doing one's own flower arranging
Refers to the act of arranging flowers oneself, often in contrast to having a professional do it. Used in contexts like ikebana or casual flower arrangement.
She decorates the entrance with flowers she arranged herself.
marrying or making a mistress of a geisha
Historical term from the pleasure quarters; refers to a patron taking a geisha as a wife or mistress. Rare in modern usage.
In the Edo period, wealthy merchants sometimes took geisha as their mistresses.
Standard kanji spelling for this expression.
Alternate kanji spelling; 活ける is a common verb for arranging flowers.
Compound of 手 (te, 'hand') and 生け (ike, 'arranging' or 'keeping alive'), from the verb 生ける (ikeru). The second sense is a metaphorical extension from 'keeping by one's own hand' to 'keeping a geisha as one's own'.