Basket Flowers

This tiny silver toned floral basket makes a great way to collect small flowers for a table.

Basket Flowers

A friend recently told me she admires the fresh flowers I have around my house, especially the small bouquets tucked on tables. Come to think about it, I rarely seem to see small flowers in home improvement shows so this is going to be about how to easily incorporate those tiny gems into your home.

Right Size Container

The first step is to find the right size container that fits the space where you want to place flowers. I like having flowers on my den coffee table where I do some of my work. I also like fresh flowers on my kitchen island but I have to mitigate that location with cats that like to stop by and munch on anything that is long, skinny and green so long, skinny and you know what is out for the kitchen.

Actually I don't add long and skinny greens to my den coffee table, either, it just makes things simpler and - well, quieter. I don't have to police the flowers as much, although any greens do seem to invite trouble.

One of my favorite thrift store finds for the den is this little silvertone floral basket that is 6x4x4 inches, not counting the long handle. It has a clear plastic liner inside that holds water, or I could have popped a glass jar the size of the inside of the basket to keep the flowers hydrated if the liner had been missing. The flowers sit nicely low to the ground in this flower arrangement. I could also have cut the flowers with longer stems so they filled the space between the basket and basket handle so this gives me some versatility.

Now that the growing season is starting to slow down, I cut some geraniums from my deck plants as anchors and then started to add whatever else I could find in my garden that was small.

Geraniums from my deck add color to other tiny flowers cut from my garden.

Miniature roses take center stage when they are added to these little bouquets, especially red ones. I have only one in this combination but it sits nicely in the center of the flowers, anchored on either side by the peach geraniums and purple verbena.

This was my first flower bouquet with salmon lobelia and one Black Eyed Susan flower.

This is my second bouquet with the miniature red rose, the first one was leftovers from pruning: salmon Lobelia, pink phlox, self heal and a couple of butterfly bush flowers initially filled the silver flower basket.

Other fresh flowers I added included liriope, forget me nots and the sweet little white flowers that are just opening. Don't get too close to those, though, garlic chives are pretty but they are definitely not sweet-smelling!

Charlotte

How to Add Daffodils

Found this bunny basket at a local Salvation Army and removed all of the plastic decorations.

How to Add Daffodils to Baskets

Over the years, friends have asked me how I make these flower arrangements in baskets and vases and they are quite simple.

This rabbit was not planned. I was looking for flower vases at our local Salvation Army store when I ran across this little rabbit basket. Originally it had a plastic burgundy hat, old ribbon around it's neck and some grey plastic bib, all quickly removed to reveal the charming black-eyed bunny.

Whether it's this rabbit basket or just a plain one, it's easy to add spring daffodils or any flowers of your choice. Find a glass container that will fit inside the basket to hold water. I picked one up at the Salvation Army store since I wasn't sure what I had at home.

Wash it out with hot water and let it dry. If you use soap, make sure it is washed out well or the soap can make the flowers droop faster.

Don't worry what kind of container you use, although clear or light colored is better than something dark.  Once the flowers are added, it won't matter what you have them in because the flowers will cover the bowl.

I enjoy a mixture of daffodils from my garden, or you can make a bouquet of the same flowers.

The trick is to cut the flowers so that they have room to bloom but won't fall over. I will test cut one to make sure I have the right stem length, and then cut the rest.

I also use clear florist marbles placed around the flowers to keep them standing upright in the glass vase in the basket.

No problem if you don't have the florist marbles, rocks or even washed driveway gravel will work.

Once you add the marbles or rock gently around the daffodil stems, don't forget to slowly add room temperature water until the container is full.

Place the flowers in marbles, or rocks to keep them stable, then add water in a container.

For 20 years or more, I used to take these cut flowers into my office's coffee room. I'm still getting adjusted to being retired from that job so I placed the bunny where I could enjoy it, on my den coffee table.

Bunny basket holding fresh-cut daffodils on my den coffee table.

The forecast is for cold temperatures and possibly snow over the next few days. I will enjoy these signs of spring with my tea as winter makes it's last stand outside, or so I hope!

Charlotte

Pantone 2017 Color

Some "greenery" items already around my house, so odd to be on the cutting edge!

Pantone 2017 Color "Greenery"

For those of you who like to be on the cutting edge of cool, the provider of professional color standards for the design industries has declared the 2017 "it" color as "greenery." My newspaper editor background tends to fume just a tad with the proliferation of non-words in our current vocabulary but I like this new word. I would have been fine with just "green" but "greenery" has extra panache.

Pantone defines "greenery" as "fresh and zesty yellow-green shade that evokes the first days of spring when nature's greens revive, restore and renew." If you know me, you are undoubtedly not surprised that this is a favorite color of mine. A visiting friend recently noted how nice my furniture looks in my sea of wintering over inside plants. I do, and will continue to contend, that adding something living and green will spice up any room and home decor, any time of any year.

Leatrice Eiseman, Pantone Color Institute executive director, put their color choice in context. While the colors last year - baby blue and baby pink - "expressed the need for harmony in a chaotic world, Greenery bursts forth in 2017 to provide us with the hope we collectively year for amid a complex social and political landscape.

"Satisfying our growing desire to rejuvenate, revitalize and unite, Greenery symbolizes the reconnection we seek with nature, one another and a larger purpose. The tangy yellow-green speaks to our desire to express, explore, experiment and reinvent, importing a sense of buoyancy. Through its reassuring yet assertive vibrancy, Greenery offers us self-assurance and boldness to live life on our own terms, during a time when we are redefining what makes us successful and happy."

Pantone calls this color "nature's neutral," noting it compliments a wide range of color palettes. Adding Greenery to interior furnishings can "created the illusion of bringing the outdoors inside and provide a sense of respite."

I love green, from the living kind to greens in quilts, this green sleeping cats throw is a personal favorite.

The last time a shade of green was designated as an official Pantone color was 2013, when the darker emerald green was featured.

For those of you wanting the exact color match, Greenery is Pantone 15-0343. 

"Greenery" has always been "in" at my house, whether inside or outside.

Live plants that can easily add that color to your home decor include geraniums, herbs, philodendrons...oh, anything live and growing looks wonderful.

How about that, I am finally in style!

Charlotte

Fabric Holiday Wreath

One of the holiday traditions is adding wreaths to our home decor. You can get the family involved, too. You could make this fabric holiday wreath for almost any occasion, or no occasion at all if you just want to use up fabric scraps or break into your secret, holiday-themed fabric stash. No worries, we all have them!

Start with one of those craft store wreaths that look like a bunch of straw bundled together. You want something you can easily poke holes in. Don't remove the clear wrap unless you don't mind those little pieces falling all over your floors.

These wreaths are available at most craft stores and big box stores with craft sections.

Cut fabric pieces into 2-inch squares with pinking shears. You could use all red fabrics or all holly green fabrics. I couldn't decide which one to use so I used both.

Pinking shear fabric edges give fabric squares an easy finish and add texture to the wreath.

Once you have pieces cut, have little hands punch holes literally into the wreath with a safe bamboo chopstick. If adults are helping, use closed scissors to poke a hole, then center a fabric square on the scissor point and insert into the hole.

Bamboo sticks make a safe tool for little hands to help making the wreath.

Once the wreath is full, add a wire and twist at the back so that you can easily hang it. You can add a wire before you start poking fabric in but it may be hard to find later.

Adding a loop of wire makes hanging the wreath easier.

I have my fabric holiday wreath hanging inside my front door so I can enjoy it. I'm also thinking it would make a nice addition to a fireplace mantel.

Almost forgot. Don't forget to add a bow!

Wired ribbons hold their shape better than plain ribbons but either one will work.

This fabric wreath is easy to make and will be a nice addition to your holiday decor for many years to come!

Charlotte

Embroider Stains Away

A friend of mine recently asked who was the designer of one of my favorite sweaters and pointed at flowers I had embroidered on it. Not that I don't appreciate good sweaters, but I had to chuckle - the reason I had the flowers on the sweater was to cover a stain!

So if you do any kind of embroidery, don't throw that favorite shirt or sweater out. Add embroidered flowers over the stain, then scatter a few more so that it looks like a deliberate pattern.

My favorite flower is the daisy. It's also one of the easiest embroidery stitches.You can embroider daisies plain, in the same color as the shirt, or make it more fancy by using different embroidery floss colors, adding french knot centers and green leaves out of the same simple daisy embroidery stitch.

As far as the "designer" sweater, I took a tip from a rose pin at the top of the sweater and added three small rosettes over the stain in a Brazilian embroidery style called "rococo."To make the rosette, pull needle half way around the center spot; wrap floss around the needle like a french knot 10-15 times, then pull gently so the thread is not too tight but is forming one of the rose edges. Secure with a stitch over the center of the long french knot. Keep adding rose edges until you have the stain covered. You can add a little green leaf, or group several rosettes in the same area. Use your own embroidery style; ribbon embroidery would work as well. Not only practical but apparently quite the fashion, too!

Do you salvage something creatively with your embroidery?

Charlotte