DIY Vase.

Call me crazy, but I generally despise the cheesy wrap that most store bought bouquets get wrapped in. I often wonder if they went to the local Value Village and picked up a few rolls of wallpaper straight out of 1973 to wrap the flowers with. Ugh. Not only is it generally ghastly paper, but it also hides the most important part of the package....the flowers.

So lately I've been avoiding the cheesy wrap, and just having them wrap it in cellophane with a ribbon. And yes, I get some strange looks. Although, I must say Save-On Foods as well as the Thrifty Foods in Nanaimo always impress me with their floral wrapping skills. The bouquets are wrapped in cellophane, then tied with some raffia and curled ribbons...beauty!

We are delivering flowers to our babysitter later today as a get better present, and I came up with the following idea. Not only does it do away with bad 1973 flower wrap, but it makes use of something that is easy enough to find right in your recycle bin!
I just took a small strip of scrapbook paper, used some fancy scissors on the edges, attached it to the jar with double-sided tape (cutting it wide enough to cover the Safeway applesauce logo). Attached some ribbon, and voila, a pretty little vase.
On another occasion, I didn't use the scrapbook paper, because I was actually able to remove the jar's label without all of the gummy mess that is normally left behind. I'm thinking this was a pickle jar in a former life...
Can you tell I have a thing for tulips? Indeed, they are one of my favorite flowers.

On another note, we made a trip out to Prairie Gardens & Adventure Farm in Bon Accord, AB on Mother's Day. They have a greeenhouse, U-pick Strawberry area (although "u" ain't picking anything these days), a petting zoo, a corn maze, an ice cream shop. And the list goes on. Cute little place, and the kids really enjoyed it. Slightly reminiscent of Coombs, which is always a welcome discovery. We even got to enjoy a 30 minute peacock show. Not sure the 5 ladies in his pen were all that impressed, but the kids sure were. They also got to meet some baby bunnies, so I thought I would share some pictures...

Abbi and her fluffy friend.
Gabe meeting his little furry friend.