Flower Frogs
I’m a browser. I love to shop, but I don’t necessarily want to buy. I’m not always looking for a great deal, the find or anything else. Sometimes I’m just looking.
If you look long enough, you eventually find things.
Antique shows, garage sales, swap meets, vide-greniers, flea markets, brocantes, tag sales. Call them what you will, but they’re basically old stuff for sale. Price negotiable. Caveat emptor: buyer be ware.
In my thousands of browsing expeditions, I’ve seen hundreds of small, glass half-circles with lots of little holes on top: flower frogs. Priced anywhere from $3-50, clear to pale pink to blues and greens and blacks. Even swirly multi-colored frogs. Tennis to soft ball sizes.
For years and years I passed them by, then one time in Paris at a weekend street brocante, the brocanteur displayed his glass frog next to his cash box, with several pens and pencils poking out of the holes, like little flowers.
Voilà: a gift was born
- I travel frequently and need host and hostess gifts. The flower frog is the perfect
man-tique host gift. It’s small, practical, unique and not too expensive. Good chance he doesn’t already have one. Much nicer desk accessory than the standard pencil box. A conversation piece. And not too fragile or large or heavy to carry to your hosts’ home.
- A slightly smaller version is a perfect hostess gift: a brilliant display and storage container for makeup brushes: they’re easily identifiable and allow the brushes to dry properly after cleaning.
- They’re also great for arranging and displaying flowers! While a single glass frog artfully arranges flowers in a vase, who needs the vase! These glass frogs are pretty enough to display the flowers, and the holes hold enough water for the evening.
- Once you’ve started hunting flower frogs down, it can easily become a passion. Don’t stop at one. Run a collection of glass frogs, different colors and sizes if you like, down the center of your dining room table. They can display flowers, thin candlesticks, chopsticks, breadsticks, sparklers, flags: be creative!
- Know someone who crochets? No more searching for the right size crochet hook.
- Kids craft table? Store crayons, markers or paintbrushes.
I try never to pay over $10 for a frog, it depends how badly I need it and how many others I’ve seen for sale that day. Glass flower frogs are a great gift to stock up on for your gift drawer!
Moi note: Why are these flower holders called frogs? After doing some online research, the best answer I found was: a patent was issued in the 1940s where it listed this was a holder of flowers and sat in water like a frog. Thus the name stuck. Other articles attribute the history of flower frogs back to the 1600s. Moi has a delft brick flower frog I bought in Delft, Holland many years ago.
6 comments
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Great Blog!!! You’re the once who first introduced me to flower frogs – though I suspect my mom who used them my entire life (and I never noticed them) would disagree!!
My husband loves the flower frog you bought him for his pen collection – it’s always a conversation piece!
Now I know what to do with all the flower frogs that I come across! What a wonderful tip! You wouldn’t believe how many I have passed over at the estate sales that I help with! Now what can be done with all those metal ones with the sharp points??
Bonjour AD
A gift that’s a conversation piece is a good thing! I just noticed the one on TBG’s desk at work, and it prompted the blog. It’s funny how your eyes become accustomed and just stop noticing…
Moi
Hi VC
Thanks for the note. I too was looking for something to do with the metal pointy ones, here are a few ideas:
- note organizer for desk: keeps them all together instead of scattered all over. Just rest them between the spines
- mail holder: I’ve been using an old toast holder to keep TBG’s mail together until he reads it, but a metal flower frog would organize it just as well
- photo holder and display: 2 or 3 photos could easily be organized between the spines, and easily updated as new photos arrive. Plus its little and can easily be moved around
- card display: Christmas cards, birthday cards, get well cards: all of them could easily be displayed and arranged in a metal frog holder.
- place cards: one small metal flower frog at each place setting, with a few flowers surrounding it, would be gorg at an elegant ladies lunch. They don’t hold any water, but I think they’d last easily through the meal.
I think the secret is in the display! Just as I first noticed the glass flower frogs when a vendor used it to hold his pens, at an estate sale you could merchandise them up a bit by showing bargain hunters how you can use them: maybe use one on a table to say “All items $2″ or “Cash Only” . It will get the idea across, and generate a few more ideas.
Share with us any ideas you come up with
Bonne Annee
Moi
Awesome idea! Thanks for sharing! jack
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