Alternatives to Glass Vases: Using Baskets, Ceramics, and Other Natural Materials in Floral Design

Today, I’m going to explore different options for vases when you’re arranging flowers. When you design a bouquet, it’s ok to start simple. Let’s dive right into the custom floral design, starting with an example:

Custom Floral Design with a Basket

Jenn designed the bouquet on the right for a friend as a special surprise from her friend’s husband. By using a basket instead of a vase, it created the look of an overwhelming bundle of flowers. The light brown wicker blends well the flowers and brings out the warmth of the flora that might otherwise be muted by cool glass tones.

The basket holds Miyabi garden roses, secret garden roses, and fresh magnolia. You can see the weight of the bigger lighter-colored magnolias is pushed towards the center, and the darker pink hues are interspersed throughout.

You can make a natural vase out of almost anything…

For autumn and winter, brighter flowers may be more limited since flowers are seasonal. Also, if you’re a “no white after Labor Day” kind of person, you might feel odd displaying brighter flowers for the holidays when the palate is more friendly towards darker shades of violet, red, and green. Having lived in the Miami area for a few years, I’m still wearing white pants too much and yellow shirts mid winter, so I like a compromise. Jenn created this really cool autumn bouquet that incorporates a pumpkin as a vase. Since you know that your carving skills are already honed after Halloween, prepping a pumpkin to hold fall flowers shouldn’t be a tough new “vase” for you to incorporate into an autumn floral design.

Falling for You bouquet with Pumpkin Vessel

The vase is a vegetable and you can see how she pulled the natural colors into the bouquet - yellows and oranges from the pumpkin with near perfect contrast, making the purples and the greens pop. The gentle texture of the eucalyptus and the intriguing green fauna she used around the edges creates volume and makes these flowers look incredibly artistic. I just wish I could smell the pumpkin and eucalyptus from the photo!

If you this one strikes your fancy, you can select the “Falling For You” image on the right, and under options, choose “in a fresh pumpkin vessel”.

Household objects make good vases, too!

One of my favorite designs by Fiori is a bright display of reds, whites, and yellows, placed in an adorable polka dot red teapot. As a sucker for bright red dresses, handbags, and lipstick on special occasions (send me right back to the 90s where I belong, I know!), the way the yellows and greens pop out in this cute and very useful vase is like a massage for my eyes. The mix of soft and crunchy textures and the smooth, asymmetrical vase allows for an asymmetrical bouquet on top!

If you like tea too much to raid your kitchen for the prettiest teapot you have, that’s ok. All shapes and sizes make great vases, and you’re not limited to flowers when designing a gift that includes them.

Rustic boxes or any wooden vessel match will many floral arrangements.

In Charlottesville, rustic designs are wildly popular and for good reason. They create a calming, warm feeling and are so incredibly reusable that you don’t have to worry about storage or feel bad about creating too much garbage. Mysterious wooden boxes or even gift boxes leftover from previous years are easy to fill with bundles of flowers, fruits, and local foods. This is a great way to prep a holiday gift for many people that has a personal touch.

The shallow box you see on the right is lightly painted in white, so it doesn’t overwhelm its contents and all the fruits and flowers can be placed horizontally or vertically. I know, I know, there is a glass vase in the picture - sue me! You don’t have to incorporate one when working on a box design like this one. Tucking the flowers in upright or allowing them to lay on the upper right quadrant while the food products take the front and left sides, especially if you use a few bigger flowers like magnolias or large garden roses, can work well inside a coffee mug or another box within the box to protect them and keep water for freshness.

Let me know if you have any alternative vases you’ve used! Pictures are welcome.

If you would like a custom floral design or see something you like here, feel free to drop us a line!