On my way through the grocery, I saw these vibrant daisies. They were dyed and ridiculously unnatural in color. These were the kinds of cheap flowers that I would have previously mocked. Cosmo said “Get these, mom! They’re cool!”. I chuckled a little and said that they were kind of cheesy, and reached for an all white bunch. His reply totally forced my hand, “Well, I know you could make them look good… if you tried.” Geeze, kid. So, I bought the Rainbow Brite bouquet, a few extra limes and headed home. With one bunch of daisies, a few limes and some mix n’ match vases, I made an adorable little table scape for less than ten bucks. You could do the same, none of this is hard. This little number will be sweet and beautiful, just like my cousin Heather who’s birthday it is today! Happy Birthday, Heather!

You will need the following:

• 1 bunch daisy or other pom variety
• 2-3 small mix n’ match vases. These can be thrift store or garage sale finds. If you need something more specific feel free to grab them at Michael’s or your local floral supply house.
• 3-5 limes
• Floral knife or stem shears.

Directions:

1. Unwrap your flowers and remove all of the leaves.
2. Choose one nice bloom per lime, plus 4-6 extra single blooms and set aside.
3. Take remaining flowers and divide them up by the number of vases you choose to use. I used a small red vase that our friends Darin and Mitsue brought back from Japan for me, a small blue vase that came from a yard sale and a coke bottle green mason jar.
4. Arrange your vase flowers in your hand first making even and slightly rounded bouquets. Snip the bottoms off to the length of your vase and place them in. Don’t forget to add water!
5. Slice the bottoms off of your limes so they will sit up on their own. Slice an X into the opposite end and loosen up the opening with the tip of your knife.
6. Take the blooms that you’ve chosen for your limes and snip off the stems leaving about a half inch. Insert the stem into the X that you made and set the lime up on it’s base. Be sure to push the stem into each lime far enough that the bloom itself is flush with the lime peel.
7. Arrange the flowered limes and the remaining loose blooms around your vases. The flowers in the limes will make it, unrefrigerated for a day or so. If you are planning this decor for a specific event, all can be made ahead except the limes. I would wait until the day of your event for the best results.

You may add tea light candles for an evening event if you like or just enjoy your sweet summer table scape as is. I was initially planning on doing this exercise with all white daisies, if that’s to your liking, I’m certain it will be super cute as would any other color you choose. Down the line, I would like to do more complicated floral arranging with you guys but I think I might need to add video and I’m not quite ready for that yet. Stay tuned!