Anyone can throw a bouquet of store-bought flowers into an IKEA vase. Why don’t you add some style and personality to your arrangements? Try using these unique vases and edible plants to spice up your floral centerpieces.
Unusual Vases
Tea Pot
A tea pot can serve as a delicate tea pot for anything from small flowers to garden herbs. Since you probably don’t want to repurpose your own tea pot, I recommend heading down to the local discount store or antique shop and finding a sizable tea pot in a pattern that you like. Solid colors can also work well so that the pattern does not compete with the flower arrangements. Keep in mind that while blooms will sit just above the opening of the tea pot, the stems should reach down almost to the bottom so don’t cut them too short.
Tin Cans
Any kind of tin can out of your pantry will do. Once you’ve enjoyed your soup, chili, beans, and cut veggies, wash out the can and strip the label. Scrub off any sticky glue residue and let it dry. Now you have a perfect vase for a small shelf, table, or mantle. The shiny, ribbed looks rustic with a burst of wildflower blooms crowning it. Small but vibrant flowers like mums and asters work well, but any flower you like should be fine. With large soup cans (I’m thinking of those big cans your grandma used to make soup out of) you can use bigger flowers like gladiolus and sunflowers.
Mason Jars
With a mason jar, you get a thick glass vase that sometimes even has etchings or molded designs in the surface. With the clear glass, even though the thickness will distort the stems, you’ll want to make sure you keep your water clean since the murkiness could show through. A couple drops of bleach should help keep the bacteria down. Of course, if you’re going for a short term effect, you can always spray paint the mason jars. Be sure to find paint that is designed for sticking to treated glass or clear plastic. Like tin cans and tea pots, the more rustic look of a mason jar is best complimented by wild or garden flowers arranged to create a bright, packed bunch.
Watering Cans
A vintage watering can makes for a beautiful flower vase. Since the can is not symmetrical on every axis, you can play around with large, sweeping arrangements that fly off in different directions or sweep down in cascades around the sides. Remember to go with rustic, not rusty, for your look. A brightly colored watering can is a showstopping centerpiece, while more muted or untreated cans look just as lovely and don’t compete with the vibrant greenery they hold.
Unusual Plants
Leafy Vegetables
If you’re really looking to do something bright and different with your arrangements, leafy vegetables of interesting colors can be great accent pieces to replace the typically green foliage. Ornamental kale comes in a variety of colors from red to lavender to blue. Purple is one of the most popular colors as it is muted but still very full of form and shape. Consider it a garnish in your flower arrangements.
Red cabbage is in fact closer to a bright purple. Since cabbage has stiffer leaves then regular lettuce, whole cabbage leaves can be pulled off the head and arranged into bowls to frame your flowers or curled into ribbon-like loops as an accent.
Radicchio is more red than red cabbage, and also features beautiful white veins that contrast beautiful to the vibrant color. Like red cabbage, radicchio can be shaped into a colorful frame or accent piece in your arrangements.
Bright Vegetables
Rhubarb is one of the most colorful vegetables you can find at the grocery store. It’s bright red stalks are often used in pies and as side dishes, but you can use them in your flower arrangements too. The leaves of the plant are toxic, but since you’ll just be arranging them a whole rhubarb stalk can look quite nice. Even the small flower clusters are interesting-looking.
Bell peppers and gourds can also be used in arrangements, though their size and shape make them better suited to low-lying, cornucopia-esque arrangements that take up a low serving tray or similar frame. Bell peppers are good throughout the year, but gourds tend to be more seasonal in autumn. Their variegated stripes and warts add interesting texture to your arrangements.
