{DIY} Garden Variety

For a client’s recent Mexican-themed bash, we wanted the flowers to appear as fun, colorful, & unpretentious as the rest of the decor. No fussy arrangements for this party, please! I created a festive look using empty food cans from a Mexican grocery store that I filled with simple hand-tied bouquets of colorful blooms. Totally eco-friendly, & it all came together nicely, didn’t it? Glad you like it, because I’m sharing the simple step-by-step process here…

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Floral shears: rose stems are strong, so those shears need to be sharp!
• Kitchen twine: since the cans aren’t transparent, you can use as much twine as you need to tie up the bouquets & stabilize them.
• Colorful flowers of your choice: I used roses, tulips, ranunculus, & sunflowers.
• Food cans- I filled the empty cans with warm soapy water, and let them sit for a few hours to rid them of any odors. You want the fragrance of roses wafting through the party, not that of pinto beans & jalapenos!

1. First, clean all the stems. I used to not be very thorough with this step, but trust me: it makes all the difference in the final product! None of the flowers that I used have particularly attractive foliage, so I stripped them of all leaves so all that was visible in each bouquet was brilliant, ruffly petals. This step is much easier if done while standing over a big trash can to catch all the leaves!
2. To create a hand-tied bouquet: Hold a couple flowers with one hand, and start adding the other flowers in a spiral fashion, holding the bouquet tightly in the middle. Keep turning the bouquet as you add the flowers in areas that seem sparse, until you have a gorgeously full arrangement.
3. Tie the stems tightly with the twine, and then clip them straight across at the desired height. I’ve found that most people are afraid to trim the stems as high as they need to, but go for it! The bouquet should be short enough to allow the base of the blooms to just touch the top of the can.

Tuck each bouquet into a can of a contrasting color, and voila! Unique & inexpensive party arrangements that make you smile just to look at them, and set the perfect tone for a fun summer gathering.