prom corsage season

1- thin straight florist wire
2- florist wire cutters
3- tricillium (filler flower to use instead of baby's breath)
4- white dendrobium orchid blooms (focal flowers)
5- bear grass (I use it to make the corsage more modern with small loops and texture)
6- wristlette holder
7- floral tape

The prom corsage. My first encounter with it is was in the movie Harry and the Henderson's when he eats Sarah's 15th birthday orchid corsage. After that it I remember seeing my older sister's corsages stored in the fridge after their dances. Finally in high school I received my first. It was for a fall homecoming dance my Junior year and I remember my date's mother making sure it matched my dress perfectly. It hung dried in my room on my bulletin board for years accompanied by the others I received.

Prom season in full swing everywhere! I spent my Wednesday evening for 5 hours twisting tape and wiring dendrobium orchids into wrist corsages for a local Junior prom. Sometimes I can't help but try them on when I am done to make sure it looks its best. Im not sure I can do a DIY post on how to make them. They are pretty detailed, but maybe in the near future I will do a boutonniere which is much simpler!

garden plans

plant this note pad, terrain $8

Have you ever planned a garden out? I mean really plan it, with a sketched layout picking out specific plants or laying out your vegetable garden?
This is my first year with a yard of my own with space to grow a garden and sew some seeds. Very exciting. I did not design a garden plan this year but as I was planting up some marigolds next to my veggie box, I was dreaming of the day when I can plan out an elaborate garden and spend hours in it. Until then here are some inspiring images from a vintage home garden book I have:

I love elaborate garden design layouts. I think they are artistic to look at with all of the geometric shapes and curves. I enjoyed taking landscape design while studying horticulture in college. It actually made me feel able to finally draw something artistic!

some basic landscape design shapes so you can get started!

friday morning petal skirts

fabio bartelt, from ffffound, and twist from flickr


The last of my daily morning posts this week. Soft, feminine and frilly photos that make me want to spin around like a little girl.

happy weekend!

thursday morning: spider plant propagation

a spider plant I used in an outdoor container planting last week

In my last post a reader made a comment about how "plants seem to go through fashion cycles". Is this true? If so, can I change this and get some back in style?

How about the spider plant. As seen in houses abound in the 70's plant craze, you rarely see them anymore. The leaves are beautiful and variegated (green with white lines) and I think, if placed in the right pot and space in your home, a bit modern.

Little baby offspring shoot out from the mama spider plant and are easily rooted to make new little spidey plants. The photo above is from my recent trip to the greenhouse. We snagged a few of theses spider plants to incorporate in our outdoor container plantings. I cut off a few of the baby offspring and simply stuck them in a vase of water at home on my kitchen shelf to encourage root growth. That was a week ago and already I am seeing some progress!! As soon as more roots grow they can then be placed in a little pot with soil.

i'll keep you updated on my spidey's progress.

It's funny, in college I had a neighbor with plant fever. He would go around campus and take cuttings of different indoor plants and then propagate them in his apartment. I'm not encouraging steeling cuttings from college campuses and malls, but hey it can be done :)


-christina


also check out the kind words and recommendation Elle Decor (!!!) said about me and flores del sol blog here!!

wednesday morning garden scenes

Dreamy garden scenes. Photos from the Del Mar Fair in San Diego. I love the purple wandering jew, one of my favorite plants, creeping out of that nightstand.
I wish it would stop raining here in Jersey. I've got planting to do! It's been 4 days and its not looking to stop anytime soon. Woof.

tuesday morning art

double exposed paintings by Pakayla Biehn. So fresh and intriguing.
via poppytalk.

monday morning mugs

le Vintage Maison has a beautiful collection of floral-y mugs going on in her shop, many of which are Japanese. Check out her vintage shop here. I hope you had a happy weekend. I enjoyed getting ready for our vegetable garden by buying wood to make a raised bed!

a busy week

Ask any florist and they will tell you, Mother's Day is killer. It killed me. But everyone has/had a mother and loves to show them appreciation. I sure hope all the recipients of my fresh and dried flower arrangements enjoyed them!
This week has been dominated by container planting. What lovely weather Julie and I have had to be outdoors planting up pretty containers. The image above is of a grower we go to and the isles of begonias warming and growing in the sun waiting to be shipped off to their destinations. That's jersey fresh!

a sneaky peek of a container planting we designed yesterday:

white mandevilla vine trellis, coral geranium, purple petunia, purple verbena and little white globe flowers


I plan on gardening a bit in my yard this weekend. I'm so excited to finally have a yard this year! Enjoy your fin de semana!
-christina

felt and fabric rosettes

Recently I've become obsessed with making fabric and felt flowers. My sister just had a baby girl so I sent her these (above) that I made. And funny thing, she was on the same wavelength, yet again, and sent me a fabric flower necklace for my birthday and some flower clips she made for my baby!!

I've also made lots for my girls and for my new baby girl on the way too (im now 31 weeks hooray!). They are very fun to make.

I ordered my wool felt (not the same kind of felt you buy at the craft store but sturdier) for the baby flowers from giant dwarf and the elastic for the headbands from jasmineashley.
The thick white band on the bottom headband is actually made from a white knee-high I cut and glued together. I the found vintage fabrics and things while thrifting.

my little girl sporting a yellow rosette I made

Here are some great DIY tutorials that I got my inspiration from!!
cherry street cottage: fabric flower tutorial
my sparkle: Rolled Fabric Flowers
little miss momma: pom fabric flowers
make it and love it: wool felt flowers for baby

for more tutorials visit my DIY board on pinterest and get making some rosettes! Don't have a baby girl? Make some rosettes for your shoes, a necklace or your own hair!

im signing off for the busy weekend I will be having making a million floral arrangements and then traveling to Virginia. Happy mother's day dear friends!

it's container planting season!

It's my favorite time of year. Mother's day keeps me busy with my etsy shop, and I free lance at a local florist with fresh flowers for the big day. As soon as all the mother's have their flowers and we get a day or two off, my friend Julie and I jump full speed into our container gardening business, Fresh Art Plantings. We do container gardening/ plantings in Short Hills, Millburn, Summit, Livingston and the surrounding New Jersey areas.

I love getting filthy and covered in dirt. I also love heading to the wholesale greenhouses and picking out color palettes and mixing textures. This year will be slightly difficult being almost 8 months pregnant but I think I can manage :)

for more of my container plantings go here.

Would you be interested in a DIY tutorial for your summer planters?
Start by picking out some planters (my suggestions here) and join me back here in a few weeks!