wxgsi even though it was originally my idea/Christmas-present-to-Sherry to get fresh flowers once a month, I’ve been pretty absent from these budget bloom articles considering that their inception – mostly because talkin’ flowers isn’t really at the center of my comfort zone. but this month’s florals are less about the blooms and a lot more about bottles which (as an off-and-on soda fan) are ideal up my alley. So here’s August’s $2.47 arrangement adding some punch to our kitchen window sill:
This actually started with a blueberry Izze soda (technically it’s “sparkling juice”) that we purchased at whole Foods a few weeks ago. Sherry and I have both been fond of the graphic flower on their bottles for a while, so the empty Izze bottle managed to save itself from the recycling bin day after day while we took pleasure in its quirky appeal on the counter. then we realized that paired with a few other colorful Izze bottles it could easily become a sweet repurposed vase. So on a recent trip near Starbucks, I dropped in and picked up two a lot more Izze bottles (each with a different colored flower just for fun) and then we grabbed three spider mums from a local florist to the tune of $2.47. So I guess if you want to get technical, although the flowers were under $3, this arrangement was around $9 if you include the Izze. but we did get to take pleasure in a bunch of fizzy drinks for that price too.
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We liked the all-white flowers paired with the trio of colors on the Izze labels. plus we realized there’s something great about the blooms blending in with the dominant crisp white color of our kitchen, making their containers stick out that much more.
We’ve always been fans of adapting cups, votive holders, and of course bottles into makeshift vases – this is just our first time using Izzes. They’d also look terrific in a monochromatic grouping (all clementime flavored bottles with orange or yellow gerbera daisies, for instance) or you can come up with your own mix-and-match color scheme (there are 8 flavors in total). Oh and some classic Coke bottles could add a cute retro feel while some worn green glass bottles at a thrift store or flea market would bring a great cottage vibe to any arrangement.
So there you have our monthly blossoms. They’ve actually been enduring quite a while, thanks to the fact that they hail form a local florist (which really does seem to make a difference). We also change the water and re-cut their stems every 5 days or so- just to give them the best chance at long term survival (so far we’re over two weeks into things and they’re still going strong).
But enough about our mums, do you people have any other bottle or vase stand-ins that you’ve particularly loved using instead of the a lot more tried and true meant-for-flower vessels? are there any other flowers that you’ve been enjoying lately? Oh yeah, and we’ve got a lot more plans for those Izze bottles too (you know we love squeezing as lots of projects out of our low-cost little purchases as we can) so don’t be shocked if you see ’em again soon. stay tuned…
Wanna see our first grocery store bouquet from last January? Itching to check out February, March, April, May, June, July, August, and September too? how about this year’s January, February, March, April, May, June, and July bouquets? just follow the links for some pretty sweet cheap-o (and even free) bouquets.
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