The Art of the Mini Arrangement: How to Quickly Arrange Teeny Tiny Bouquets in Vases

In my mind, fresh flowers always do the trick for livening up a room. Whether the arrangement is big or small doesn’t matter much. It’s the textures, colors, and scent that you can only get from fresh flowers that really do it for me. True, I can be a size queen with the best of ’em when I need to be – like a giant dinner party table that calls for a big centerpiece or a special occasion that screams huge DIY bouquet (like a wedding or something).

BUT for the most part, any flower arrangement is better than no flower arrangement and one of the easiest to recreate at home is the one that doesn’t require a whole lot of flowers. So, that’s what I’m touching on today.

If you have a small vase and a few blooms (either from your local grocery store, florist, or even your backyard), you’re good to go. Click through for my tips for mini flower arrangements and my go-to vases for teeny tiny bouquets.

Tips for Making Mini Flower Arrangements

For small vases, you’ll want to keep the blooms fairly small as well (like ranunculus), so the arrangement doesn’t look top heavy. BUT you can always sprinkle in a larger bloom here and there (like peonies), with the right vase. Generally, garden roses are a good in-between size too, since they’re not too big and not too small.

If you’re at the grocery store though, for example, and you’re not finding any of the ‘fancy flowers’, just keep the size thing in mind. Blooms that are 1-2 inches are a pretty safe bet for a small vase (any container from 3-8 inches high that has an opening of 3 inches or less would be considered a small vase in my mind). So, smaller flowers that are widely available at grocery stores (carnations, spray roses, mums, tulips, etc) work just as well if that’s all that’s available.

If you have a little more time or can’t get the flowers you want at your locally though, I’d highly recommend using an online flower source, like Flower Muse, for ordering the perfect flowers. All of the flowers you see in these photos are from Flower Muse and I use them ALL the time for shoots, etc because the flowers are gorgeous and get delivered super fast. You can even get next day delivery on select flower types. 

Often times, it only takes a few flowers to fill a vase with a small opening, like the ones you see in the photos. And odd numbers are always good too when it comes to stems – two flowers and a stem of greenery, three small buds mixed with a larger bloom and a stem of greenery, etc, etc.

I have a ton of tiny vases for these kinds of arrangements, and even a couple of ceramic creamer containers or short juice cups that I use sometimes. Here are a small vessels that I’m loving right now, for mini arrangements like these…

1. Ikebana Vase from Urban Outfitters $18
2. Brian Giniewski Tapered Form from Urban Outfitters $69
3. Areaware Radial Vessel Vase from Need Supply $35
4. Spherical Ceramic Bud Vase from Food52 $35
5. Brian Giniewski Dish Form from Urban Outfitters $39
6. Hawkins New York Tumbler from Need Supply $12
7. Copper Cups from Food52 $42 (set of 2)
8. Ida Glass Globe Planter + Tripod Stand from Urban Outfitters $34
9. Dream Collective Ovid Vase from Spring $50
10. White Bud Vases from Food52 $35 (set of 3)
11. Yield Design Spun Bowl from Need Supply $48

I also have a handful of DIY mini vases, if you want to go that route. My favorites are…

1. DIY marbled mini vases
2. cork vases DIY
3. DIY concrete vase tutorial
4. mylar vase DIY
5. DIY textured vase idea
6. mini plaster planters / vase DIY

And one last option, if you’re feeling especially uninspired is using a large, shallow(ish) dish, or even deep cake plate and float flowers in water – just cut the stems pretty short (down to 1 or 2 inches).

Photography by Amelia Lawrence
Flowers by Brittni Mehlhoff (using flowers c/o Flower Muse)

Have any questions about how to make the perfect mini flower arrangement? Let me know in the comments. Happy to answer.

Also, I’m curious to know what your absolute favorite flowers are – big or small. What would you ALWAYS have in your house, flower-wise, if money were no object?!