DIY wedding ideas

A Texas florist's top tips for using vessels as vases in DIY floral designs

Along with weddings come wedding events - showers, bridal teas, bridesmaids' luncheons - and the desire to decorate beautifully without breaking the bank. (After all, there's plenty of money being spent on the wedding itself, for everyone involved.)

One good way to cut costs: DIY floral designs. Yes, really. It's as easy as looking around for beautiful vessels that you can turn into vases. Then just let your creativity run wild.

I gathered together four of the top trending decor items of the season, along with a floral designer, to put them to use as vases when they were not, well, being used. At the end of the day, a vessel is a vessel. For me, if it can hold water, it can hold flowers.

Design “fails” tend to pop up just as much as successful ones do, and I’ve noticed this a lot with these four trendiest items, all antique: oversized glass water jugs, julep cups (specifically Wedgewood), champagne buckets, and flower frogs.

Florist Marija Babic La Fete floral arrangements

Photo by Emily Cotton

Julep cups add a little color just about anywhere.

Not wanting to banish these trending items to a cupboard, I endured two ill-fated trips to my grocer’s floral department before finally reaching out to my favorite florist, Marija Babic of La Fête in Houston, to ask, “What will actually work with these things?” Enthusiastically gathering these items together, I rushed to Babic for assistance.

Oversized glass water jug: For an oversized water jug, she selects bright yellow Blooming Forsythia, which brings a splash of vibrant color to any space. “This setup perfectly captures the essence of spring's lively renewal,” Babic says. “The contrast between the delicate, golden flowers and the simple elegance of the glass jug creates a stunning centerpiece that's both fresh and timelessly beautiful.”

Flower frogs: While beautiful, flower frogs can be problematic. The size constraints make choosing flowers more of a chore than a joy. No one wants to play roulette with stem sizes — but what is always guaranteed to fit the job?

“I picked pink Scabiosa and white Nigella (Love-in-a-Mist) to arrange in a simple crystal vase that holds just eight stems. These charming flowers, symbolizing love and delicate beauty, perfectly complement the vase, adding a touch of whimsy without stealing the spotlight from its artistic elegance,” Babic notes.

An all-too-often-made mistake is to always go with bloomed flowers. Greenery, seed pods and more delicate flowers are oftentimes overlooked, but clearly make a statement nonetheless.

Champagne bucket: “I chose to arrange Orange Buddleia Globosa, Nigella (Love-in-a-Mist), and Solomio Dianthus in a vintage silver champagne bucket to capture a whimsical French country vibe. These flowers bring a burst of vibrant color, delicate beauty, and timeless charm,” she says.

“While creating this arrangement, I imagined myself prepping for an intimate French countryside dinner, ready to host my dearest family and friends. It's like taking a joyful stroll through a blooming meadow, gathering flowers to create a centerpiece that's both casual and sophisticated that lets your creative imagination run wild.”

Julep cup: Being in Texas and not Kentucky, locals have little call for the use of a delicate julep cup. The beauty of these small treasures is that they can be very universal: nightstands, powder baths, anywhere a delicate arrangement will be appreciated, yet unintrusive.

“I chose pink Chrysanthemums, symbolizing joy and cheerfulness, and white Solomio Dianthus, representing pure love and grace, to place in a small Wedgwood cup,” the florist says. “These flowers add a lovely burst of color and elegance, making it easy to beautify any space.”

Who knows? Maybe arranging DIY bridal florals will lead to new passions and opportunities, as it did for Babic.

Babic is an oil and gas professional by trade. She says it was a "burning passion to create something extraordinary and turn dreams into reality with flowers" that led her to establish her own business, whose name, "La Fête," means "to celebrate" in French.

"It's not just about the flowers or the arrangements; it's about crafting delicate masterpieces that capture the heart of your most cherished moments," she says.

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Emily Cotton is a Houston-based home and interior design writer.

floral designer flower arranging tips trending decor items

Ten Thousand Locations

Fair trade store Ten Thousand Villages finds new home in downtown Austin

Ten Thousand Villages/Instagram

Ten Thousand Villages has had a store in Austin since 2004, but October 18 is its first day downtown.

The fair trade home goods and gift shop Ten Thousand Villages has very slowly been on the move around Austin. It started on South Congress Avenue in 2004, moved north to Burnet Road in 2015, and then closed again in August for better things to come. Those things are here now, as the store reopens at 417 W. 2nd St.

October 18 is its first day in the new location, which is just past the western edge of the 2nd Street District, next to Indochino and across from Numero 28 and Local Foods.

Ten Thousand Villages is a nonprofit chain, and it's not from Texas, although it does have some strong roots in Austin. It started in Akron, Pennsylvania, in the 1940s. According to the store website, one woman got into trading to help women in Puerto Rico sell their goods, and it all grew from there.

Shoppers at the store's various locations can find goods sourced directly from their makers around the world. The sourcing's objectives include ensuring a fair wage and safe working conditions, empowering women and marginalized communities through investments, celebrating cultures through their crafts, and making eco-friendly choices.

The store carries crafts in almost any category a shopper can think of. The home section includes decor and games; the kitchen section gathers functional-but-artistic tools and serving ware; the bath section includes both skincare and laundry products; and the outdoor section is ready to spruce up any garden. There are also collections for jewelry and other accessories.

In addition to shopping, the store hosts workshops and other events like tastings and craft nights; pop-up markets; and benefit nights for specific organizations. The store also offers discounts to teachers, seniors, and city hall employees. Finally, folks can get involved behind the scenes as volunteers, serving as Central Texas ambassadors for artisans.

The store is a member of the Fair Trade Federation, and has been since 1994. That means it's committed fully to fair trade, is required to submit a self-evaluation of business practices, and pays makers at or above a fair wage. The more intensive fair trade certification process does not apply to handicrafts, but the organization that conducts those assessments praises Ten Thousand Villages for its efforts.

Charity Navigator, a third party assessment organization that rates various charitable organizations, gives Ten Thousand Villages three of four stars, which corresponds to a "good" rating. However, it has only rated the organization's financial health — not its impact, culture, or some other metrics.

Ten Thousand Villages also directs online shoppers to stores on its roster that need extra support. At the time of this article's publication, the featured stores on the locations page are the new one in Austin, along with stores in Montreat and Ashville, North Carolina, both of which were hit hard by Hurricane Helene.

Ten Thousand Villages is open now on West 2nd Street. Hours of operation are weekdays from 11 am to 6 pm, Saturdays from 11 am to 7 pm, and Sundays from 11 am to 5 pm. More information is available at tenthousandvillages.com.

shopping interior design artisans fair trade