Voilà! It's a vase

Think the only vases you can present pretty bouquets in are the ones you buy at a fancy home store?

Just look around your kitchen, your grandmother's attic or even at garage sales for everyday items and interesting shapes that can serve as charming "vases."

I've seen two beautiful arrangements recently: a kitchen-table bouquet at an old beach house that used wild flowers, blue delphiniums and an American flag casually placed in a cobalt coffee canister, and table arrangements by a teacher who used her favorite "Best Teacher" mug collection as vases for a dinner party.

In my home, I found that a child's rainboot, a tea tin, a balsamic vinegar carafe and a paper gift bag made handy, inexpensive and instant vases.

Making arrangements

A rainboot full of chartreuse mums and foliage is a great centerpiece for a shower or a child's party.

A hydrangea nosegay in a pretty mauve tea tin is a perfect gift for a friend or a hostess (you can wrap the tea bags separately).

For a sophisticated and elegant look, add a spring of montbretia to a carafe.

And for a really easy gift bouquet, place a cheery mix of daisies in an all-purpose paper gift bag.

Ideas that hold water

Other items from around the house that make ideal vases include an old-fashioned crock to fill with fall leaves or greens, an ice bucket full of orange blossoms or lemons and limes, a wine decanter or an antique medicine bottle with a single-stem rose or anthurium.

You can also use a soup terrine, martini and Champagne glasses, biscotti tins, salt and pepper shakers with screw-tops, condiment jars, candle holders and colored glass water bottles.

Budget Bouquets is an occasional feature in digs.