The Craft Begins

I love weddings.  And I have a hard time saying no when someone asks me to do something for theirs (I’ll admit, I volunteer as well).  This past weekend, I was responsible for doing all of the flowers for a friend’s wedding.  I’ve done them before, for my own and for another friend’s, but this one was a big project.

21 centerpieces, 7 bridesmaids bouquets, 1 bridal bouquet, 15 boutonnieres, and 6 corsages.  Plus all of the bits of flowers that go along with making a wedding pretty.  I was a little intimidated because it was such a big wedding.  I also didn’t have too much direction – her dress was champagne, the bridesmaids wore black,  and all she wanted for the flowers was for them to be bright, and to have lots of Gerber daisies.

My very talented mother did the centerpieces for the altar, and I had a lot of help with the nitty-gritty details, but the rest was up to me.  I used primarily gerber daisies in the bridesmaid’s bouquets (and for all of the centerpieces) with a bit of filling out in between.  Roses, irises, and button mums did a good job of filling the spaces.  The nice thing about gerbers is that they float well in water, so you can do centerpieces with water and floating candles that make quite an impact without having to spend too much on flowers.

I wrapped all of the bridesmaids’ bouquets in champagne ribbon to contrast with their dresses, and I did the bride’s in black ribbon.  I also accented the bridal flowers with black dahlias – they are really dense, and the color really added a pop.  Combined with a few billie balls (my favorite!) it came out really well, I think.  In addition, the buds that you get with the black dahlias make really great boutonnieres (top right picture on the first picture).

I think that the best thing about these flowers was that they were relatively inexpensive, and I was able to get a lot of mileage out of flowers you can find at the grocery store.  The daisies were purchased from Sam’s in bulk, I ordered the black dahlias online, and everything else was found at the local Safeway (and some others).

I’m really not in any position to be tiling a house at this point in my life, but it can’t stop me from dreaming!  I love the custom mosaic tile maker at Oceanside Glass.  Not only do they have beautiful tiles to choose from but you can completely customize your selections – tile size, percentages, gradients, the whole works.  It’s a great way to kill some time, or if you’re in the market, to really get a good idea of what your tile would look like in situ.  Above are some color designs that I happened to like.

It’s amazing to see what you can do with these tiles.   Residential or commercial, kitchen or fireplace or bath, there’s really no limit to the possibilities.  The tall shower is possibly my favorite thing ever.  I think that mornings would be a lot more palatable if you got to head into that before starting your day.

So you might have noticed that I’m obsessed with terrariums, and I found a great seller on etsy that makes them!

Her shop name is Made By Mavis and she has an awesome assortment of terrariums in different shapes and sizes.  Plus, the shipping is totally reasonable!  When I got mine, the first thing I did was open it up and have a little smell – there’s nothing like the smell of damp earth to brighten up your day.  I hope you’ll pay her a visit and get one of your very own!

Friday faves are coming today – had some computer issues that I can hopefully resolve.

Since it’s Valentines day, and I’m not too into the whole lovey-dovey pink and red hearts thing, I thought that I would share something else that I love.  And that is…terrariums!   I’m living out here in the desert and I can try to fill my house with succulents and other things that I can’t kill but part of me secretly yearns for moss and grass and a little relative humidity.  I was going to use terrariums for centerpieces at my wedding last year, however, I was quickly vetoed (though I still think it’s a good idea).  It hasn’t dampened my enthusiasm.

1.  This one is super swank.  It’s made of recycled glass and created using wind energy.  How green!  Find it here at Velcocity.

2. and 4.   It’s amazing the different configurations and designs that you can come up with.  There are so many awesome jars and glass bottles out there, you could fill your house with tiny terrariums.

3.  I like the idea of displaying several of them in a grouping for maximum visual impact.

5.  This one may be one of my favorite compositions.  It’s literally oozing with moss!  Oh, how I have dreams about this…