You’ll Need
• Vase
• Grocery store flowers
• Floral shears
• Greenery
• Ribbon
• Double-sided tape
Step 1: Start With a Vase
It’s not necessary to purchase a new vase for your DIY flower arrangement. You probably have something at home that can serve as your vase. If it holds water, it will probably work. Consider using a Mason jar, a large coffee mug, a teapot or a pitcher. I used a glass vase that I had kept from an old floral arrangement. Then, take a look at the size of the opening of your vase. As a rule of thumb, you’ll want to purchase enough flowers so that they cover four times the size of the vase opening. This four to one proportion creates a lush, full arrangement.
Step 2: Select a Color Scheme
As you’re browsing through the fresh flowers at the grocery store, it can be difficult to choose colors and determine which colors complement each other. My simple hack for choosing a color scheme is to go monochromatic. Having all your flowers in the same color category makes shopping a breeze, and all the flowers in your finished arrangement will have a cohesive quality.
The key is to select different types of flowers so that even though they are similar in color, they are varied in texture. For this arrangement, I chose four bunches of cut flowers — roses, gerbera daisies, tulips and ranunculus—plus some added greenery. I purchased these flowers at Trader Joe’s, but I also like finding cut flowers at farmers’ markets and even Costco. Whatever you do, don’t buy a premade flower bouquet at the store and then plop that in a vase. You’ll be paying a premium for a mixed bouquet with a lot of filler flowers.