I enjoy adding fresh flowers to our home and it’s hard to resist during this time of year. But tulips can be tricky! I’ve tried flower food, penny in the water, sugar in the water, and they just flop over and die in less than a week.
Fake flowers would be great, but either they are 1.) too fake looking or 2.) expensive.
I found these beautiful tulips at Michaels that not only look real, but feel real. You could bend their stems to mimic the droopy nature of real tulips. But they won’t die! They were on sale for 50% off, 9 tulips means these cost the same as about 3 bunches (3 weeks) of real tulips. But these will live forever!
Here are some tips for arranging your faux florals:
- Florists cut fresh floral stems on an angle, cut the faux stems on an angle for a real look.
- When picking stems and a vase for taller flowers (not a “clump” like with hydrangeas or peonies), have the flower height at least double the size of the vase.
- Cut your stems with a wire cutter: first score the plastic stem, then do a deeper cut to trim them.
- When buying faux flowers, look at the quality of the leaves too! Trim all leaves that would be in the water, similar to regular flowers. If the leaves look too fake, trim them all and add in a bit of realistic greenery.
- Arrange in layers, use an odd number of florals. For example, mine has 5 flowers around the bottom, then 3 in the middle, and 1 in the center. 9 total.
- Use Quick Water, a clear, hard-finish resin, to set your flowers and give the illusion of real water. I bought mine at Michaels using a 50% off coupon!
- To use the Quick Water, lay down newspaper on your surface and follow the instructions. It took minutes to do, an hour to set, and is really realistic.
- Use a mason jar or large 1/2 gallon mason jar (like I did) to create the effortless “oh these old things, I picked them from the yard!” look. 🙂
Here’s the finished arrangement.
My kitchen and dining room are already brighter because of these beautiful tulips! They’re even prettier knowing how long they’ll last. And how many trips to the grocery store I can avoid since I won’t be getting new ones every week or so. 😉
Ellen says
Wow! It looks real and so fresh, bright and cheerful. Thanks, Ann Marie.
Carrie says
This is so simple and beautiful. It screams “spring!” I love it. I have never heard of that Quick Water. I may have to give that a try…
Ann Marie Heasley says
Aww, thank you! Yes, it’s by the seashells/rocks/hot glue/floral. 50% off coupon brought it to 7.50. It’s crazy how this simple arrangement has helped brighten the room, make me want to keep it clean. I’m planning on buying more next time I go to make for other rooms.
Also? I think it would make a fun April fools fake cup of water, haha!
Carrie says
That would make a brilliant April Fool’s joke!
And thank you for reminding me about coupons and also pointing me in the right direction of where to find it. 🙂
What appealed to me about the Quick Water is that I wouldn’t have to worry about spills. Well, it would be one less potential spill. Every little bit helps. 😉 And it is allergy-friendly, while still looking like fresh-picked.