My Secret to a Chic & Practical DIY Bouquet

Hint: it’s suburban America's version of little European floral shops

Guess where I picked up these beauties?

I love having fresh flowers in my home. They add fresh color, texture, and life wherever they are and because they are temporary it adds just a little excitement to have something new to look at while also knowing they can be replaced. Florals can also add a high-end look to your home if you do them right. While money spent can certainly add up to constantly replenish fresh flowers, they are a treat I give to myself every once in awhile because every day is a special occasion! I also have plenty of faux florals around my house to keep up my greenery aesthetic year round without needing a weekly floral budget.

Ranunculus + Wax Flowers

I would love an idyllic little floral shop near my house that offers fresh flowers that I can visit for a serotonin boost and mix and match into my own DIY bouquet, picking only the flowers and colors I like–because the reality is that often pre-made bouquets don’t do it for me with color and flower combinations already chosen. As a matter of fact, I do live down the street from a florist, however they mainly supply flowers for events and pre-made bouquets. And once I went there looking through their buckets of flowers trying to make my own bouquet and they didn’t know what to do with me and charged me basically $500 for the flowers I chose. 

Europe Knows Flowers  

I ALSO dream of living in the South of France and growing acres and acres of different flowers that I can pick myself and create new bouquets to sprinkle around my house weekly…and then I wake up in Wisconsin…Anyway, in my travels to big cities around Europe I’ve noticed floral shops and kiosks done right. They offer buckets upon buckets of different types of flowers sold individually vs. in pre-made combinations so you can mix and match to your heart’s and eyes’ delight. Here is a clip from Emily in Paris with bad French but a beautiful example of one of these little flower kiosks on the streets of Paris. 

British department store Liberty London has a sweet little floral shop located at their entrance which was one of my favorites I've seen:

Floral snapshots from a business trip in London

^This is what I'm asking to be down the street from me, but...

When you can’t move to Southern France: Trader Joe’s Floral Department

While I wait for someone to offer me a villa + floral farm in Provence or for a little European floral shop to pop up in my suburban corner of America, my solution is my friendly neighborhood Trader Joe’s. 

Trader Joe’s has plenty of pre-made floral arrangements for sale, but what I adore about their selection is that they sell individual types of flowers that you can mix and match to create your own floral arrangement creations, all at reasonable prices (starting at $3.99!). And, they replenish their floral sections daily- so you know you’ll find something beautiful and fresh!

How to Create a DIY Bouquet from Trader Joe’s Flowers 

There are a few different formulas I follow to build my own bouquet creations from Trader Joe’s flowers:

Parvifolia Eucalyptus

Formula 1: Fillers as their own bouquets

This may not be groundbreaking, but so many of the filler florals in TJ’s can be used on their own as a beautiful bouquet. Green is my personal favorite color, so I love using straight up greenery as bouquets around my house. Eucalyptus is one of my favorites, and Trader Joe’s often has several different kinds for sale. 

Yellow Craspedia (aka Billy buttons!) + Silver Dollar Eucalyptus

Formula 2: 1 Bloom + 1 Filler  

Choose one filler greenery or floral and one bloom like roses, peonies, ranunculus, etc and combine. Experiment with cutting heights based on the look you want and which of the two you want to be more prominent. 

Purple Trachelium + White St. John's Wort + Parvifolia Eucalyptus

Formula 3:  1 Bloom + 2 Fillers 

This makes for a texture-rich bouquet with a lot of visual interest. Experimenting with stem height is again a fun way to yield different results for the bouquet. Some of the fillers also have small bursts of color to add. My favorite color combinations in a bouquet are lavender or light pink plus white. 

I don’t usually go beyond combining more than 3 different variations, but the possibilities are endless–these are just the simple combinations I like to make in my head when shopping the Trader Joe’s floral section. I think this simple approach also makes the bouquets feel more high-end, but on a Trader Joe’s budget.

Leftover Silver Dollar Eucalyptus in a bud vase

Any of the above formulas can also be split to make multiple arrangements to put somewhere else in the house. For example, I use a single $3.99 bunch of Eucalyptus for 2-3 different placements around the house- a larger arrangement for the dining room table, a medium arrangement for the bathroom, and a small bud vase for accents in the living and dining rooms. I love making my floral purchases WORK to add life to multiple corners of my home. 

Thank you, Trader Joe’s for bringing European floral shops to the US suburbs. Next step: better parking lots. 

See related: My favorite plants to bring life to the decor around my home.