Rethink Tulips

The Friday before Valentine's Day, I got home and found two bouquets of tulips from my loving husband. He beamed at me from the kitchen island and wished me an early Happy Valentine's Day and bragged about how he got a deal because the roses were way overpriced because of the holiday. He even bragged about being able to fill two vases with one bunch, which made me beam right back at him.

Arrangement 1

Arrangement 2

A few days later, when I saw two vibrant red flowers blooming, I flexed my creative muscle and created this stunner (my third arrangement).

I love the bloom's tropical and exotic look and think they look simply modern paired in this asymmetrical vase filled with black river rocks. It only took me a couple minutes and, best of all, was completely gratis thanks to my dashing hubby.

If you want to copy this trick, it's super simple. To invert a tulip bloom, all you do is hold both sides of one petal and gently push the middle out until it "pops".

The petals on a tulip naturally have two layers that barely overlap on the edges, so flip the petals that are on the outside layer first and then flip the inside layer.

Special note: Make sure you pop the petals gently otherwise the petal could rip or you could pull the petal off the bloom altogether.

Once you've flipped each petal, you'll have a completely reinvented tulip.

For those of you who have stealth eyes and noticed the freshly painted chocolate brown wall by our stairs, yes, that means the paint fairies struck again! So make sure you stay tuned! And anyone else who has a cool trick they do to their flowers to give them a inventive look please share, I'm always looking for new ways to spruce up my blooms.