Decorating: A Cup of Flowers

          

A Cup of Flowers 

Circa: 2014

          I love having fresh flowers in our home, it just adds a touch of natural beauty and life to the space.  The surprising thing is that I rarely use vases, and actually only have a handful in the house. Oddly enough, this began at me wedding three years ago.  I knew that I didn’t want standard vases for my floral arrangement and I tried to find a vintage alternative. As I was going through my grandmother’s house I noticed that she had a beautiful flower arrangement in an old champagne bucket!  After that I was sold! We began collecting old silver pieces like mint julep cups (my personal favorite), tea pots, sugar bowls and more, and I haven’t looked back since! I wanted to pass on my love of vase alternatives to you today and instead of giving away all of my secrets at once, I thought that I would share a little at a time. So today I am sharing with you how to use items from your everyday tea cart.

             Whenever my husband or his family travels to London they always bring me back tea and biscuits from Harrods! I have a slight tea addiction; Early Grey is my favorite! The tea canisters are beautiful and I haven’t ever had the heart to throw them away.  While they are technically not “vintage” they have a lovely classic aesthetic. My only word of caution is to make sure that they don’t leak. I had a problem with the first canister I used and, unfortunately, it leaked all over one of my vintage books. Heartbreak: though it only damaged the cover and the interior pages remained dry. The purple canister looks so pretty with the beautiful white hydrangea. I love using hydrangeas because a little goes such a long way!

             The next items that I love to use if I need a small arrangement are vintage tea cups! Not only can they fit the smallest of flowers from your own backyard, they also take me back to when things were a little bit simpler.  Since I was in middle school I have collected vintage tea cups. I believe it started when I was a very small girl and I would take my coffee with cream and sugar in my great-grandmother’s tea cups.  And yes, I was very lucky to have daily afternoon coffee or tea in elementary school in a porcelain tea cup. It explains so much. Tea cups feel so dainty and lady like and they are a beautiful addition to a table. The tea cup pictured here belonged to my great grandmother. I love the rose pattern and soft pinks and greens.

             Finally, a tea pot can make a beautiful vase! While I have too many to name, I chose to highlight one of my more unique pieces, and the purple looked beautiful beside my canister. I have to give props to my mother who purchased this for me at an estate sale. The tea pot depicts the Boston Tea Party, which is rather ironic! While it is one of my favorite pieces, I also adore my silver tea pots as well! While they are not pictured, one of the other items I frequently turn to are my sugar bowls from my silver pieces to my beautifully green Depression glass bowl! The possibilities are really endless!

             As always, please be cautious on the pieces that you choose and handle them with care. If you have a treasured one-of-a-kind teapot from your great-great grandmother than  you may want to opt for a fantastic estate sale find instead! I hope that this inspires you in the future to put away the vase and turn to something a little different and vintage! I hope that you have a lovely weekend!