a bunch of possibilities

so remember a few weeks ago i wrote about deconstructing a supermarket bunch of flowers to create nicer and less storebought-looking arrangements? well in a piece on the real simple website's wedding section, they actually worked with the same idea and i love the results! by deconstructing and reconstructing flowers, it totally shows how adding a little extra thought and effort can elevate something simple and inexpensive to something much more special and shining. though i'm usually more into monochromatic flowers, i can't deny the appeal of color sometimes.

so...above, you see many bunches of flowers in the yellow family (very cheerful looking, i might add), and here, a nicely coordinated bouquet with many levels and tones of yellow.

here are some horrid bunches of carnations...i'm sorry, i don't care that people say they're acceptable now....i hate them and all they stand for. okay, that's a little dramatic, i realize, but really....

but look at the picture below - en masse, they actually look pretty good!

here's another array of flowers that includes carnations:

though i have to say i'm not such a fan of how these carnations look mixed in with other flowers below - it looks like filler, while in the pink bunch above, where it's all carnations, they stand on their own and look much more intentional, even pretty.

i think i would have just left the carnations out of the assembled one and used more of the other flowers, which they had plenty of.

and the added bonus of the original pink carnation bunches is ending up with a robust bunch of baby's breath by itself, which i am a huge fan of. i think baby's breath is cheapened by its ubiquitous use as a filler in cheesy bouquets, and i actually love the idea of massive amounts of JUST baby's breath used as centerpieces - it has a lot of impact and is very pretty, especially en masse. using it that way also highlights how green and fresh it can look, where it always tends to look dry and overly white mixed in with other flowers.

the most impressive reworking of the bunch (pun intended) was the mixed bouquet below- in my opinion, a dead giveaway as a supermarket impulse buy, particularly because of all the bulky filler. i also really don't like most lilies, and i find that they're often used as the centerpiece of cheap bouquets.

but look at it here! SO happy they removed the lilies and look how profesh and gorgeous this is! total florist quality.

it gives me so many good ideas and ways of thinking about inexpensive options that are readily available...ideas like this can be used for gifts, for weddings, and for your own home for parties and holidays, and most importantly for every day, because that's when our lives are lived.

with a little time and effort, we can exponentially increase the beauty of our lives - love when that happens.

all photos from www.realsimple.com