Easy Flower Arranging Tips Using Store Bought Flowers

Spruce up your grocery store flowers by making a beautiful flower arrangement with seasonal blooms and gorgeous greens!

There is nothing quite like fresh cut flowers from the garden, arranged in a beautiful display of green thumb success.  Except when nothing in your garden is blooming yet.  This is when you head to Trader Joes, or a local grocer that has an amazing floral section to make your own bouquets, that look like you bought them from a florist.

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This week on our (very late edition) of Fast Fix Friday, Sarah at 1915 House is educating us on keeping cut lilacs fresher longer (swoon) – which reminds me of a funny story about my lilacs and Sarah’s advice that gave question her sanity… I’ll have to post it on IG over the weekend! 

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I do this all the time, and I’m convinced everyone else already knows to do this, but just in case you don’t… you will now.  My all time favorite flowers are tulips, peonies, dahlias, and poppies. We grow poppies in our gardens like weeds, along with dahlias, every year.  Tulips are hardy in the early spring, but peonies…  I have just planted some this spring, and am praying over their beautiful leaves every day.

Lord,  I beg of you, to please watch over these freshly and carefully and painstakingly planted peony bushes in what I hope is properly amended soil. Give them the strength, adequate temperatures, soil conditions, and sunshine to grow strong. I pray they grow over the years and produce giant fluffy frilly blooms… at some point in my life while we still own this house.  In Jesus name I pray, Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhmen.

I KNOW for a fact I saw angels singing over these.  I know it.

Until they bloom in a few years time, I get my peonies at the local TJ’s or grocery store, and make my own arrangements.  All. The. Time.

It’s depressing, flowers plain in their paperer plastic wrappings. You must add other things to them, and show them off – unless you’re doing a TON of booms in a vase.  Which i did last week when I bought basically all the peonies. I love using eucalyptus, baby’s breath, chrysanthemums, sunflowers, tulips, dusty miller, whatever the green tree thing is in the video below, and all kinds of either matchy-matchy blooms, or a wild assortment of whatever calls to me at the time.

My kids have been taking flower arrangements to their teachers for Teacher Appreciation week, and the end of the school year…  so if by chance, my kids teachers are reading this… know that those arrangements were made with obsession and love, by the kids. This particular bouquet in the video below, I made for the greatest bus driver to ever live (literally) who also is a sweet friend, for her birthday.

Let’s make store bought flowers, extra fancy!

Firs things first: choose the proper flowers

Pick flowers that are at the right stage to open in a vase (ask the florist for tips depending on what you’re looking for. Peonies should be closed and soft like a marshmallow. Tulips should be soft and color showing, and not too tight. Roses as well; I like mine to be open, so I often choose ones that are closer to being open. Outside of that, just make sure they’re not brown or falling off, and you should be good).

Choose matching or wild colors – it’s totally up to you.

Add greens.  Vary your hues, textures, and types. Or get all the same thing.  It’s all up to you and what you think looks great together.

Don’t be afraid to roam the flowers, matching and grouping until you figure out what you’re loving.

This video is the most simple way to your own flower arrangement and bouquet…

Cut all the bags and bands off the flowers, and set them in water.

Cut the stems to the length you need.

Group them, and tuck in greens and filler as necessary.

Tie a clear rubber band around the stems – or, pop the arrangement in a vase.

All done.

This particular bouquet, I did add some tissue paper around, but you can add some burlap ribbon, put it in a small mason jar vase, or just hand it off.

If you’re transporting, a tip I got years ago, is to wrap a paper towel around the stems, and put it in a plastic baggie.  Add a bit of water so the paper towel is saturated, tape or put a rubber band at the top to keep the water in, and transport away. We did this for our teachers a few weeks ago, and I wrapped burlap ribbon to cover the baggies, and set them in jars. Super cute, super easy!

Hit me with your favorite flower arrangement making tips, flowers, and how to get my peonies to possibly bloom next season!

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