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Top Ten Ways to Reuse Flower Vases
By Sarah Simmons
Flowers are great gifts on birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions, but what do you do with the vases once the flowers have died? Although it's always a good idea to keep a few vases around, after a while they can add up. Try these top ten ways to reuse your old flower containers!
1. Design a Centerpiece
You can reuse plain cylinder floral vases by filling them with something colorful. Oranges, lemons or limes make a great eye-catching summertime centerpiece, or fill a vase with pinecones and dried berries for a festive winter look.
2. Create a Candleholder
Wide-mouthed vases make lovely candleholders. Just fill the bottom half with items sturdy enough to hold-up a candle (stones, beads or coffee beans are also great ideas), then work the candle down into the container.
3. Give a Gift
Don't go to that next party empty handed! Fill a vase with relevant items (i.e. Christmas decorations, holiday themed candy such as candy corn for Halloween, or seashells for a beach party) for the host or hostess as a thank you.
4. Make Bookends
Decorate the exterior of your flower vase to match the area of the bookcase and fill the vase with something heavy, like sand or rocks, so it can be used as a bookend.
5. Organize your Home
Smaller flower vases are great for holding pens and pencils or loose change. In addition, empty vases are great for kitchen utensils. Have a square vase? Try using it to hold all your remote controls.
6. Donate to a Good Cause
Fill your old flower containers with dried or artificial flowers, and donate them to hospitals or retirement homes and help brighten someone else's day.
7. Produce a Planter
Try planting herbs or small flowers in a clear vase for a prettier alternative to plastic containers. Put rocks in the bottom third of the vase for drainage and fill the rest with soil. You can plant a variety of herbs for a kitchen window garden or small flowers to brighten up your office. The best part - you'll always know when your plants need watering!
8. Showcase Something Special
Have a special memento or souvenir from a recent vacation? Tall floral containers are a great way to call attention to smaller items that might otherwise get lost on bookcases. Cover it with the vase by itself, or add similar themed décor along with the keepsake for a more intricate display.
9. Put Pastries on a Pedestal
Wide based, wide mouthed vases make great cake stands! Just turn your vase upside down (or keep it right side up if the base is wider than the mouth), and secure a plate on top. These stands can be used to display special pies, cupcakes, cookies and more.
10. Apply it to Art
If all else fails, and you can't find any other uses for your flower vases, you can always break them up, and use the colored broken glass in mosaics or tile works.
Receiving floral gifts is only half the fun when it comes to all the different ways you can reuse the vases. Remember: don't just throw away your old containers, keep it green and reuse them!
Teleflora's Find a Florist is the leading online florist locater in the US and Canada. Want to send a bouquet for the holidays, a special occasion or simply as a thinking of you? With a network of over 20,000 caring florists, Find a Florist makes it easy to locate a flower shop, anywhere in the country. http://www.findaflorist.com
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