La Soeurette Guide: How to Create Simple Flower Arrangements

Creating pretty flower arrangements yourself is easy. Gather inspiration from your local farmer’s market, garden or grocery store — sometimes simple is best.

Living in Brooklyn, I don’t have fresh perennials on my porch or yard. However, during summer there is ample opportunity to buy inexpensive and beautiful flowers. A walk through the farmer’s market shows-off stunning blooms and beautiful colors. Come fall and winter, I’ll often browse the large selection at Whole Foods — with my Amazon Prime discount, flowers can be a reasonable weekly treat.

It’s easy to go for the pre-made bouquets at a flower shop, deli or Whole Foods, but you can also buy a few types of flowers and experiment with combinations yourself. In my book simple is better. Here are my thoughts on DIY floral arrangements.

The Basics:

Test for height. Flowers should be proportionate to your vase cut the length to match.
Trim leaves to well above the water line, they only create bacteria in the water.
Remember to trim the ends right before adding to water. You can use pruning shears, scissors, or a sharp pocketknife
Never fill the vase all the way; only half-way
Use flower food in your water
Replace the water every other day (every day is over-rated in my book)

Choose a Vase:

There are several vase styles you should always have on hand, but a beautiful vase or container can easily be your Nana’s creamer or cookie jar. Of course you can select a plain glass cylinder and that is a classic shape. However, imagination goes a long way. Personally, I love the beauty of hand-blown glass from Simon Pearce. You can also find nice ones at Terrain (they also have pretty silk flowers if you prefer that look). The crystal vase is Waterford, the floral cylinder was originally candle from Rifle Paper.

Choose Your Flowers:

Stick to one type of flower and then double or triple it.
A big bunch of white daisies or babies’ breath is beautiful on its own when abundant and in a complimentary container.
Bittersweet is another favorite wound into a wreath or tied up in a pretty bowl.
I also love red berries and eucalyptus during December, especially when you are not ready to be fully decked out in the house. Plus, they last a long time!