Having flowers around the house makes everything look prettier, fresher, and more inviting. But not all of us have the time or inclination to take care of live plants and flowers, so too often our home suffers from that missed beauty.

It’s actually not too difficult to have gorgeous flower arrangements in your home year round though, and they don’t have to cost an arm and a leg to decorate with either. Yes, you could buy premade dried or silk flower arrangments, but this can get quite expensive very quickly. A fun alternative though, is to simply make your own.

Making your own flower arrangements can be a fun project that takes just minutes to do. More elaborate or large arrangements will take more time and expense of course, but how large or small you choose to make your own flower arrangements is completely up to you.

The first step to creating your own decorative flower arrangements is to select a color scheme. Now in some cases, you may find yourself with a beautiful container or vase that you’ve fallen in love with, and want to create a flower arrangement for the specific container. If this is the case for you, then choosing your color scheme is quite simple because you have colors in the vase or container to work with.

If you’re starting from scratch of course though, you’ll want to select the colors for your flower arrangement. A common way to do this is to choose colors that match or compliment a specific room decor. If your living room is decorated in blues and creams for instance, then you’re likely to select blues and creams for your flower arrangment too.

Once you know the colors you’d like to use, then you’ll need to choose your container. Container choices vary widely, and the sky is the limit here. You could go to flea markets and yard sales to look for an old china teapot for instance, or you could select a small basket at your craft store. Alternatively you might choose to use an old favorite toy from when your children were small, or even an old crockpot that doesn’t work anymore. Get creative when choosing your container, because it says just as much about your style and design preferences as the flowers themselves do!

Next you’ll need to visit your local craft or discount department store. Anywhere that sells fake flowers and greenery is good. Here is where you’ll select the actual flowers and plants which will make up your arrangement. And choices here vary quite widely too. You can choose from any number of flowers and vines to make a varied, mix and match style arrangement - or you could simply go with timeless favorites such as roses and baby’s breath.

How much you buy will depend on how large your final flower arrangement will be. It’s usually best to buy at least twice as much as you think you might need, because this will allow you to create a full flower arrangement without any bare spots.

While at the craft store, you’ll also need to buy some floral foam. Just buy a block or two depending on the shape and size of your flower container. If it’s too large you can trim it down later.

Take all of your supplies home and set them all out on a table or other workspace. Now all you need to do is put your flower arrangement together!

First fit the foam to your container. Put a piece or two inside your chosen container and see how it fits. If you need to trim it a bit to make it fit, do that now. Once you’ve gotten it to an appropriate size, then you’ll start inserting the flowers and greenery.

You can remove the floral foam and poke the flowers into it first, then insert the entire arrangement into your container - or you can leave the foam inside the container, and arrange the flowers and greenery from inside out.

The flowers and greenery you bought at the craft store can be bent, twisted, or even cut to make them the height you’d like, and to ensure they’re in the best location relative to everything else you’re putting into the arrangement.

Generally you’ll want to put your tallest flower and greenery in the middle, then gradually step down in size as you move things outward. To place a flower or greenery item, simply push it’s plastic stem into the floral foam. Push it deeply enough to be sturdy, but if it’s too tall then remove it and trim the stem a little, and try again.

Repeat this process with all of your flowers and greenery, until the flower arrangement is completed to your satisfaction. Then simply place it in an attractive location, and enjoy it for years to come!