DIY Supermarket Centerpieces

Invite your gal pals over to create fresh bouquets made entirely with ingredients you can pick up at the grocery store.

Check the canned goods and ethnic-foods aisles for cans with attractive labels. Buy two cans, cut the front label from one, and attach it to the back of the other so the container looks good on all sides. Use a can opener to remove the top of the can, add a handful of marbles or small pebbles to the bottom for weight, fill the can with water, and add flowers.

A handful of iris banded together and wrapped with ribbon makes a statuesque topiary. Any flower that has upright blooms on long stems (such as daffodils, calla lilies, or hyacinths) would work for this style of arrangement.

See the step-by-step of how to make this arrangement on the next slides.

Cut florist's foam to fit inside a cereal bowl. Holding iris stems in your hand, cluster them into an appealing shape. Snip the stems into a straight line, allowing 2 or 3 extra inches on each stem to push into the foam. Wrap rubber bands around the tops and bottoms of the stems.

Push the stems into the foam until they stand upright. Cover the foam with moss. Wrap ribbon around the stems, and secure it with pins. To complete the look surround the base with moss.

Fragrant lemon slices camouflage stems of purple tulips, anemone, lisianthus, lilac, and stock tucked into an ordinary pitcher.

See the step-by-step of how to make this arrangement on the next slides.

Find a tall glass that will fit squarely inside a clear glass pitcher and still allow enough space around it for the lemon slices. Put the glass in the pitcher, slice the lemons about 1/4 inch thick, and arrange them between the pitcher and the glass, beginning at the bottom and overlapping slices as you go. Carefully pour water over the lemons and into the glass.

Arrange flowers in the glass, making sure to hide the area between the glass and the rim of the pitcher.

Set an orange or lemon on a flat surface to see which end will make a stable base. If necessary, cut off some of the bottom to make it flat. Cut a hole in the top and scoop out the insides with a grapefruit spoon. Cut a piece of wet florist's foam to fit inside; then push stems into the foam.

Perfect for an Easter tabletop, this clear cookie jar shows off a mix of dyed, white, and brown eggs plus a medley of flowers united by their blush color and their fluffy round blooms.

See the step-by-step of how to make this arrangement on the next slide.

Dye hardboiled eggs as desired. Center a drinking glass inside a large-mouth jar and carefully stack eggs between the glass and jar, alternating egg colors. Fill the glass with water. Cut rose, ranunculus, and gerbera stems to desired lengths and place them in the glass. Fill in with anemones as needed.

Arrange flowers in a sturdy, wide-mouth vase or jar, positioning the heavier flowers, such as the lilacs, around the rim and adding tulips, with stems left long, in the center. Slip the vase into a large lunch-size brown bag, and roll down the top a couple times to make a cuff. Tape or staple the bag in the back to make the cuff fit snugly around the vase. Tie with twine.

Dessert cups piled with strawberries and flowers makes a luscious, low-lying centerpiece that decorates a table without blocking cross-table views and conversation. The red-ripe berries are a clever and colorful substitute for florist's foam, anchoring berry-color ranunculus and roses along with and white daisies.

See the step-by-step of how to make this arrangement on the next slide.

Pile strawberries into dessert cups and fill the cups with water. Cut the stems of the flowers short and push them into the berries, spacing the flowers so the berries are still visible. (If necessary, use a wood skewer to make holes in the strawberries so the stems will slide in easily.) Change the water daily.

This spring vegetable medley blends artichokes, asparagus, and broccoli florets with white and yellow flowers, all cleverly displayed in an enamel colander. Sprigs of parsley, basil, and other herbs fill in with delicate scents and more shades of green.

See the step-by-step of how to make this arrangement on the next slide.

Line a colander with tin foil. Add a block of moistened florist's foam. Break wooden skewers into 5-inch pieces, and push one end into the bottom of each vegetable and the other into the foam. Build the arrangement from the rim upward toward the center. Place large items such as the artichokes and broccoli first, then fill in with flowers. The idea is to create a compacted effect, with the elements placed tightly against each other.

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