If you're looking for a way to spruce up your home with fresh flowers, try thinking outside of the vase and using this rule of thumb: If it can hold water, it can hold flowers.

 

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That means you don't have to run out and buy vases or other items to hold your flowers. Instead, just take a look around the house or yard for inspiration. You can hold flowers in favorite collectables (think china animals, sugar bowls, etc.), pitchers ... any watertight container will do. Here's a short list to get your creative ideas going and to help you add flowers to every room of your home:

 

• Old watering cans, enamelware pitchers, cast-iron kettles, antique coal hods and teapots make great bases for doorstep arrangements, country kitchens or baths.
  
  
• A row of champagne glasses with a large blossom in each makes any dinner an elegant occasion. Soda bottles, wine bottles, mason jars or colored glass bottles are great for a more casual affair and are also attractive clustered on a coffee table.
  
  
• Use bowls and shallow dishes for floating flower heads. Add floating candles for a bright and shining effect.
  
  
• Don't let your creativity stop with the container. You can add decorative elements to any arrangement — again by looking around your own house and yard. Be sure each element can tolerate water — or use a waterproof cup to protect both arrangement and the not-so-waterproof surroundings. Anything you collect or have on hand — including ceramics, pottery, glass, stones, twigs, leaves, acorns, shells and more — can add a personalized element to your floral arrangement.

There are as many flower decorating possibilities as there are flowers.

For more creative ideas, visit www.flowerpossibilities.com.