My handsome man is the most thoughtful person I have ever met. After a long day, before a date night, or even just because, I find the most beautiful floral arrangements when I walk in the door. I'm not talking grocery store bouquets, I'm talking floral shop arrangements with beautiful bows, gorgeous greens, and the freshest most fragrant blooms ever. They look as though they had just been picked. I am completely spoiled by him.
Many times I find myself wondering what to do with some of the vases that these arrangements come with and I end up sticking them under our sink until I need them for other floral arrangements or other things. This DIY, I was able to utilize some of those vases that I hadn't used as much as others.
I also wanted some accent pieces to go along with the painting I made for our kitchen since I decided not to hang it on the wall, but rather, place it on the shelf of our sunk in cabinets.
Here is the look I ended up with after my last project and this one:
I thought the pieces really complimented each other. On top of that, both projects didn't cost very much. Win/Win.
To make the vases I used:
Two recycled vases
Jute Twine
Tacky glue
Red raffia
I started out by washing the vases since I knew I wasn't going to be able to wash them in the sink ever again. Wrapping the first strand can be a little awkward since you don't have anything to line it up to, so eyeballing the first wrap around so that it is straight with the top edges of the vase is easiest. I took my Tacky Glue bottle and made circle/zigzag marks around the top section of the vase so that I didn't have to apply glue every wrap around I did. Because this glue dries clear, I didn't have to worry about the glue showing through the inside,
As you can see, I didn't cut a length of twine because I wasn't sure how much I would need. Most of the reels you can get at any craft store unwrap from the inside, so I left the wrapping on and kept pulling out length as I went along. Every wrap around I did, I made sure to check that my twine was horizontal with my vase, not angled. I didn't want to get to the bottom and have it be uneven, so I made sure that I placed every length directly next to the previous line. Because Tacky Glue is forgiving and dries clear, if you mess up you can unwind the lines if you mess up the angle. All you have to do is re-apply the glue.
Side note: This project will make your fingers sticky because of the glue. I suggest not doing your nails before.
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When you get to a point where glass starts to run out when you are towards the end, I have two tips.
1. If you can stretch the length to meet up with your starting piece at the top, you can hide your ends better. This way they are close to each other vertically and you can turn it away from peoples sight.
2. Make sure you really cover the ends with glue. If you don't, it can come undone/unravel, making it a pain to repair later.
The twine that I bought had such longevity! Even after two whole vases, I still had almost a full roll left for other projects. $2.99 for a roll that will last forever, awesome!
Because I allowed it to unwind from the middle instead of the outside, it made it so much easier to store after as well. I didn't have to worry about it falling out of the closet and unraveling as it hit the floor.
I decided to use raffia as my accent to my vases because it was what I had from another project. It just to happened to match the maroon color in my painting, which advanced my decision. After this project I ended up doing this same procedure to an old candle holder and I added a shimmery band across the top. The possibilities are endless, even seasonal.
After the glue dried, I placed them in their home above our cabinets.
These two projects really helped take up some of that empty space above our barren cabinet space. I was so pleased with the results!
