Let me tell you somethin’ about these lil’ ol’ vases that’ll make your home décor come alive like a pack of frisky puppies. These pint-sized pretties may be small in stature, but they sure pack a punch when it comes to sprucing up your living spaces. Yessiree, they’ll happily perch on any shelf, tabletop, or windowsill, ready to show off their colorful personalities and add some pizzazz to your rooms.
Now, listen up – with a smidgen of creativity and a dash of style know-how, you can turn these mini vessels into regular ol’ showcases for all sorts of eye-catching goodies. We’re talkin’ flowers, greenery, baubles, and trinkets that’ll make your décor stand up and say, “Well, howdy there!” So, saddle up, get your imagination in gear, and let’s explore how these small vases can make a big impact in your home, partner!
Best Small Vases for Decorating
Before decorating your vases, start by picking vessels with shapes, sizes, materials and designs you love. Some top options include:
Mini Glass Vases
Clear glass vases allow colors and textures inside them to shine. Look for interesting shapes like bubbles, waves, ovals or squares. Frosted and tinted glass also diffuses and softens contents beautifully.
Petite Ceramic Vases
Vibrant glazes in every hue make ceramic vases eye-catching. Novelty shapes like animals, geometric patterns and sculptural silhouettes up the charm factor. Metallic sheens also pack decorative punch.
Dainty Metal Vases
Shining copper, brushed brass, gleaming silver and more metal vases infuse spaces sleek and modern or vintage flair. Go for lean cylindrical shapes, zig-zaggy contours or ornate laser-cut designs.
Tiny Terracotta Pots
Earthy terracotta pots work in most decors from farmhouse to mid-century modern. Look for petite pots with sweet elephant or animal shapes or opt for simple rounds.
Mini Bud Vases
Slender bud vases, sometimes called florist vases, offer modular options for scattering or grouping to build arrangements. Mix and match glass, ceramic and metal styles.
Diminutive Vintage Finds
Keep an eye out at secondhand and antique shops for chic little vintage vases. Old perfume bottles, silver salts and tiny trophy cups overflow with old-world personality.
With your vases selected, it’s time for the best part – filling them!
Pretty Floral-Filled Vases
Nothing beats fresh florals for bringing life and vibrance into small vases. Play with color palettes, textures and arranging styles for stunning displays anywhere in your home.
Monochromatic Magic
Sticking to a single saturated shade has a bold, graphic effect. For example, fill assorted vessels with orange tulips, fuchsia peonies or golden sunflowers. Mix in greens like palms or eucalyptus for added dimension.
Rainbow Brights
Why choose one hue when you can have them all? Pack a set of small vases with a vibrant spectrum of blooms in every color. Gerbera daisies, ranunculus, sweet peas and more all dazzle together.
Soft Pastels
If brights feel too noisy, dial it down with delicate pastels. Blush roses, lavender stocks, misty blue delphiniums and other gossamer flowers feel sweetly romantic. Intersperse with feathery ferns or dill.
Exotic Tropicals
Transport yourself to the tropics by filling petite vessels with exotic orchids, heliconia, anthurium, birds of paradise and other tropical beauties. Consider glazing vases in citrine yellow or emerald green to play up the theme.
Spilling Over
A trick that ups the visual impact of floral-filled vases is encouraging blooms to spill over the rim to create cascades of color and texture. Look for trailing greenery like ivy or creeping wire vines to accent this lavish look.
Mosses & Succulents
Go for petite plants besides florals too for cool textural intrigue. Clumping mosses, wheeling sedums, rosette echeveria or tiny cacti all elevate simple vases into living works of art.
Creative Embellished Vase Ideas
Take small vase decorating beyond basic blooms by adding artistic embellishments and accessories into and around vessels. This lets you get even more creative with colors, textures, shapes and concepts to suit any style.
Found Object Vases
Raid your studio, yard, beach trips or even garage to find fun objects that fit or accent petite vases. Try pebbles, acorns, marbles, sand, starfish, twigs, shells and more. Seal with resin if needed.
Meaningful Mementos
Tiny vases allow you to thoughtfully showcase little mementos in big ways around your home. Display a pretty stone, coin, ring or other trinket layered in sand, moss or beads inside dainty vessels for sentimental style.
Water Bead Fire & Ice
For magical shimmer and shine, fill clear round mini vases with water beads in fiery reds, oranges and yellows or icy blues, turquoises and purples. The spheres magnify mesmerizing color gradients and light effects.
Glitter Globes
Spark joy by adding bling! Coat the inside of pint-sized glass vases with clear-drying glitter glues, paints or epoxies then fill partially with decorative filler like faux snow, sand, beads or even thin branches. Dazzling texture and light refraction result.
Natural Dioramas
Tell a decorative story inside petite lidded glass vases. Construct miniature natural scenes like a rainy cityscape, fairy garden, seasonal landscape or desert oasis using found items like pebbles, bark, moss and dried florals secured with resin if needed.
Bubblegum Machine Cutesy
Vintage bubblegum machines get a modern makeover as vessels for showing off candy colors. Fill with gumballs, jelly beans, rocks candy, loose hard candies like mints or mini LED lights in bright hues. Display with toy figurines for extra fun.
Inventive Un-Floral Fillers
Dreaming beyond florals or plants? All kinds of alternative fillers can look smashing in small vases too. Load vessels with objets d’art, DIY accents or unexpected items from paper to produce for creative, convo-starting displays.
Paper Sculptures
Delicate handmade paper flowers, chains, pom poms, pinwheels or other sculptures add lovely lightweight texture that catches the light beautifully. Abstract pebbled, fringed, accordion pleated or fanned papers work too.
Dried Botanicals
Preserved botanicals like curly willow branches, cinnamon sticks, dried orange slices, large peppercorns, okra pods, seed heads, herbs, etc. last indefinitely, providing year-round natural texture perfect for small vases.
collected Treasures
Show off your most beloved little curios, souvenirs or discoveries inside dainty vessels. Display sea glass, pretty pebbles, shells, marbles, coins, figurines, ceramic animals, or even Lego buildings alone or layered in decorative fillers.
Unexpected Produce
Invent unexpected still life images with produce! Display mini oranges, kumquats, green beans, brussels sprouts, lady apples or single sunflowers. Prop food items on glass gems, beads, sand or decorative sugars inside tapered bud vases for stability.
Nature-Inspired DIYs
Get crafty creating proprietary vase filler designs that mimic natural textures. Some ideas: swirling resin embedded with leaves, feathers or petals; faux mini terrariums with reindeer moss; baked shredded paper “hay beds”; or painted wooden bead “pebbles.”
Smart Small Vase Display Ideas
The petite profile of small vases makes them perfect for tucking all around your home. Take advantage of their adaptable size by creatively displaying vessels on bookshelves, countertops, tablescapes, windowsills, stair risers and more.
Bookshelf Styling
Line a series of stacked books with a continuous row of matching or mismatched little vases full of blooms, spilling greenery, dried elements or DIY accents. This builds beautiful vertical gardens perfect for spotlighting with LED strip lighting.
Entryway Greeting
Welcome guests with cheer by lining a console or side table in the entryway with a bright burst of mini vases filled with fresh florals, ornamental branches or faux botanicals. Anchor arrangements with stacks of decorative coffee table books for handy height.
Powder Room Personality
Tiny vanities need not limit your design dreams for powder bathrooms. Cluster gleaming mini vases on diminutive surfaces or narrow shelving above toilets. Fill with simple greenery, a single showy stem like an orchid or peony, or non-floral focal points like candles, beads or stones.
Kitchen Color Pops
Incorporate small vases seamlessly onto open kitchen shelving for handy access. Keep frequently rotated fresh herb snippings like rosemary, thyme and sage growing in bud vases right in your working cooking space. Supplement with faux florals or fruit for longer-lasting kitchen cheer.
Dining Centerpieces
Mini vases make memorable alternative centerpieces for everyday dining or special events by taking up less visual space than traditional large arrangements. Create dispersed place settings with individual bud vases. Or adorn the tabletop with creative clustered compositions using multiples.
Windowscape Vignettes
Ledge windowsills perfectly suit lines of petite vases like a micro garden parade. Anchor assorted small vessels filled with miniscape florals, mosses, air plants, cacti and found objects. Backlight with natural sunlight or battery-operated fairy lights for picturesque glow.
Desktop Motivation
Personalize home office spaces by decorating desks and credenzas with special miniature vases holding meaningful mementos or a rotating selection of freshly snipped garden stems. Greenery and florals boost mental clarity and creativity while you work.
Extra Small Vase Decorating Ideas
Beyond standard small vases, exploring miniaturized options under 3 inches wide unlocks a whole additional world of petite possibility. Ultra-dainty vessels allow for nuanced creative displays that add intricate detail to shelfscapes, table settings and more.
Fairy Garden Vases
Live out magical fairy tales by constructing tiny natural worlds inside thumbprint sized lidded glass display domes under 3 inches tall. Handpick minuscule flowers like baby’s breath, bits of preserved moss and lichen with petite pebbles and bark. Add wee fairy figurines!
Dollhouse Decor
For another plunge into pint-sized pretend play, decorate dollhouse rooms with customized floral arrangements and plants in vases under 1 inch tall. Use faux flowers, preserved botanicals and realistic miniatures scaled down proportinately to each dollhouse room’s decor style .
Charming Charms
Show special keepsakes in a delicate new light by filling diminutive glass lockets or rounded resin baubles under an inch wide with metal charms, beads, sand or other trinkets. Wire wrap with jewelry chains to wear or display. Spark nostalgia!
Living Jewelry
Take the leading role in your own fashion fantasy by wearing living jewels. Attach micro propagation vessels or minuscule glass lockets to necklaces, bracelets, rings or hair clips. Display snippets of living mosses, plants like baby tears or bowiea volubilis, or preserved botanicals inside as verdant adornment.
Pet Memorial Tributes
Honor beloved pet companions passed with a weeping willow or angel wing display dome partially filled with their ashes or fur, porcelain clay paw print or other mementos settled on colored sands, beads, stones or mosses. Add a nameplate to the base for an immortal tribute less than 3 inches tall.
More Micro Decoration Destinations
Once you train your eye to decorating small, a world of creative display options opens up to accommodate petite vases. Here are more ideas where to seamlessly tuck fairy-sized vessels.
Bookcase Build-Outs
Most bookshelves have awkward narrow gaps around external edges or between uneven stacks of reading materials. Fill these visual voids with micro vases holding sprigs of preserved boxwood, eucalyptus, magnolia leaves or other foliage for lush appeal.
Picture Frame Perches
Lend extra life to gallery walls of framed photos or artwork by affixing small clear glass or acrylic display boxes with builtin ledges, like shadow boxes, above frames. Display mini floral bouquets or succulent plantings inside that align visually with larger pieces below for clever cohesion.
Houseplant Accouterments
Work tiny vases into houseplant styling by tucking diminutive glass vessels holding propagation starts or floral snippings into main pots as satellite planters. Nestle minis into tree stump planters or use thin glass tubes to separate cuttings being propagated right in soil of mother plants.
DIY Grid Gardens
Make ordinary spaces extraordinary by covering full accent walls with an artistic matrix of eclectic micro vases adhered to mesh squares or gridded wood boards. Curate funky living art galleries showcasing preserved mosses, air plantings, small cacti, cuttings and delicate dried botanicals.
Petite Vasecare Tips
While most standard vasecare tips apply for small vessels, their miniature scale makes a few extra considerations helpful for keeping pint-sized arrangements looking their best.
Weight Distribution
Ensure narrowed neck bud vases don’t tip over when filled by evenly dispersing contents across the opening to lower center of gravity before tightly packing additional items in tightly. Wrap base with floral putty if needed.
Water Maintenance
Check small vase water levels frequently, even daily in hot weather or heated rooms. Top off evaporated moisture to keep contents thriving. For slower drinking plants like succulents, closely monitor water so it doesn’t overflow vessels or cause rot.
Stem Trims
Keep cut bloom stems fresh by snipping 1/4 to 1/2 inch off the end every few days with sterilized floral shears. Trim stems diagonally to allow more water uptake area. Remove any spoiled foliage or flowers immediately to prevent bacteria spread.
Grooming Upkeep
Pay special attention to grooming petite vase contents, whether florals, botanicals or objects. Freshen preserved elements, brush pollen or dust off houseplants, gently wipe clean ceramics, crystals and sea glass and replace faded flowers often to maintain dazzling displays.
Creatively Celebrate Any Occasion
The delicate decorative nature of small vases makes them ideal for honoring a variety of holidays and occasions across seasons. Adapt ideas above like monochromatic color schemes, thematic fillers and layout formations to craft celebratory displays.
Valentine’s Day Romance
Make miniature statements to share affection on February 14th. Offer a tiny vase with one long-stem red rose or fill a series of little vessels with single stems of ranunculus or tulips in sweetheart pinks and reds. Arrange down a table runner or on bedside tables.
Easter Charm
Encapsulate spring’s hopeful spirit at Easter with cheerful pastel mini vases holding tender daffodils, hyacinths or painted daisies. Or fill clear glass vessels with plastic eggs, jelly beans, rainbow glass pebbles and seasonal silhouettes likes bunnies, chicks or eggs.
Patriotic Pride
Stand at attention for Memorial Day and Fourth of July with proud red, white and blue salutes. White mini bud vases housing single stems of red roses, gerberas, carnations or alstroemeria make an impact lined up on console tables or scattering down the center of picnic bench.
Ghoulishly Good Halloween
Have wicked fun decorating for Halloween! Black cast iron urns holding creepy branches, bare stems and monster figurines set the scary mood. Or craft kooky colorful arrangements pairing orange roses with ghoulish purple flowers and accessories like spiderwebs.
Handmade Holiday Spirit
‘Tis the season for decking halls from Thanksgiving through Christmas and beyond. Craft mantel garlands mixing merry mini vases filled with pinecones, ornaments and faux snow with clipped evergreen boughs tied up in tartan ribbons or jute. Group other holiday accented vases throughout entertaining spaces.
Best Brands to Buy From
| Brand | Pros | Cons | Price Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anthropologie | Trendy and unique styles, variety of materials like glass, ceramic and metal, often made by artisans | Limited availability of popular items, some quality inconsistencies | $12-$75 |
| CB2 | Affordable contemporary designs, lots of minimalist glass options | Less selection beyond modern styles | $4-$50 |
| West Elm | Mix of classic shapes and modern looks, glass, ceramic, stoneware and metals | Prone to chipping or breaking | $6-$125 |
| Match Pewter | Elegant precious metal handcrafted vases, unique forms | Very expensive, limited selection | $100-$300+ |
| Terrain | Nature inspired vases, artisanal glazes and treatments | Pricey | $22-$200 |
| World Market | Global traditional styles plus modern whimsical looks | Can lean kitschy | $5-$65 |
| Pottery Barn | Timeless shapes in glass and metals, classic styles | Higher end pricing | $12-$179 |
| Ikea | Extremely affordable glass and ceramic vases | Lower durability over time | $2-$25 |
| Crate & Barrel | Clean and simple contemporary designs | Limited novelty beyond classic styles | $6-$60 |
| Home Goods | Wide variety, great prices on ceramic and glass vases | Inconsistent inventory | $3-$40 |
FAQs
Good options for small vases include roses, tulips, daisies, ranunculus, sweet peas and any flowers with slender, upright stems such as lilies or snapdragons. Filler flowers like baby’s breath and greenery like ferns or vines also work well. Avoid wide, heavy flowers that will overwhelm tiny vases.
Change the water every 2-3 days for cut flower arrangements to prevent bacteria buildup. Use purified or distilled water rather than tap water to extend flower life. For mini plants like succulents that drink water slowly, change every 1-2 weeks.
Secure the vase by applying floral putty or museum wax to the bottom and pressing onto the display surface. Place the arrangement in a heavy angled glass or bowl to hold upright. Surround the sides with decorative rocks, beads or sand at the base to lower center of gravity.
Keep it simple! A few fresh snipped stems from the yard looks lovely. Rotate kitchen herbs and vegetables like cut carrots or dry beans. Or use found natural items like feathers, pine cones, smooth stones, shells or moss to quickly change up mini vases.
Check out thrift stores, yard sales or dollar stores for quirky vintage finds. Repurpose found objects from nature hikes or beach trips. Fold origami papers, newspaper or coffee filters into sculptural shapes. Replicate high-end looks by spray painting, adding glitter or other discount craft store supplies.
Conclusion
With the diversity of petite vases available today and the endless creative styling possibilities for filling them, it’s easy to elevate any space with these small-scale stunners. Hopefully the extensive decorating ideas and display inspiration above sparks innovative ways you can use tiny vases to add personalized panache to your home all year long. Unleash your creativity and let the embellishing begin!
