Even though it was originally my idea/Christmas-present-to-Sherry to buy fresh flowers once a month, I’ve been pretty absent from these budget bloom posts since 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 more about bottles which (as an off-and-on soda fan) are right 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 enjoyed its quirky beauty 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 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 enjoy a bunch of fizzy drinks for that price too.
We liked the all-white flowers paired with the trio of hues on the Izze labels. Plus we realized there’s something nice about the blooms blending in with the dominant crisp white color of our kitchen, making their containers stand 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 great 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 nice cottage vibe to any arrangement.
So there you have our monthly blossoms. They’ve actually been lasting 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 guys have any other bottle or vase stand-ins that you’ve particularly loved using instead of the 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 more plans for those Izze bottles too (you know we love squeezing as many projects out of our cheap 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.
Target sells these great little glass bottles of soda water. They are only $2.50 for six and make great little bud vases. Since we love to mix a little bit in with our fresh squeezed juice (makes it kind of a homemade fizzy treat) and display fresh flowers they are a great buy for us.
I’m loving that you’re using makeshift vases this month. I have class Coke bottle I use to water my plants because since it looks great sitting out on my windowsill it’s always at hand.
I never thought about beautiful bottles can be a part of our loving room’s decoration. Yes, I have thought too to implement this way to decorate my living room.
Thanks,
http://chefneeds.com/
Whoops, I meant glass!
I also use Izze bottles for flower arrangements, and love them. I also use VOSS class bottles (that come with water in them from grocery stores) :) I love the look of the clear bottles with colorful flowers :)
I love to put flowers from the garden in glass oil/vinegar bottles like this:
http://www.webstaurantstore.com/oil-vinegar-cruet-6-oz/407600S.html
They are the perfect size for short blooms (like roses cut from rose bushes), and make me nostalgic for home (where many restaurants serve vinegar with french fries in these bottles)
We used blue wine bottles as vases at our wedding! It loved them!!
I have a couple glass coke bottles that I use for vases. For my 4th of July centerpiece I filled three coke bottles with red gerber daisies. It seemed like an appropriate piece of americana :-)
I also use bottles as make shift vases…Izze and the “Starbucks frappacino bottles” are my favorite.
I LOVE Izzes….now I have an even better excuse to drink them! = )
Mini San Pelligrino bottles from conferences or Starbucks are great bud vases (I soak them to remove labels). The green glass looks great with a sprig of white or purple lilac in Spring.
Izze sparkling juice is dee-lish! love it!
Just over the weekend I used funky martini glasses filled with little rocks and water and a rose of sharon bloom on top (the rocks helped keep the boom in place since those don’t really have a much of a stem). They looked really cool!
That is such a great idea – I love those bottles!
My most favorite vase right now is an olive oil bottle that I put puff paint dots all over and then spray painted white and wrapped the top with hemp. It is so cute!
I did a post for Style Lush about using bottles as bud vases (I frosted them) you can check it out here: http://www.stylelushblog.com/2010/08/diy-frappuccino-bud-vase.html if interested.
I use Patron bottles. They are a unique shape and even look good sans fresh cut flowers. Love repurposing little things like that.
I’ve done this with wine bottles and long-stemmed flowers, too. Take the label off, stick in a bloom and they are gorgeous alone or in a group. My husband always brings home one long-stemmed rose for every year we’ve been married on our anniversary, and this year (#3), those 3 roses looked beautiful in 3 wine bottles.
Like you, we use soda bottles too! We love the black and white wrappers on Jones Soda (my favorite is green apple).
What a great idea. But it looks a bit too simple for me. Maybe putting the bottles on a tray, in a basket, or small wooden box, would help.
Cute idea, and I love spider mums. They give a lot of bang for a little money!
http://40daysof.wordpress.com/2010/08/22/stewie-and-squirrel-eradication/
My only slightly wacky flower container I use is – I’m ashamed to say – a carafe that my friend swiped from a restaurant for me on my last night living in France.
Here’s a pic: http://www.flickr.com/photos/annabelvita/4920266196/ (although that whole cluttered dresser top is totally different now – that was my bedroom at my parents’ house).
For bouquets I use a big white jug – it looks good everywhere.
miniature classic coke glasses @ The Dollar Tree store are cute and priced 2 for a $1.00 !!!
I’m sure I have an obsessive compulsive disorder when it comes to glass bottles and jars. I’m constantly using them around the house as vases, in the bathroom for holding cotton tips and makeup, in the office for holding pens, or we fill them up with freshly squeezed juices and pop them in the fridge. Got some outdoor tea light holder plans for all the empty wine bottles too.
I’ve been using a blenheim ginger ale bottle as a vase for several years now.
Those are so cute! I’ve been known to pop a flower into one of our extra tall coffee mugs from time to time. It’s cute and goes great in the kitchen! :)
We collected tons of the small, rounded Orangina bottles and removed the labels for our wedding decorations. We lined the windows and long tables with the bottles and a few stems in each bottle. We decided it would be more eco-friendly and delicious compared to buying lots of little vases!
For shorter stemmed blooms (gardenias) I like to use clear, glass teacups.
You can get a dozen Izzes at Costco for $10!! We actually got them for my son’s Dr. Seuss first birthday party and the fun bottles blended right in with all the other color and whimsy on the food table! You can see it here!
http://barkingbaby.blogspot.com/2010/06/one-hundred-posts-lets-celebrate.html
Hey K,
Thanks so much for the link! Adorable!!!
xo,
s
I use my starbucks frappachino glass bottles for vases all over the house!
I have a cute white soup bowl (more like a little soup crock) from the food network collection at Kohls. I put one huge Hydranga bloom in it from my garden. It looks really pretty,they last for weeks and they’re free! :) Everyone feel free to check out my link for pictures.
http://asweetflower.blogspot.com/2010/08/endless-summer.html
mini sake bottles make perrrrfect vases for colorful blooms
These are just too too cute!
I love IZZE! We bought two cases at Costco earlier this summer and we are slowly enjoying them all. Great idea!
The Izze bottles are adorable on your windowsill. It’s so funny that this was posted today, because there’s been a mini San Pellegrino Limonata bottle that’s been sitting on my sill waiting to be filled. Yesterday, I’d asked my boyfriend to cut a single bloom from our garden and place it in the tiny little bottle.
I love using the blue Ball mason jars for vases. I bought a couple of them on Etsy. Of course, then I found one for $1.50 at Goodwill!
That looks so pretty! I’ve been admiring the Izze bottles forever (they seem to serve them at every pretty party I come across online– probably because they look so nice!). I bought a six pack a while ago but stupidly took the labels off! Ugh.
There’s a beer, I think it’s called St. Peter’s Porter, that comes in the coolest bottles. They look kind of like old medicine bottles. I remember stuffing a bunch of them into my purse after a night at the bar just so I could reuse them as vases. I’m really loving dahlias right now, especially in the pretty oranges and pinks they come in.
I have used Izze bottles as vases too! Two of my favorite things, healthy bubbly drinks & flowers! I also love the blue Ball mason jars!
Visit me @ http://coolhomecreations.blogspot.com/
I love the graphic on these bottles! I can’t stop decorating with recycled San Pelligrino bottles and, in staying true to my southern roots, mason jars! You can pretty much pick up any bottle at World Market or in the food section of Home Goods to find something funky. I use them as vases, pencil holders, cork collectors, paper clip holders… I love using them for different purposes. Great find!
I love this idea. Incidentally, IZZE is a good company, as well – socially and environmentally responsible. http://outofthemoment.blogspot.com/2010/06/you-are-my-sunshine-june-27-july-3-2010.html
I, too, love the flower graphic! I have a couple of Izze bottles under my desk here at work and a small collection of the caps. I have been meaning to do some research on ways to use the caps. This post makes me want to go to the flower shop across the street and pick up a few flowers to decorate my desk!
Lovely! I was thinking some wine bottles are also quite decorative!
Hey your e-mail link didn’t work so I thought I’d write my question here.
It’s about your “virtual House”
Hey, just wanted to say I’ve loved watching your blog for the past 1-2 years! I had one question, since you guys are DIY peeps, do you guys make your own blog? I find the design of a blog is easy but having the technical know how is difficult. Do you guys have any tips, or anywhere to look for putting a custom blog together? Or do you hand that stuff off to another technical person? If you handle that too, where did you learn?
Thanks! And Clara is awesome!
Yup, John DIYed this entire site (he just googled around to solve problems and answer questions as he went and learned HTML completely on his own (thanks to a book he borrowed from the library). He just took things one day at a time and very gradually went from using templates that involved no coding know-how to using some that allowed for some HTML and now codes nearly everything he ads to the site by himself. If was by no means an easy undertaking (he considers it to be harder than any DIY project we’ve done around the house) but he really has learned a lot and come a long way. Patience and never-ending googling/research seems to be the key!
xo,
s
What a good idea! Now that our garden is beginning to go dormant for the fall, these ideas are perfect for us to continue to have flowers indoors, without busting the budget and the florist. Thanks!
whoops… got lost drooling over your countertops for a minute.
i haven’t yet branched into non-vase objects acting as vases, because i’ve been having too much fun scouring tj maxx and ross for $5 adorable vases. it’s a sickness, I tell you.
I have a bottle of Jutter, a liquor from Texel (an island in the Netherlands) that I absolutely love to use as a vase stand-in, with its gilded label and brown body.
A few months ago I finished off a glass bottle of cinnamon and decided instead of recycling it, to reuse it. I LOVE taking one big flower out of an arrangement, or a few little ones, popping them in the little glass container, and setting it on the bathroom sink. Lately, I’ve been really drawn to vases–there’s a bunch on my blog that I found at a cute, local shop that I didn’t buy, but I may have to go back someday!
I’m a big fan of the quart sized glass milk bottles
Love all your great ideas. We rcvd a little shooter set with taller than average shooter glasses, we’ve never used them for shooters but they sit year round on our kitchen windowsill containing various greens and blooms from our yard or little bits from other bouquets.We can’t put anything too large as they’d tip so my fav right now is snap dragons and in the winter I clipped holly.
No way! I just started my own blog last week and my post today was about how I use old bottles/jars in different ways around the house. Love it!
http://as-for-me-and-my-rented-house.blogspot.com/
Your blog is great; such an inspiration. :)