House Beautiful shout outs!

What does it mean when two people that I know are both noticed by House Beautiful within the same season?  #talentedfriends Laura meet Tami. Tami meet Laura.

Happy to know you both! 

See more of Laura Thomson Design here

– my go-to-pro for floral design –

Get to know Tami Ramsay of Cloth and Kind here

– met on #BlogTourLA in October –

Thanksgiving arrangement

My favorite spot to decorate in my home lately is the antique buffet in my foyer. You may have seen it recently in the YouTube video that I was asked to submit for the Design Sherpa “What Inspires You” contest.* This is one area in my home that is not completely surrounded by construction happenings! We are still working on the master bedroom project, which puts the kitchen/first floor powder room/ mudroom project on the back burner until we get the bedrooms/office situation straightened out.

We are getting very close though, and I am by nature incredibly patient, so it is all good. When this always-in-construction-phase is finally complete, it
will become a distant memory, and then I can
decorate to my heart’s content!

For now I am happy to have my vignettes.

Even a small bud vase with a single bloom can
provide a positive moment in a day.

But don’t worry – we do have a temporary kitchen set up in our dining room that is fully equipped with standard appliances and stocked cabinets, there just isn’t space for a stove. Looking on the bright side, without an oven, I will not be expected to do any holiday cooking from now until Christmas ; )

It will be nice to be the guest for the next two holidays instead of the host, and for that I am thankful! And living without a working kitchen seems like a minor inconvenience when there are so many people who are struggling to feed their families, not just during the holidays, but every day. Those are the people I worry about. I think about the people who are out of work or underemployed. I think about the people who experience the holiday not as a day off, but as just one more day without adequate means to provide for one’s family. But that is a post for another day ...

I hope your week is filled with people you cherish,
in comfortable surroundings, enjoying delicious
food, much laughter, fun and relaxation.

xoxo
yvonne


*P.S. To see who won the Design Sherpa “What Inspires You?” contest, click here. While I did not come in first place, I was happy to have been included in the top ten of the 100 “inspired” posts : )

Overflowing fall arrangements

Last night Bert Ford of The Ford Flower Company in Salem, NH was the guest speaker at the Village Garden Club of Lynnfield. He is a new favorite of ours ... he shows up with buckets full of flowers, foliage, stalks and more then proceeds to whip up a half dozen or so over-the-top arrangements while entertaining us with his musings on the art of floral design. He always provides us with new ideas on how to put together stunning arrangements using the latest trends in
color combinations and container styles.

For this autumn cornucopia, Bert used floral foam both inside and at the top of the midpoint of the woven container. He cut the pink roses down to about a couple of inches and added them in clusters for more impact. Ornamental kale, sheaths of wheat grass and miniature white pumpkins keeps this non-traditional color palette looking autumn appropriate.

A wide wicker basket (it was around 2 1/2 feet across) is filled with PeeGee hydrangeas, pine cones, green apples, pears, hypernicum berries, ornamental kale, and grasses along with fresh lilies and “permanent” Gerbera daisies. I can picture this at the back of a buffet or in front of a fireplace. An arrangement like this is likely to last a few weeks or more.

A trick that is a treat: Bert used a floral foam “hat” on top of this uncarved muted colored pumpkin. The foam has a hole in the center, it goes on top of the pumpkin like a beret, and the stem secures it in place. Next, fake moss is glued to the foam. All floral added to this foam piece – from the Chinese lanterns to the Gerbera daisies to the red berry clusters – are fake so it will last from season to season. Simply remove the floral hat and store it till next year. No carving and no water required! The pumpkin sits within a wreath of red berries for additional color and visual balance.

Square containers are still very popular in floral design, however, utilizing horizontal branches placed radially in the arrangement adds movement to the design while creating a wider display. The curious creatures seen here were fashioned out of apples and pears that were spray painted black. Hypernicum berries were used for the eyes (use a pin to attach to the fruit) and thick grasses (also spray painted)
were used for legs. They are inserted into the
arrangement using black floral pics.

A carved pumpkin can hold a tall vase of flowers as this one does (a Village Garden Club member brought this decorative centerpiece to our meeting).

A footed dish with a display of oranges was a nice

autumn-colored touch on the refreshment table.

The Ford Flower Company
is holding their annual

Holiday Open House

Saturday, November 20, 2010
from 8am to 5pm
Sunday, November 21, 2010
from 11am to 4pm

Refreshments will be served and a 25% discount
on holiday merchandise will be offered.

Call 603-893-9955 for more information