Everything You Need to Craft Flower Shop-Worthy Bouquets at Home

Going to the florist and picking up a fresh bouquet for your home each week is a pricey habit. However, with a bit of practice, you can achieve similar results at home using the flowers in your garden for a fraction of the cost. Flower arranging is all-around a useful skill and fun hobby. An investment in the correct tools upfront will allow you to save in the long run—plus, a homemade bouquet makes for the perfect gift for almost all scenarios.

The right materials can make or break your homemade bouquet. It's impossible to create an arrangement of roses that defies gravity, for example, without the right support structure in the vase. Below are the tools we wouldn't touch a stem without.

All Purpose Pruner

It's crucial to have a set of pruners that can handle everything from a thick branch to a delicate stem.

Garden Apron

Nothing is more aggravating than when you can't find your tools, so keep them close with an attractive apron.

Floral Frog

Floral frogs are placed at the bottom of vases to stick the ends of stems into (a more eco-friendly version of floral foam). They can be adhered to the bottom of the vase with floral clay.

Chicken Wire

Cover the top of a vase with a layer of chicken wire to help your stems stay upright, or make a ball of chicken wire and adhere it to the base of the vase with floral clay. This will give you a nice support structure to put your flowers into.

Floral Clay

Before you put water into your vase, affix any floral frogs or chickenwire support structures with waterproof floral clay. It'll keep them in place as you work on your bouquet.

Floral Tape

Floral tape is essential for crafting boutonnieres, floral crowns, corsages, and more. All it takes is a nice wrapping of floral tape to keep a few stems together.

Plant Mister

Keeping your flowers properly watered is the most important thing. Plants like hydrangea, maidenhair fern, and orchids like a light misting.

Thorn Stripper

Save yourself a pricked finger by investing in a thorn stripper. Roses have finally met their match.

Floral Wire

Making a flower crown? You'll need to start with some wire. It can also be wrapped around delicate stems to keep them upright.