DIY repurposed flower domes make beautiful gifts and are simple to create.

You can make several at a time, leaving you with unique and handmade presents ready for birthdays, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day and housewarmings. They are also very affordable, but the best part about them is their low impact on the environment: taking repurposed food jars that would normally end up in the recycling bin and transforming them into forever-lasting pieces of beauty. What more could you ask for in a gift? 

I think the winter time is perfect for making these special gifts because you can use dried flowers from the previous year, reminding you of sunny days and keeping you mindful of the soon approaching spring.

DIY repurposed flower domes are a great example of green gifting because all needed materials (jars, driftwood and flowers) can be repurposed. If you are super resourceful, this project could potentially cost you nothing!  

That brings me to Green Gifting Tip #5: Use Repurposed Materials Whenever Possible! 

Repurposed materials are not only easy on the wallet but also on the environment, using less resources than recycling. Repurposing also really engages your imagination, and you will have a sense of pride for being so clever. Lastly, you can feel good about the lower impact on the environment than if you were to purchase new items for gifting.

So, let’s make some! The first material you need are dried flowers. To make this gift as green as possible, try drying flowers from a gifted bouquet (a fine example of repurposing) that you would normally throw out or compost. You can also try growing your own flowers from seed. Remember to support local seed companies if possible and grow species that are good for drying. Check out Silver Falls Seed Company for an example of a local (to me) seed company that offers native plant seed, and even flower seeds that are great for pollinators.

Another affordable option for dried flowers is to buy cheap bouquets from grocery stores and dry the contents. Granted not all flowers will dry well, so look for bouquets that contain statice, eucalyptus, baby’s breath, mini roses, lavender and straw flowers. One free option is to gather items from the outdoors, such as pine cones, feathers, wildflowers, dried grasses, etc. Not everything in your dome has to be a flower, and the contrast that these other items can add is wonderful, so get creative!

The next item you will need for my DIY repurposed flower domes are food jars that have been thoroughly cleaned.

Make sure to remove all label and glue residue from the glass (91% rubbing alcohol is very helpful for this). Don’t forget to save your lids because you will need them for this project! In the above picture, you can see an artichoke jar, a pickle jar, a horseradish jar and 3 honey jars. Pasta jars also work well. The wider the mouth of the jar, the easier it is to cover the flowers at the end, so keep that in mind too when saving jars. 

You will also need some driftwood. I consider driftwood to be a repurposed item because normally it would remain unused on the beach. I recommend using driftwood instead of floral foam for two reasons.

The main reason is that floral foam is not environmentally friendly because it cannot be composted or recycled, and it contains toxic elements including formaldehyde.

The second reason is that I find driftwood to be naturally beautiful, and therefore adds to the aesthetics of the piece.

Make sure you pick a piece of driftwood that will work well with the size and shape of the jar you selected. One end of the driftwood will need to be somewhat flat so that you can glue that end to the lid. The width of the driftwood should be no wider than half the width of the lid to ensure you will have ample room for flowers to fill the jar without them being squished against the glass. You also want the height of the wood to be no more than ⅔ the height of the glass so that your arrangement can fill the top part of the dome. See some examples pictured below.

An alternative for driftwood is to repurpose a piece of styrofoam from shipping material. Styrofoam can be hard to recycle, so using it again for shipping or for a craft project is preferred to throwing it away. Just cut it to the desired size with a knife. You can even paint the styrofoam green with acrylic paint if you want, or just make sure to hide the white styrofoam with an ample amount of dried flowers. Poke holes into the styrofoam using a toothpick, going deep enough to provide a place for the flower stems.

If using driftwood, you will also need a small hand drill to make holes in the wood. If you don’t have a drill, perhaps you can borrow one from a friend or neighbor. An alternative to drilling holes in the wood is to wrap and glue the top of some lace around the wood, allowing it to dry overnight (see pic below). You can then stick the flower stems in the small holes in the lace to hold them in place.

Lastly, you will need some wood glue, which you might already have.

After gathering all of your materials, follow these easy steps and watch videos below:

• Drill holes into the driftwood, spreading the holes out and going deep enough to hold flower stems in place. If using styrofoam, paint then add holes with a toothpick. If using lace, wrap 2-3 pieces of lace around the driftwood and glue just the top of the lace to the wood, allowing it to dry well.
• Glue bottom of driftwood or styrofoam to the center of the inside of the lid with wood glue. Make sure glass will fit over and allow it to dry well.
• Optional, glue moss and pine cones to the inside of the lid, going around the driftwood and covering most of the inside of the lid, making sure to allow room for the jar to screw onto the lid. Allow glue to dry well.

• Start placing dried flowers, grasses, feathers, etc. inside the drilled holes, making sure to cut the stems short enough to stay in the holes. They will need to fit under the glass, so they can’t be sticking out too far.
• Pick your best flowers to be accent pieces at the top of the arrangement, filling in the sides with smaller flowers and contrasting items such as seed pods, dried grasses or even a miniature animal or mushroom. The possibilities are endless!
• After covering the driftwood to your desire, slowly place the jar over the arrangement, gently squeezing the flowers towards the center. Screw the lid on tightly. Viola, you’re done!
• You can always open up your glass dome to change or add things, just do it slowly and carefully. A chopstick can really help in rearranging items.
• Now you get to decide who gets to receive these beauties!

These make lovely and captivating centerpieces, even for weddings and other special events, and can help keep costs down for those occasions. I also love them on window sills, but I do recommend keeping them away from intense sunlight because the colors can become faded. However, this gift will truly keep giving because the glass will preserve the flowers and your unique arrangement indefinitely.

It’s been an honor to share my DIY repurposed flower domes gifting idea with you. I deeply appreciate you reading this and hope it inspires you to repurpose some items while getting creative!

Maker of Pretties,

Brigitte Lyn McBride