Arranging Grocery Store Flowers: Tips & Tricks
Tips & Tricks for arranging grocery store flowers. How to make a basic bouquet of grocery store flowers look great. Easy container ideas and a video!
Fresh flowers in our home, especially at this time of year, are almost a necessity of life. During the summer months, I bring in blooms from my garden, and it’s one of the things I like best about that season. When the garden isn’t in bloom, I buy flowers from the grocery store. They take a little more effort, but arranging grocery store flowers is easy, and doesn’t take too much time. Read on for my best tips and tricks.
Arranging Grocery Store Flowers
Choose the flowers:
Grocery store flowers are usually wrapped in some sort of cellophane or floral paper. When you are choosing your bouquets, pull the wrapping down and make sure the leaves on the stems aren’t wilted. Choose at least two different types of flowers. If you are making a large arrangement, select three different kinds of flowers. Vary the size of the blooms, and coordinate the colors. For this post, I chose small pink tulips and pink mini roses.
Tip: Grocery stores usually sell bouquets of mixed flowers. This is a great option if you want a more casual look.
Choose the container:
Containers are a personal choice. Honestly, I don’t want a closet full of random vases, so I keep my container collection small. I use mason jars and small pitchers. Some are vintage and some are not. The pitchers are used as decor in my living spaces, so that’s actually where they are stored. It’s easier to make small, manageable arrangements using smaller vessels than ones that are large or tall.
Properly prep the flowers:
As soon as you get home from the grocery, put the flowers in water. When you are ready to make your arrangement, cut off all the wrappings, ties and rubberbands. Separate the stems and cut off all leaves from the bottom half of each stem. Decide how tall you want the stems, and trim each one to approximately the same height. (You can tweak this later.) Lay the stems out on a work surface so they are easily accessible for arranging.
Fresh water and flowers:
Fill your container about 1/3 to 1/2 way full with fresh, cool water. Begin with the flower type that has the sturdiest stems. (In this case, I began with the roses because the tulip stems tend to droop.) Before placing each stem in the water, give the end a fresh snip. Once you have all of the first type in the vase, fill in these flowers with your second type. Make sure to mix the flowers evenly throughout the arrangement.
You may have to remove and snip some stems if they are too long. If you’ve got some that are too short, put them around the outside of the container. The height of your arrangement is a personal choice. I’m sure there are “flower arranging rules,” but I don’t know what they are and if I did, I most likely wouldn’t follow them! Let your flower arrangements reflect your own personal style. Be confident when you are snipping and arranging…but most of all, have fun!
More flower arranging tips!
5 Tips for Arranging Garden Flowers
Arranging Hydrangeas The Easy Way
