How to Make Tea Tins for Centerpieces

Decorative tea tins can serve as ideal containers for floral arrangements.

Scouring thrift stores and yard sales can yield fabulous antiques and vintage goods with which to furnish an event such as a wedding. Old-fashioned tea tins are one of many collections that can be built from such shopping trips. Whether you wish to blend them with modern or classic decorating schemes, you can use these findings to put an economically and environmentally friendly spin on traditional floral centerpieces. Cluster inexpensive flowers such as carnations in recycled tea tins for a look that’s full of character.

Things You'll Need

• Tea tins
• Bowl
• Spoon
• Bleach
• Sugar
• Lemon juice
• Water
• Carnations
• Garden shears
• Floral stem wire

Instructions

1. Gather an assortment of tea tins. Choose tins that suit the decorating scheme of your wedding, such as faded vintage tins for a rustic wedding or bold tins to match vibrant décor. Vary tin heights and shapes for greater variety in your arrangements.

2. Mix the following ingredients in a bowl: 1 teaspoon bleach, 1 teaspoon sugar, 2 teaspoons lemon juice and 1 quart water. Use warm water between 100 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Adjust quantities as necessary to fill the number of tins you’ve selected.

3. Select a single tin in which to make your first arrangement. Fill it 3/4 of the way with your homemade solution. Choose a color from the tin’s label or a complementary color as the color for your carnations. Gather carnations in your selected color. The number of carnations will depend on the size of the container and could range from three flowers to several dozen.

4. Remove leaves from the stems of your flowers. Grasp the carnation stems together to create a tight, rounded cluster of flowers. Make sure the cluster is larger than the opening of the tin.

5. Trim the stems of your carnation cluster to approximately the height of the tin using garden shears. Make the stems just long enough so that the cluster will sit atop the tea tin’s opening. Cut at a 45-degree angle. Wrap the stems of the cluster with floral stem wire, joining them together. Place arrangement immediately in water-filled tin.

6. Repeat to make a variety of arrangements in your assorted tea tins. Use different, complementary colors of carnations that suit your decorations and match your tins. Stagger tins of different heights, with differently sized clusters of flowers, at the centers of the tables.

Tips & Warnings

• Let your centerpieces serve double duty. Fill your tea tins with soil and plant flowers directly in them, and let guests take them home as wedding favors.

• Use odd numbers of flowers in your tea tins for a natural-looking arrangement.

• Do not cut flower stems with scissors intended for cutting paper, as these could injure your flower stems.

References

• Marry You Me; DIY Carnation Bouquet; Annie Packman; February 2009
• Brooklyn Botanical Garden; Cut-Flower Care -- How to Make Your Fresh-Cut Flowers Last; Rose Edinger; March 2003

Resources

• Martha Stewart Weddings: Tea Tin Centerpiece
• Martha Stewart Weddings: Affordable Wedding Centerpieces