boho chic: lace vases

it's easy to take inexpensive materials and turn them into a luxe look.
this pretty bohemian vase and floral arrangement are a great example...

made from two thrifted vintage cotton lace doilies and tassels,
a glass vase and two bunches of fake flowers from Dollar Tree,
arranged with wood beads and rattan wreaths that i had on hand here at home,
it gives a relaxed late-summer vibe to my office
 and also subtly fits my current yellow obsession ;) 

continue reading to see how easy it is to transform a cheap glass vase...

more than ten years ago, i created some 'lace vases' to sell at vintage shows:

they were snapped up by shoppers so fast, i wished i had made more!
(if you've got an eagle eye for detail, that lace tablecloth might look familiar...
it's the same one i used on the umbrellas in a previous post)

 

white vintage lace formed a theme in my booth for that summer show on my farm,
showing up on the vases, table linens, lampshades, and even covered a footstool
(that i no longer have a photo of).

even the wildflowers i gathered near our farm looked like white lace...

while the style shown here isn't what i'd call 'boho',
it shows that lace & crochet accents also work well with other design styles.
even in the Farmhouse Makeover i completed last spring, i used a lot of white crochet lace
that my friend's Mom and Aunt had created. 

here's how easy it is to create this DIY project:

supplies:
scissors . a glass vase . cotton twine in the same color as the doily
a crocheted doily that will wrap all the way around the vase

TIP: choose the doily first, then find a vase!
you want the doily to be no larger than the height of your vase (well, you could tuck in a little bit)
and yes, a round doily CAN be used on a tall vase - just center it.

.

my thrifted doily had these incredible 'paisley'-like scalloped shapes on one end...
i knew those would be a focal point of the finished design. but they were damaged,
so i used some bits of string to tie the ends back together.
once i had done that, i used the ends of those strings to secure the doily on the vase.

here's how: 

lay the doily out flat, then lay the glass vase at the end of the doily.

roll the vase forward, wrapping the doily around it.
i stopped before i rolled the vase over the scalloped ends, then did the next step:

i lifted the middle scallop up onto the vase, then fed the two string ends through the lace.
on the left, see the strings go UNDER the lace. 
in the next photo, i pulled them up and over the next row of crocheted lace,

then tied them in a knot.
i repeated that step with all three scallops,
making sure that the doily was very securely tied around the vase - no slipping.

IF i had had some wood beads, or even gold metallic beads, on hand,
i would have tied one to each scallop with the ends of the strings... but i didn't.
so i cut the strings off, very close to the end of the scallop so as not to be seen. 

here's a close-up of the vase, wrapped in the crocheted lace doily...
it looks good from every angle!

and as always, it's easily removable (slide it off then cut the strings from beneath)
so that the elements can be used in a different way in the future.

it wasn't enough for me to have lace ON the vase...

i wanted it IN the vase, too - so i made a flower from another crocheted lace doily
and two more from cotton thread tassels:

an oval-ish doily was folded in half, then quartered.
the pointed end was folded over, and secured with a small rubber band.
flip it over, and the lace falls into petal shapes!

i simply tucked this into the fake flowers, but you could push a wood skewer into the end 
to create a 'stem' to make arranging easier.

the tassel 'blooms', which remind me of carnations, were TOO easy:
i held the two tasseled ends together, then wrapped the cord around them tightly.
again, a wood skewer could be inserted to create a stem.

i like the texture and color details that they add to the simple arrangement.

and yeah, i use fake flowers. despite the prevailing attitude that it's not what's done.
hey, it's like 105 here, so i don't buy real flowers that will die in a day.
the selection of fresh flowers available in So Cal is woeful, anyway.

links to previous related posts:

boho style: lace dreamcatcher

boho style: lace umbrellas

boho style: backyard cabana

white lace in a farmhouse makeover

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