How to Create a Stylish Vase without Spending Money

How to Create a Chic Vase without Spending Money
Gloria Hutson
2/23/2010
An empty spot in the house sometimes looks okay but can also look bare. If you need to fill an empty space, make your own chic décor without spending money or very little money. The photo shows a vase painted with a creamy white acrylic paint over an acrylic Gesso base. The small branches are from a hedge bush while in dormancy and most of the leaves have fallen. The following steps show how to create a stylish floor or table home décor on the cheap.

Things to Gather:
Clear glass vase
Acrylic paint
Acrylic Gesso
Paintbrush
Small branches
Floral foam

Take an old vase, clean it up and paint the outside with Gesso. Allow to dry overnight and then paint over the Gesso with your choice of acrylic colors. Allow the top base coat to dry.

Look for a bush or tree with small, thin, tapering branches after the leaves have fallen. Choose branches with buds lining the branch. Cut them to the length you want for your vase. The vase in the photo is 11 inches tall and the longest branch measures about 26 inches with at least three inches inserted into floral foam.

I used foam rubber cut from swimming pool “noodles” and placed it in the narrow top of the vase. Insert the bottom of the branches about three inches or so into the foam placed at angles or straight up. This is your project so you determine how you want the branches to look.

Foam rubber “noodles” are easy to cut with a knife and hold paint well. You can cut it to length for a tall vase or for width of a flower box. I like these over floral foams that fall apart easily and tend to be messy.


© Gloria Hutson 2/23/2010