This summer, I have been re-doing the decoration in our little apartment to remind me of nature and my native Island of Puerto Rico. Inspiration comes just by logging into Pinterest and observing all the beautiful decorating ideas people come up with. However, I gravitate towards the simple decor that can be used either year-round or has multiple purposes (i.e. I can easily change it out or modify it according to the season or my mood).

Color is also important to me, particularly when it emulates nature, since it reminds me of growing up surrounded by greenery and nature. I’ve been missing my island a lot in the past months, so anything that reminds me of it brings a smile to my face. In my quest to incorporate all these things into our summer decor, I ventured to one of my favorite crafts stores (you know it, JoAnn’s) and walked through all their flower aisles to see if anything jumped out at me that I could use to make some new decorative items for the apartment. Like always, I had compiled all my coupons (mailed and those that I found online, including Hobby Lobby and Michaels) and hit the clearance aisle first. Here, I got some flowers, followed by some really cool aluminum containers that were covered in fake birch bark. They looked earthy and from a faerie tale, so the fantasy geek in me felt compelled to get them.

In the end, these are the materials I used for the pieces (with the price of the things I had to purchase in parentheses):

4 aluminum containers (Bloom Room Birch Metal Containers, $8.00 on clearance–> plus 40% off coupons= $19.00 total)
Artificial flowers (5 Bloom Room 22″ Hydrangea Bushes, $6.80 on clearance–> plus 50% off coupons= $17.00 total)
Styrofoam cubes and disk (3 at $3.49–> plus 50% off coupons= $5.24, 1 at $1.39–> plus 40% off coupons= $0.83 cents total)
Wire cutter
Wooden tray
Decorative Candle Holders (the ones I use here I got from Bed, Bath and Beyond as a wedding gift) 

First, I used the wire cutters to trim the flowers to the length of the container I wanted to use.

Once I had the desired height of my flowers, I stuck them into the styrofoam blocks and/or discs. This will allow them to stay put in the arrangement.

I then inserted the flowers into the containers and arranged them to fit my imagination. For the centerpiece of our dining room table, I used a square container with flowers and arranged them on a wooden serving tray with decorative candle holders inside.

Since I like to tie the decor around the apartment, I made two additional arrangements in square containers for our entrance and one in a cilindrical container for a shelving unit from Ikea.

I am pretty happy with how these turned out, since I am most definitely going to be able to switch out the flowers here and there to accomodate new inspiration as time goes on. I probably have gotten several arrangements out of this trip to JoAnn’s plus any other things I have laying around my crafts box. Win!

As I keep revamping the apartment, I will share with you my little inexpensive changes. Hopefully you guys like them. 🙂 Let me know if you have any comments or ideas! I am always looking for inspiration. 😉