I admit that putting together a budget for hosting dinner parties is not my forte. But when push comes to shove I can put a flower arrangement together for under 10.00. The trick? Salal leaves! Available at most flower stores, salal is incredible inexpensive in comparison to flowers. Adding a bunch of salal to a small amount of flowers can easily create a gorgeous arrangement.

I always gravitate to white flowers when I go to the flower store. If I check carefully I can usually find flowers on sale - I try not to spend more than $5 for a bunch. Salal leaves will usually cost about $4 for quite a few stems.

Once I've opened the packages of both flowers and salal leaves, I trim all of the stems to the same length.

I then arrange the flowers and salal by starting with one stem of flowers and adding a stem of salal leaves. I keep alternating flowers with greenery until I've used everything. The dark shiny green leaves of the salal stems are a great compliment to any flower - from roses to daisies. As a result, a few stems of salal can bulk out any flowers to make a larger and more lush flower arrangement. Then I take the bunch and put in a vase. I also love using ceramic pitchers to stand in for a vase. Here, I've used one of my favourites: designer Sophie Conran for Portmeiron's white pitcher. I'm so happy that the flowers I bought with my $10 budget made two bouquets!