What do you do when you need 200-odd vases – and don’t want to spend thousands of dollars on them? Well, it’s time to get creative.
First stop – the opp shop. Well, about 20 op-shops. Over several weeks! You’re looking for vessels of a consistent shape, or series of shapes. I’ve used old wine carafes, old coffee jars and a random assortment of unidentified glassware. You’ll start to see “trends” in what’s available when you start looking.
You need to have an idea in mind of what you’re hunting for too. If you’re “clustering” flowers, like the ones pictures, you want vases of differing heights, to give the arrangement depth.
If you can’t find all the sizes you need, you may need to start pondering packaged items. The tiny vase in the top picture was from little bottles of Italian juices. I tipped them into a larger container for drinking, then used a bunch of these little cuties. At about $3 a pop they were still way cheaper than buying “vases”.
You could also use selected sauce jars or even go direct to a new packing company if they have available stock.
The opp shop (thrift shop) is likely to be the cheapest option though – and you can feel extremely virtuous about your up-cycling.
Onces you’ve assembled your vessel collection, you’re ready to add a flourish to visually tie them all together.
Supplies
- 2-3 “styles” of Vessels of differing sizes but ideally consistent shapes – they dont need to be identical (You can expect to pay between 50 cents and $2.50, depending on your haggling skills!)
- twine – I’ve used natural here but you could use colours.
- glue – Non-toxic craft glue.
- double-sided tape – the thin and clear type.
Step one.
Clean the vessels, getting rid of any old marks, dirt and dust.
Step two.
Place a piece of double-sided tape around the neck.
Step three.
Begin wrapping the twine around, keeping it tight and up against each other as you wind.
Step four.
Decide when you’ve been around enough times. Then add some glue to the last end and hold it down firmly for a minute or so. Sometimes the ends pop out again later, so just add more glue and a little more pressure.
Step five.
Let them dry – then use and enjoy!
(The before picture – not very glamorous sorry!)
DailyInkling.com 