Did you know that there are some holidays that are not commercialized nor encourage you to eat thirteen pounds of candy? Okay, so Earth Day isn’t really a holiday but it is a day observed on April 22nd all over the world to focus on the environment and ‘going Green.’ While we can do lots of things to promote a cleaner Earth, from carpooling to planting a small garden, reducing and reusing items saves money, energy, and prevents additional stuff from going into the landfills. Technically, if you avoid buying individually wrapped chocolate, you are reducing waste, so I guess you can eat the chocolate.
I am sharing some simple ways to reuse containers that you may already have and create some beautiful Spring floral arrangements for your tables!
I put together some Spring floral arrangements by reusing items that I already had! I reused empty glass bottles as containers. The Martinelli’s apple juice bottles are embossed with leaves near the neck of the bottle. I think they look pretty with a few simple stems of flowers and greenery. This would look nice for an outdoor table, as well.
I cut the roses from my own rose bushes. The greenery and smaller flowers were leftover from a bouquet that my husband had given me the previous week. I notice some flowers and greenery last longer than others, so I usually discard the wilted ones after a week or ten days to spruce up the bouquet.
My husband likes to give me flowers on special occasions or ‘just because.’ One of my kitchen cabinets is full of vases, because he would order a bouquet of flowers online to send to me, which always includes a vase. So about two years ago, I asked if he would pick up fresh flowers from the florist or grocery store instead. This way, I can reuse the vases that I already own and stop the influx of more stuff entering our home. It costs about 1/4 of the cost less to buy a bouquet of fresh flowers from the store versus sending flowers online. With all the money he saves, he actually buys me flowers more often!
I am not a floral designer, by any means, but here are a few simple things that I try to keep in mind when arranging flowers:
Add a few drops of bleach to the water to keep the water fresh.
Cut stems at an angle.
Remove some leaves off the lower half of the stem.
Place taller flowers in the center.
Working in a circle, add a variety of flowers around the center of the taller stems.
Disperse similar flowers evenly if using multiple vases.
Use other greenery like grasses, leaves or even sticks to add texture.
Don’t forget to add water as needed.
Pretty simple, huh? Practically free! And I am saving the environment one day at a time! I would love to see your Cuter Tudor inspired projects on Instagram, tag me @CuterTudor or use the hashtag #CuterTudored! I will re-post a few of my favorites!
