The Craft Begins

My mom hates roses.  She hates all cut flowers, but especially roses.  It kills me to think that she hates flowers (when I love them) but I can see where she’s coming from.  They’re classic, yes, but can be at times unimaginative.  We all know that I love peonies and ranunculus for their many-folded petals look, but they can also be expensive.  I was overjoyed when I discovered garden roses.  They look a bit like a peony in their shape, and they’re a lot more scented than traditional roses.  They also come in a wide variety of interesting colors – I always like the dusky-colored sandy ones, that look tres shabby chic.

I might be a little bit biased about this one since I had them at my wedding, but I’ve used them at almost every event I’ve done since so I think that it’s ok.  What I like about spider mums is their gorgeous shape.  They add a bit of organic thrill to whatever arrangement they are placed with, their wild petals striking out in all directions.  I believe that they are a member of the chrysanthemum family, and you can really tell by looking at them.

They are also fairly inexpensive, and super hardy.  That means that they are a great flower for DIYers and that arrangements can be made several days ahead of time and be no worse for wear.  They look great clustered together and also in mixed bouquets.   I find that I often gravitate towards the green ones since they are one of the rare flowers that actually look good in green, but they come in a variety of colors like white, yellow, purple and pink.

This colorful, tall and somewhat exotic flower is incredibly versatile.  Its flowers come in a range of colors, from yellow with dark red stems to green flowers with red stems and even black.  The little bells are said to be reminiscent of a certain animal – hence the name.  I find them utterly charming because the bell of the flower itself is slightly velvety and fuzzy.  They are a great flower for large arrangements, as each stem has a number of flowers and they are somewhat inexpensive, in addition to being extremely tall.  I also like the look of them in a bouquet to add a little snap.

If you’re planning an event or wedding, and are looking for an interesting and different centerpiece, why not try something new?  It’s a great way to cut down on costs associated with flowers, and you’ll be able to re-use the pieces over and over.  The best part is that it can be done very cheaply and easily!

To make this centerpiece, I scoured thrift and secondhand stores to find lots of similarly-sized glass containers.  You could use tumblers, or mason jars, shot glasses, or just about anything.  I think that having lots of different sizes, shapes and patterns makes it more visually interesting.  All of these containers were found for $.25 apiece.  Inside all of these jars are just cheap tealights that you can find at any neighborhood store.

You could do an arrangement like this on a round table or a rectangular one.  I used a long piece of leftover granite (these make great serving platters, by the way, and you can often get scraps at your local stonecutter for next to nothing) to elevate the candles in the center.  Throw in a couple of cheap pillars in the middle and cascade the heights down as you move outside of the center.  Try to keep all of the candles the same color, as it will unite all of the disparate elements.  Light, and enjoy all of the compliments!

I’ve only been lucky enough to live near an Ikea for the last year or so.  Before that, it was always plotting whether or not it was worth it to drive the 8+ hours from Denver to Salt Lake City just in order to pick up some cheap good-looking furniture.  Now it’s only 3 hours away which means one thing – MEATBALLS!

After you’ve sated yourself thoroughly (best. french fries. ever) it’s time to move on to the cheap furniture.  It’s a fundamental conundrum – it’s too cheap to not buy, but it’s almost too cheap to justify spending that amount of money on.  I always have this debate in my head, and then I go to the secondhand store and see how expensive SECONDHAND crap furniture is, so I might as well go with the good-looking stuff.  Plus, hey, it’s much easier to take furniture home in a box.

Then there’s the other problem – everyone on the planet Earth has the same furniture that you do.  Brilliant.  That’s where Ikea Hacker comes in.  Lots of great ideas to make your boxed furniture look a little more interesting.  A lot of the projects are kind of lame, but there are some good ones that really make you use your brain.

I was in Seattle a few weeks ago and I happened upon this little store called Daiso.

I had never heard of it before, but I think that I’m in love.  The place was stuffed to the gills with all sorts of everything you could ever need, but with a Japanese twist (mostly meaning that it was cute and itty bitty).  Kitchen items, beauty products, hardware, you name it, they had 10 of them.  My favorite part of any store like that is always the stationery section, and they didn’t dissapoint.

It’s a little overwhelming walking around inside, so for those who don’t like feeling crowded (or aren’t lucky enough to have a Daiso store near them) they have a great online store.  Find it here, but be warned, almost everything comes in bulk (which isn’t such a bad thing, considering how cheap it is).  Happy shopping!