Easter Flower Nests

made from curly willow and lily grass

 bupleurum, larkspur, buttons, and snowdrops (the only thing blooming in the garden!)

Jeremiah and Kelsey's Rehearsal Dinner

I did the flowers for the rehearsal dinner of some friends of ours this past weekend. They held it New Year's Eve in a log cabin with a roaring fire, loads of candles, mercury glass, and white flowers - just gorgeous. The mother of the groom had the fantastic idea of birch "vases" with a ball of white flowers on top so that's what we did! And they turned out great!

I glued oasis foam on top (with oasis floral glue which is meant to hold up to water), and used eskimo roses, white hydrangea, white stock (so it smelled heavenly!), and seeded eucalyptus.

For a more permanent vase or longer lasting arrangement, you could hollow out the birch and insert a vase. (Just takes a fair bit more work!)

Flower Girl Wands

 

My two little nieces, ages 3 and 1 1/2, are going to be the flower girls in my sister's wedding this next Saturday.  My sister-in-law was worried that Amara (1.5) would have difficulty throwing petals and so we decided to make wands with bells.  We're hoping she'll be so excited to wring the bells that she won't get scared by the audience staring at her.

They've been a hit so far - she was running around with it, waving it like crazy when she woke up from her nap.

I'm an advocate for fresh flowers but fake flowers are fabulous for things like this -especially when Amara starts dragging it on the floor. And you can make them a week ahead!

Supplies for 2 wands:
1 - 1/4in wood dowel cut in half available at Michaels ($.59)
white spray paint (already had)
glue gun (already had)
14 fake carnations ($.59 ea)
ribbon ($2.00)
tulle (already had for the wedding)
wedding bells available at Michaels or the Dollar Store ($1.00)
Total Cost: about $6.00 per wand

Spray paint the dowels.

Remove the carnation heads.

Cut 2 long lengths of both ribbon and tulle.  (You can trim them after they're tied on.)

Tie the tulle and ribbon onto the top of the dowel.  Secure with some hot glue.

Take three of the carnation heads and attach one by one with glue to the dowel and to each other.
Attach the remaining four to the bottom -covering any green that might show from their stems.  Make sure they are firmly attached!  They'll get waved around and smashed into things.
When the glue is dry tie on two bells to the tulle.  Knot well. Add a dot of glue if needed.

(I'll make sure and post a picture of the girls in their dresses with their wands!)

Flower Design Tips: Dahlia

I've already featured Dahlias, but  I didn't explain how to work with cut dahlias and since I was arranging some they were on my mind.

In order to extend their life, pick them when it's cool in the evening (unless of course you are buying them at the grocery store).
Boil water.
Get a heavy duty glass vase and pour in about 2 inches of your boiling, yes boiling!, water into the vase. Strip the lower leaves, trim the end, and place the dahlia in the water with the flower face leaning out from the vase (to avoid any steam damage to the petals.) I know it sounds crazy but you won't kill the flowers! This allows the flower to soak up the water and create a seal.
Let the flowers sit in the water overnight. In the morning you can re-cut them and put them in an arrangement - you do not need to re-boil them.

Pretty nifty trick huh!?

I mixed bupleurum (one of my absolute favorite greens!!) in with the dahlias above for a quick hand tied bouquet.

p.s. giveaway coming tomorrow...