Our favourite: Vintage glass bottles & flowers

This weekend I am going on a roadtrip with two of my best friends , and although shopping is not the reason for the trip, we are leaving at the crack of dawn to make sure we have time to stop at the many amazing vintage, antique, and opportunity shops that lie between Auckland and our southern destinations. I am on the look out for vintage glass bottles of all shapes and sizes so that I can recreate some of the arrangements I have been drooling over on some of my favourite design blogs.

I favour consistent design so I will be looking for a set of identical bottles, or at least a selection of bottles of very similar design. BUT mismatched bottles can look amazing too – especially if you are going for a more rustic, vintage look.

From old coke bottles, and milk bottles, right through to crystal jugs and medicine bottles, you should be able to pick them up for anywhere between $2 and $20 – thats the beauty of them.

To clean them up once you get home, soak them in a mixture of room temperature water and dishwashing liquid for a few hours, or try vinegar or baking soda for more stubborn stains. If you are dealing with ornate bottles that have dirt trapped in between the pattern, try soaking them in a mixture of water and a false teeth cleaning tablet, like Polident

Pick up a variety of flowers from your Mum’s garden, local green grocer or dairy – the flowers are much cheaper than buying from most florists. I LOVE the Bhana Brothers Fruiterers on Ponsonby Road, just up from Chapel Bar, and Dipak Superette, 551 Great North Road, Grey Lynn – in the main Grey Lynn Shops (where I got these beauties from)

Here are some of my favourite ways to use vintage glass bottles and flowers

Image from Dreamy Whites