Years ago at a tag sale, we bought some ancient flower frogs, tiny spiked metal stands meant to hold flowers in a graceful arrangement. They are weighted so they won’t tip over. We never used them for flower arranging; instead we stuck pictures in them, for an impromptu, instantly changeable display.

We’ve had them on our list of things to photograph for ‘the improvised life’ and then stumbled on this image at the Etsy store of the wonderful blog French by Design. There, proprietor/blogger Si offers vintage treasures that she’s found.  She has one lovely flower frog for sale, and some great ideas for using them: “as name cards for my formal table when we have guests… You can also collect them and use them as wedding centerpieces or to hold special photos.“

The spiked flower frogs are most commonly used in Japanese Ikebana, and can be found new. You can find vintage flower frogs at the usual second-hand joints; Ebay has a trove.