Thinking Outside The Conventional Vase

It’s not the flowers, it’s the unusual containers that make these arrangements pop.

CREATIVE SOLUTIONS | In early February, when thoughts turn to hearts and flowers, it’s easy to think that a dozen red roses are the key to a woman’s heart. Not necessarily. In the floral department, sometimes something both ordinary but imaginative will do the trick. It’s not the flowers, it’s the original containers that make these arrangements pop.

Science Project—Not everyone has access to a laboratory stand or Petri dishes the way our D.I.Y. columnist Brendan Power does, but the object, he says, is not to recreate the arrangement pictured above but to think about using “unexpected items”—in this case labware—as floral containers. Power found his labware in junk stores, but using the right flower in a utilitarian container that is obviously dedicated to another task can look very cool. Posy in a soup can, anyone?

Bagged —How is it that the Japanese make even paper bags look attractive? We love the square, beautifully waxed Kraft paper bags we found on the Karaku website (which we adore btw); and we love the way they decorated the bag with one of their fabulous stamps and then pumped up the excitement by filling it with containers of ordinary garden plants. Both the plants and the bag, common on their own, have been elevated for the connection. You can purchase these bags from the Karaku website and have them sent to Canada, or use their idea as inspiration to come up with a variation on this theme. Visit www.karakutokyo.com.

Bottled Up—The iconic Orangina soda bottle is shaped like a pear and has a pebbly textured surface that is meant to look and feel like the peel of a citrus fruit. Wee and attractive, this container is so perfectly proportioned it all but demands to be used as a vase. Orangina vases look particularly good used in multiples, strung down the middle of a long table, each bottle containing a single flower, for example, or arranged in a geometric pattern. When displayed in a group, this humble bottle is going to look impressive. —C. Rule

In North Vancouver, we found Orangina at Save On Foods, 1250 Marine Dr., 604-985-3069.

Photos, top to bottom: Clinton Hussey, Karaku Tokyo, Moomin