Almost D-I-Y in Paris!

John and I saw this fantastic looking vase while window shopping in Paris this past week. Initially I thought we could make something similar for considerably less than the listed price tag (€22.00 or $29.00) but upon further inspection (a trip to the local wine store), we realized that wasn't quite true. Either way, $29.00 didn't seem like an unreasonable amount of money to pay for a cool-looking-vase-cum-vacation-momento, so we decided to spring for the original version.

However, I thought I'd encourage my readers who aren't wandering aimlessly around Paris this week, to try to "build" one themselves.




** Be warned: This D-I-Y will require you to do some martyr-esque amounts of drinking, but I think it will be worth it in the end. : ) **


The step-by-step for this project is simple: 
STEP 1: Buy three glass bottles of three varying sizes, all of the same color glass (as in: all clear glass, all green glass, all blue glass...) I say clear or green because I had imagined using different wine bottles, like a full sized white wine bottle and then two smaller dessert wine bottles, or some combination like that; however you could also use three vintage bottles which tend to come in more colorful hues if you prefer... The obvious upshot to using wine bottles is that you'll also get to drink the contents in order to use the bottles, so although you're probably spending at least $29.00 on the wine, you do get the added bonus of some "obligatory" drinking. Bottoms up! : )

STEP 2-A: Once you've chosen your three glass bottles, cluster them together like the photo shown above. Make sure that the sides are actually going to touch, and then use a glass-on-glass adhesive to connect all three bottles at the points where they line up nice and tight. (FYI: In my experience, glass-on-glass adhesive is strong, but not SUPER STRONG, so I wouldn't recommend being too hap-hazard with this bottle arrangement once you've glued them together. I would recommend lifting all three bottles at once, and supporting them from below.)

STEP 2-B: Alternatively, if you're feeling non-committal about the bottles you've chosen, use a pretty ribbon or what I call "paper ribbon" (I think it is officially called "raffia", the sort of straw-ribbon-stuff you often see at florists) to tie all three bottles together. Either approach should give you a fun vase that's great for a center piece of varied heights. This kind of vase is particularly perfect for flowers with long, skinny stems and big blooms on top, like roses, freesia, peonies, ranunculus, gerbera daisies or lilies. I'm thinking even lilacs would look great in this vase, which is perfect for this time of year...

Bonne chance avec le projet, mes amis!