DIY Monday: Flower arranging tip

I asked a friend to help me with a wedding a couple weeks ago and she was asking about making a tape grid to hold flowers in a square vase. There's a special floral tape that's water resistant and skinny enough to make a grid on a small vase opening.

It's called "clear floral tape" and it's made by the Oasis company - the same people who make the floral foam. I finally found mine at save-on-crafts.com (after much searching).

Before you arrange your flowers, you make a simple grid (like a 9 patch quilt by using 2 strips of tape one way and 2 strips of tape the other way) with this tape at the top of the vase - don't make the ends too long or they'll show under your arrangement. Also make sure you keep a center square so that you'll be able to make a center in your arrangement. Add your water and preservative after you've made the grid and use the grid to help keep your flowers in place.

DIY Monday: Caring for Your Rose Bouquet

Since Valentine's day is coming up, I thought I'd give a quick tip on how to extend the life of roses. After all, some of us have dear ones who will give us a lovely bouquet on this hallowed day!

If your honey brings you cut flowers without a vase, be sure to trim the bottoms UNDER WATER before putting them into a vase. Cutting them under water helps keep air bubbles from getting into the stems so that the water can flow freely up into the stem.

Remove any leaves or greenery that's below the level of the water. Greenery makes the water spoil faster, causing decay.

As with all flowers, they'll last longer if you change the water every day. Be sure to add the preservative powder that often comes with cut flowers. It really does help extend the life of the flowers.

If your roses start to droop, you can fill a sink with cold water and completely submerge the roses under water for a time. Usually this gets water to the places that need it and they start to perk up again. Remember to re-cut the stems UNDER WATER before you place them back into your vase.

Voila! Better roses DIY style!