Iris and vintage mason jars

This summer I've had the opportunity to visit my family in the North Woods of Wisconsin. Our cabin sits right on Found Lake; one of the 20+ fresh water lakes in the area. One of the activities my mom and I like to do is plant flowers and take care of the garden. 

Today we decided to pick Iris from the garden that had just bloomed. We found a large mason jar from a local flea market that was a perfect fit for our bundle of Irish. 

This jar is special to my Mom because it says "Horlic Malted Milk Racine, Wi" which was an old factory in my moms hometown.

We cut about 20 Iris from the garden at the base of the stem. In order for the bloom to last longer, we cut them on a slant, in a larger jar, underwater; this allows the flower to "suck" more water instead of oxygen. 

We placed the flowers in the jar with tap water and filled to the top. The best way to put flowers in a vase is to start with a bundle of greens which will help hold the flowers together. We didn't have any greens so we skipped this step-but we did find wild ferns growing in the lot next to us (might be good for the next project). 

We criss-crossed the stems in the water to hold then together- it's all about balance. 

And snipped off the dead buds. 

So beautiful-Iris have such a fantastic color. 

It was such a windy day, we had to take it inside.

We found some pretty yellow flowers we added in. This really made the color of the Iris pop. 

So pretty. 

All finished! We used a yellow table cloth and added additional flowers/jars for fun. It makes a beautiful display in the kitchen or living area and turned out lovely.