HOUSE How to Arrange Tulips In a Vase

Looking for tips on how to arrange tulips in a vase? Here’s an easy way to create an arrangement that looks like a florist created it.

// similar blue and white vase // pink tulips //

You know what’s funny about me?

There’s the normal way to do things.

The way most people go about doing a project or build something or paint something or write something or create something. It’s the way a particular expert does something and shares it with people and then it becomes the way that particular thing is done.

And then?

There’s the KariAnne way.

I don’t mean to invent my own way most of the time.

Truly.

It’s just—I’m not really an instruction reader and I don’t have the patience to sit down and read or study exactly how it’s been done before. So I see a project and I jump off the project high dive.

Yep.

That’s me—starting down the project road without a road map.

Sometimes it doesn’t work out and I have to scrap everything and start over or just start a new project. But sometimes? Sometimes it all works out perfectly. I have an idea and the idea just works out.

Like this tulip situation. I found a secret to making these tulips (the ones I’m holding in my hand) look like a professional florist arranged them.

And you WILL NEVER GUESS what it is (I’m even kind of surprised myself).

// similar blue and white vase // pink tulips //

Before we get to the brilliant idea?

Let’s look at where this tulip arrangement started.

Some friends gave me this blue and white vase for Christmas and I knew it would be perfect for tulips when spring came. The vase is about 9″ high and when took the bunch of tulips and put them in the vase? They looked like this.

Sigh.

This arrangement looks fine.

It looks sufficient.

But just between us? No one would ever think that a florist put this together. The tulip stems were really too short for the vase so they all sunk into the center and only the tops of the blooms stuck out over the edge of the vase.

Has that ever happened to you? Are your stems ever too short for the vase?

Oh, good.

Because I have A TIP for you.

Because now?

// similar blue and white vase // pink tulips //

My tulip arrangement looks like this.

Please do me a favor.

Scroll back up and see how far we’ve come.

How did I change it up? How did I get the tulips to stay up like that?

(total aside: In the spirit of complete disclosure to make a fair comparison. I did add some more tulips to the second arrangement—not as many as you think because there are tulips that are sunken in the first arrangement that you can’t see. I just got so excited when it started working that I just had to add some more.)

It’s so easy that it’s almost unbelievable.

A STRAW.

Yep.

That’s what made all the difference.

These are just ordinary, run-of-the-mill straws.

I used the straws with the bendable ends, but I think any type of straws will work. If you are using this tip with a plant with a wider stem, I think jumbo straws would work. My main straw tip is to use a clear or white straw (these have mini stripes on them and that works, too) instead of brightly colored straws in case you see them in the top of the vase.

All you do is insert the end of the tulip into the straw.

And then bend the tulips slightly to create movement (these are faux tulips so they are easier to bend than real tulips). If you are using real tulips, the straws with the bendable ends will be super helpful.