Creative New Uses

pfmflowermarket

pfmflowermarket

Co-Owner of Flower Shop
Dec 15, 2008
555
158
43
Plattsburgh
www.plattsburghflowermarket.com
State / Prov
NY
I know this has been discussed some what in the past, but wanted to bring it to life again and see if anyone was interested in responding and making this a useful thread. I thought the posts before were helpful and creative.
Ok I'm sure we all have a container or two that we aren't sure what to put in it or what style design would fit it best. At my shop, we are always getting containers, baskets, vases, & misc stuff dropped off to us to do what we want with them. Garage sales are abundant during the summer months and then what doesn't sell, they give away because they aren't going to put it back in their house. This past year we have been given so much stuff that we have had to really go through it and keep what we want and put the "yucks" out by the road side with a FREE sign on them. Before the end of the day it's all gone. A few weeks ago I had 3 boxes of all kinds of junk and just as I had put down the third box and was entering the shop, people were rummaging through and choosing items. So the point to my story is with the stuff that we decide to keep, it's sometimes hard to decide what to do with it. We get some nice/unique baskets and containers. You hate to just give those away, but don't want to have to store them either. My hope for this thread would be for each flowerchat member who wishes to share to post a digital picture or two of containers/vases/misc. items that they have been given that they would like some advise on or maybe to even show a container that was different/unique and what they did with it. If you aren't sure about what to do with it, just post a picture of it and I'm sure someone will have their .02 on it :thumbsup I'll post a couple of pictures tomorrow, but wanted to get some feedback first. Thought this would be fun/educational. What is old can be new again.
 
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091 (Small).JPG Here are my 2 items. On the left on the black fabric is 2 of the 5 star shaped candle holders. They have a spot in the center to hold a taper candle. Was looking for a unique way to use these. The basket on the right is my other item. It is about 7" in length and about 9-10" tall. The closest color I can come up with is a caramel/terra cotta color. Basket looks to be constructed of chicken wire/mesh and willow. It is decaled with a metal fruit cluster. Any ideas? Excited to see all your finds :)
 
I would try to pry the decal off the basket. Either way, spray paint the basket orange, black or purple and use for Halloween. The black fabric and candle holders say Christmas to me for some reason. Perhaps the candle holders could be used to create some sort of decorative ornament.
 
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Thanks! Sorry to say, but the decal is a permanent part of the chicken wire/mesh basket. It's maybe clay or something because it is melted and in the grooves of the chicken wire. Halloween isn't big for us but I certainly like your idea of trying to rid it before then. The candle holders are what we were given. I had to lay them on black fabric that we had at the shop so that you would be able to see them. The background that I shot the picture on is white and wouldn't have shown up. I like the idea of using them at x-mas time as ornaments but how...hmmmm Thanks for getting the wheels turning!
 
I would personally line the basket with flat moss then line with plastic and plant it up and maybe put a gourd or two into the design, ideal for autumn. The candle holders I would maybe try decorating them with beads or similar to appeal for christmas or put them into a table arrangement for christmas something snowy and white and a touch of silver. Would add a touch of sparkle.
 
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I like Johan's idea for the basket.

Those candle holders.

I would glue them onto a wreath decorated with stars, snowflakes, all white, even "frost" the wreath if you use it for Christmas.

~or~ glue them on top of oasis BEFORE you soak it and use them for Christmas centerpieces

~or~ create a new design with "A Star is Born" theme for congrats.
 
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The basket isn't to bad. You could make a fruit and snack backet, wrap with cellophane and tie with raffia and then add some matching faux fruit where it's tied.

As for the candle holders, you could glue them to dry foam. Fill the hole inside the star with something like beads (to cover up the glue that you will see through the glass). Then design a silk in a star shape. Have your flowers follow the lines of the star. Then add some matching clear glass ornaments, stars, etc.
 
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Got some neat glass blocks from some happy recycler.
A cousin was visiting from Holland, and she knew right away what to do...
Drill a small hole in one of the sides of the glass, insert a short string of Christmas lights (white string, white lights look best)
When you plug in the lights, you get a great little lit glass "lamp" or light base, or whatever.
We showed them on the front porch on a bed of Christmas greens in an urn and sold them for 30$ each!
Love It!
JP
 
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OB1 said:
Got some neat glass blocks from some happy recycler.
A cousin was visiting from Holland, and she knew right away what to do...
Drill a small hole in one of the sides of the glass, insert a short string of Christmas lights (white string, white lights look best)
When you plug in the lights, you get a great little lit glass "lamp" or light base, or whatever.
We showed them on the front porch on a bed of Christmas greens in an urn and sold them for 30$ each!
Love It!
JP
Click to expand...

We got one of those for Christmas one year, it's neat looking. It came wrapped like a gift with very thin paper and wrapped with wired ribbon and bow. Cute. We put it under the tree every year, it looks nice lit up.
 
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OB1 said:
Got some neat glass blocks from some happy recycler.
A cousin was visiting from Holland, and she knew right away what to do...
Drill a small hole in one of the sides of the glass, insert a short string of Christmas lights (white string, white lights look best)
When you plug in the lights, you get a great little lit glass "lamp" or light base, or whatever.
We showed them on the front porch on a bed of Christmas greens in an urn and sold them for 30$ each!
Love It!
JP
Click to expand...

Hey
how hard is it to drill the hole in the glass block and do you need a special drill bit?

thanks!
 
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Wanted to add to my origonal post about creative uses for containers. We receive/get donated many of these tall vases lately from people cleaning house and we can't seem to get rid of them fast enough. Most of our flowers are shorter stemed flowers and they look funny in this taller vase. Do you carry these vases and what kinds of unique uses have you found for these? P6080086 (Small).JPG Painting them?
 
pfmflowermarket said:
Wanted to add to my origonal post about creative uses for containers. We receive/get donated many of these tall vases lately from people cleaning house and we can't seem to get rid of them fast enough. Most of our flowers are shorter stemed flowers and they look funny in this taller vase. Do you carry these vases and what kinds of unique uses have you found for these? View attachment 14883 Painting them?
Click to expand...

those i had a pile of when i bought the shop 3 yrs ago. They worked for 12/18 carns , roses arranged and mixec bunches arranged.
 
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Another option is to do a stylish, creative, handtied design using the tall vase as the container..........using the trend of reverse proportion......In a standard type design, the container is about 1/3 of the total composition with the flowers being about 2/3. You simply reverse that.......2/3 of the total composotion is container and 1/3 is flowers. Makes for some unique presentations.
 
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The free vases we get are often used to hold wedding hand tied bouquets and also when someone wants a cut flower wrapped bouquet and the stems are too fat for tubes. We use a free vase with a bit of water to put the wrapped flowers in. We keep a few on the van in the summer so if we need to leave a wrapped bouquet we can put it in water.
Usually it's too hot to leave anything but sometimes it comes in handy.
 
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