Have you heard of ikebana? When I first started working for artist Jake Johnson at our community pottery studio, I was completely naive to what this was, so don’t feel bad if you hadn’t heard of it, either. To my, admittedly, still-limited knowledge, ikebana is a form of Japanese flower arranging, and focuses on balance, movement, minimalism, asymmetry, and harmony with nature. It’s a beautiful art form, and I love seeing how different artisans practice this style of flower arranging.

The reason I first learned about ikebana at the pottery studio is because Jake and a few of our other community artists make their own ceramic vases meant specifically to be used for ikebana arrangements. You can see the style of vases that Jake makes above/below and here on his Etsy shop. I’m going to use a few of his lovely vases to create some of my own DIY ikebana floral arrangements in today’s blog post. Keep scrolling for photos of my own personal process, plus tips for how to get this look yourself.

I’m certainly no expert when it comes to this centuries-old Japanese technique of floral arranging, but I try to keep the basic key elements in mind when putting together a composition. I also learned a lot from this book about ikebana, and from Jake when styling his vases for galleries/Etsy, so I’ll share just a handful of the tips I’ve picked up over the past couple of years. That said, I’m still very much a novice, so don’t scrutinize my final creations too closely. I understand the concepts, but being able to execute them correctly is going to take time and practice.

DIY Ikebana Floral Arranging Tips:

1. Cut your flower stems straight across at the bottom instead of the angled cuts you’ve been told to do for traditional tall vase arrangements. A straight cut will allow the metal floral frog, which is often found in ikebana vases, to pierce your stems more firmly.

2. Keep the rule of three in mind. You’ve heard me talk about this rule when it comes to styling shelves because a grouping of three always looks more balanced, and the same goes for ikebana. Arrange an odd number of stems, and you may also want to choose three different types of flowers to give the arrangement more (restrained) character.

3. Try using exaggeratedly tall stems to make the final arrangement more sculptural and unique.

4. Don’t feel like you just need to use petaled flowers! Incorporate plain greenery, like grasses and cut leafy branches, to act as a background for your arrangement.

5. Consider how negative space might add dimension to your arrangement. Simplicity is one of the main concepts of ikebana, so less is always more here. I’m clearly still working on making my arrangements more simplified, but I think the type of flowers you use also plays a big part in this. My grocery store blooms limited my options…

6. Think of the arrangement from top to bottom. With traditional tall vase arranging, you’re mostly going to be concerned with the topmost area of your flowers, but with ikebana you have more freedom to consider the lower planes of your arrangement, too. In other works, arrange high and low. I love when ikebana artists actually let the flowers drape so far down that they lay directly on the tabletop.

Ikebana is thought to date all the way back to the sixth century, so there are, not surprisingly, a lot of opinions and traditional concepts surrounding this art form. I’m sure that I break just about all of those rules when arranging my own DIY ikebana centerpieces, but that’s okay. I do this because it’s relaxing and it allows me to be creative with color and shape. Ultimately, I hope that you have fun with this project! Arrange your ikebana until it feels just right to you.

If you want to try this floral arranging style on your own, visit Jake’s Etsy shop here to pick out your vase. We add new ikebana vases each month that feature Jake’s signature rounded design, so keep checking if you’re hoping for a specific color. This book was also really helpful in giving me inspiration as I worked on the arrangements you see in today’s blog post. Send me photos of your finished ikebana centerpieces! I’d love to see what you come up with.

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