How to Create Gorgeous Grocery Store Flower Arrangements
April 01, 2022
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How to make gorgeous DIY flower arrangements out of grocery store flowers.
You can create beautiful and inexpensive floral arrangements at home with very basic florals and greenery from the grocery store!
You don't have to have any arranging experience -- I share a few tips that will make even the most basic flowers look amazing.
I can't even remember the last time I treated myself to some flowers. It was fun to play around with these "designs" -- I think you'll find it's quite enjoyable to play around with floral arranging.
The first thing you need to know is you can't go wrong. Seriously. Have you ever look at a bouquet of flowers and said...well those are just hideous?
OK. Maybe a few times in your life, but it's rare. They're flowers -- they start out pretty! It's hard to mess this up.
The key to a beautifully arranged grouping of flowers is not taking what you buy in the store and plopping them into a vase. Even the bouquets you buy ready-made will need a little bit of zhushing.
I shared some professional flower arranging tips years ago, and I still use those every time I put one together. Take a look at that to get helpful tricks from a pro florist.
I took a trip to our local Trader Joe's for all of my florals. They have the BEST pricing on flowers and greenery I've found. I grabbed four different types of greenery/filler options.
Again, anything goes -- but if you're going to create more than one bouquet, pick out some fluffy filler and some that is more streamlined:
Vary your greenery options in flower arrangements.
One thing I learned years ago -- start with the greenery. It gives you a great base to build off of.
I like to contrast my green foliage with the flowers -- so if I have tight, compact flowers, I balance that with looser greens that will help to fluff up the arrangement.
And a combo of both works as well! (I told you, you can't go wrong.) For my first one I choose combo of a more relaxed filler and the simpler leafy one:
Think outside of the box for your vases.
Pitchers, pretty glasses and vintage items make great vessels for flowers.
That tall white pitcher is one of my absolute favorite "vases" ever. I love how tall it is, and the white goes with everything!
After the greenery, the larger blooms are next. I grabbed these ball mums in a purplish pink tone:
Just like in decor, adding florals in odd numbers works well. So if you have a bunch of different flowers, start with three of the largest first, then add later if you want more fullness.
Next, the lighter florals, like these wax filler flowers:
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I find I always lean toward monochromatic floral displays. Over the past few years I'm trying to branch out just a bit. This time I did that by adding some cream calla lilies here and there:
They were the perfect finishing touch!
Don't afraid to play around with contrasting colors in your arrangements!
I absolutely LOVE how this one turned out. (Spoiler: I love how they all turned out.) The combo of tighter blooms with the loose and fluffy greenery and wax flowers really makes this one a gorgeous centerpiece:
Mums and carnations are a couple of my favorite inexpensive grocery store flowers! They provide such a great pop of color and last FOREVER.
Don't overthink the flowers you pick for your arrangements.
I think what stops most from trying their hand at flower arranging is the not knowing what flowers "work" together. Like I mentioned before -- it's hard to mess this up. And just like decor, there may be combinations you love that others don't. Do what you like!
It's better to keep the colors complementary than worry about the types of flower.
In my experience, if the colors of the flowers look good together, you can mix just about anything up. That's the fun part!
For my next arrangement, I started with this adorably fluffy green ball filler:
I love the moss look of them!
I wanted this one to be really full and pretty, so after the greenery I started lacing in more of the wax flowers. Some have ferny type stems, and you'll want to make sure to remove any greenery that will be under the water line:
Leaves of any kind left in the water will rot quickly and the bacteria will ruin your water. Cutting them down at the start will save you a ton of time later and your flowers will last much longer.
Using floral snips instead of scissors to get a crisp cut that won't damage the flower stem!
When I was done, I knew the contrast of a more compact flower would really finish it off beautifully, so I added some purple tulips. The combination is just gorgeous:
See what I mean about the colors working together? Different tones of the same color make the whole arrangement feel cohesive:
And the greenery gives great balance to all of the color!
My vase is actually a candleholder from World Market, unfortunately they don't carry it anymore. :( But this is why I suggest using items other than traditional vases:
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In the flower arranging post I referenced earlier, I share this lacing technique with the stems that is especially helpful when you're using a glass or clear vase:
It just looks nicer and it makes it so much easier to remove the whole display to cut them down every few days. When the stems are mingled together like that, your bouquet won't fall apart every time you change the water.
Finally, I stepped out of my purple comfort zone and used an orange and red combo...it turned out so lovely!:
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I started with a few greenery stems and then the tulips, but felt like it needed something else. The red astromelia was the perfect finishing touch!:
I LOVE the combo of the orange, yellow and red! Astromelia is another great flower for arraignments for it's bright color and longevity. These will last for weeks!
There you go -- how I make beautiful flower arrangements out of some of the most basic grocery store flowers. I spent about 15 bucks on each display and these will last a couple weeks if you use my tips for preventing flower wilting!
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They look fabulous!! Thank you for all the tips and encouragement ❤ 😻
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