El Cheapo Florist

For whatever reason, I feel that if I'm having people over then I have to have some fresh flowers.  I wish I could afford to have fresh flowers every day, but unfortunately I did not hit the Lotto last week.  Flowers are expensive (I should know, I just bought a bunch for the wedding - the biggest expense after catering). 

Borrowing some wisdom from one of my mom's best friends, I have found that you can stretch a dollar by foraging for items in your own back yard to add to your bouquets.  At my last get together, I bought bunches of sunflowers and daisies from a local florist that sells them for $5 a bunch.  I cut some ferns from the yard to add to the daisies.  To augment the sunflowers, I gathered some dried lily pods from the pond and some magnolia branches and made a really nice arrangement.

I spent $10 and ended up with 3 arrangements and one flower for a small bud vase.  At that price, maybe I can afford to have flowers around more often.