Who wants to put together an easy peasy wedding-worthy centerpiece? I used to find flower arrangements challenging but now I find it very therapeutic. And I have to say, the secret to creating beautiful flower arrangements is the frog lid (aka the lid you put on top of a vase that has a bunch of holes in it so that your flowers are spaced and stay in place). For some reason, it’s hard to find a frog lid/vase combo and the one I did find didn’t even have enough big holes so a lot of my stems would not fit through it. So, I am going to show you how to create your own frog lid (that will fit any vessel you choose!) and you will be well on your way to putting together beautiful creations of your own.
Materials:
- Clay (I used this oven-bake clay that only took 15 mins in the oven to harden)
- Dowel (Creating holes that are at least 1/2″ diameter is key)
- Rolling Pin
- Parchment Paper
- Spray Paint (this is my favorite type, color of your choice)
- Sealer (this one worked very well)
Step 1
Choose your vase/vessel that you want to use.
Step 2
Lay out your parchment paper (this is necessary so the clay can easily be lifted otherwise it will stick to your work surface) and roll out the clay into a circle (you’ll have to eyeball the amount of clay you think you will need to create a 1/4″ thick slab that will cover the opening of your vase).
Step 3
Invert your vase so that the opening is now on top of the rolled out clay. You only want a little excess so that your lid will just slightly go over the lip of the vase (this will create a slightly curved edge so that your lid stays in place). Gently press down on the vase so that the opening imprints slightly on the clay.
Step 4
Flip your vase upright, keeping the clay attached. Remove parchment paper and trim the excess clay around the vase’s opening (you can do this with a plastic knife). Again, remember to leave just enough excess so that the lid can “hug” the opening to secure it in place.
Step 5
Carefully remove the clay lid from the vase and lay it back down on the parchment (so the imprint of the vase is facing up). Take your 1/2″ dowel (or if you have a 1/2″ drill bit, you can always use the smooth end of that) to create your large holes. I did about 9 large holes and 12 smaller holes (1/4″) but how many you can fit will depend on the size of your lid. I would not go smaller than 1/4″ for your smaller holes since most stems would not be able to fit. And I find 1/2″ holes are large enough to fit most stems.
Step 6
Flip your lid over and gently poke the same holes again through the other side. You do this because the clay is thick and while it might look like it went through, you want to make sure all the holes are not blocked on both sides.
Step 7
You can smooth our any cracks with your fingers by gently rubbing the clay. Bake in oven at 275 degrees for 15 minutes.
Step 8
Once your lid is cooled, you can paint it! I used leftover wall paint I had, then spray paint and the a sealer. Next time, I think I can just skip the first step and use spray paint and sealer. I wouldn’t skip sealing it because I noticed after I did this sealer, the lid was very smooth and water was able to bead on top of it and not absorb.
Step 9
Now create your arrangement! You can’t really mess up a flower arrangement, but if you are looking for simple and stunning then eucalyptus and a white flower is always a a great combo.
I foresee making many more frog lids to fit different vases in my future. Hope you found this helpful and if you need a better visual, you can always hop over to my Instagram highlight reel and watch the process under my DIY Frog Lid highlight reel.
XOXO,
Erin