Flower Blog - June

Ah June . . . I LOVE June . . . I take my summer vacation the last two weeks of June, I plant seeds and clean up the outdoor raised planter beds, I water and watch things grow, I paint exterior doors and fences and watch for things on sale for the next year . . . what more could you ask for? Well an arrangement in the living room while the lilacs are starting to bloom, that's what you ask for . . .

This one was pretty simple (aren't they all?)! Lisianthus, some dark purple leafy twigs, a white something or other (because baby's breath is apparently "so 80's"), some square vases and a naked male white sculpture!

TOTAL COST: $13.50

Flower Blog - May

I know I'm cutting it close again . . . last day . . . but Mother's day was in May and that's what this blog is about. I'd passed (only once at first) the Birks Jewellery store in Edmonton's Manulife Place and just about fainted. They had these beautiful patent leather luggage in their display windows and I had to stop. I immediately went in and asked if they were for sale and was told that they were "display only" and if I was interested I could contact a certain person in their marketing department to see if (and when) they would be available I could possibly purchase one. Well it took no time for me to get back to my desk and send a very personable e-mail saying how much I thought Birks was a mainstay in Edmonton and how privileged I would be if I could have the opportunity to purchase one of the beautiful luggage pieces when the promotion was over. I had a response in a couple of days (which seemed like an eternity) that they were not "real", that they could not be used for anything other than display but when the promotion was over they would let me know. Two months (or so) later I was called that the pieces were going to be made available to me and which one(s) did I want . . . how many I asked . . . as many as you wish because it would be too expensive to ship them back to Montreal . . . I RAN downstairs and I was given four . . . FOUR . . . can you believe it . . . I couldn't wait to get them home and decide what to do with them. As I said, Mother's day was only days away and I thought the Gerbara daisies would make a beautiful arrangement for my her so I purchased 5 hot pink ones and added three more coral ones that I had from another plant I'd purchased because I LOVED the colour of them and wanted to paint my front door that colour (and then changed my mind - about the colour of the door) - the significance of 8 - she had 8 kids! Here is the end result and she LOVED it!

Flower Blog - April

So they say April Showers Bring May Flowers . . . poppycock . . . it's still snowing here and it's the day before Good Friday. Something is definately wrong with this picture but I'm going to blog about spring flowers anyways! Tulips . . . LOVE THEM . . . love all of the beautiful colours and wish I could go to a field of them and make a bed out of them . . . seriously! I've been saving green bottles for just this occasion and I think it turned out pretty well. TOTAL COST: $16.99 (A bit over my monthly budget but because I only spent $5.00 in February, this month I splurged).

Another cast-off chair

I love it when people give stuff away for free . . . it always inspires me . . .

It isn't in bad shape but it's really not the best . . . and I am compelled to paint it and recover the seat (maybe) . . . it's always a journey just to make the decision . . . so for the time being I just re-upholstered the seat and may paint it once the weather turns around (if it ever does)

Total cost: FREE - I had the fabric on hand from fabric I purchased to change the living room from winter to summer!

Flower Blog - March

OK so I just about missed it . . . but I didn't . . . March should be spring . . . what a joke . . . not where I live . . . I thought that before I went away to Phoenix, AZ on March 13 that when I got home 7 days later the snow would all be melted and there would be buds on the trees . . . NOT . . . I came home to a snow storm. I think it's just God and Nature's way of telling you that life is unpredictable and you'd better stay on your toes. So because I got home to a snow storm, spring really wasn't on my mind. What was on my mind was SUMMER - LOL. I had already decided before I went away that I was going to use the Jonathan Adler vases my boss gave me a gift certificate (yes yet another one) for either my birthday or Christmas another year and I only needed four flowers. Do I go with greenery or flowers . . . flowers it is. Here they are! White Anemone - beautiful!

white anemone

TOTAL COST: $11.00

Flower Blog - February

It's February - lover's month - ack - it's just February. Traditionally the flower to give your "lover" is red roses. Pfffffffffffffft!

Like I said in the beginning of this flower thing I would "theme" some months but that doesn't mean I'll stay traditional (because it's totally not who I am - usually)! I chose the colour red but not red roses. I wanted to be a bit more creative and use the flower that I "love" instead - gerbara daisies.

I started out with a piece of drift wood (the largest one I had left from the box of driftwood my friend Lorie gave me) and drilled two holes in it (to accommodate the plastic vessels they give you at the flower store to keep them until you get home).

When I went to drill the one hole that had to be a bit larger than the other one I broke the driftwood in half . . . ARGH! ! ! ! !

Gerbara daisy in one hole and a leaf and some berries in the other with a piece of ribbon and I think it looks pretty good (but I'd rather of had a piece of raffia and couldn't find it . . . )

TOTAL COST: $5.60

TOTAL TIME: 30 MINUTES

Flower Blog - January

So I'm willing to admit when I don't think I've done that great of a job and whether or not I've learned something. Spending under $12.50 is HARD. And it gets even harder when you do eventually settle on what you want to buy, purchase it and then get it back to your home/office and realize that one of the flowers isn't really up to snuff or you are unimpressed with the purchase itself!

I had to return the mauve one because it looked a bit wilted, but even when I returned it, 5 of 6 of them were wilted, but I decided for this exercise I'd just pick the best one because I had everything else ready to photograph and wasn't about to switch gears again.

I learned that you need to examine the flowers BEFORE they are wrapped and that I need to do more research on how to photograph them. Not horrible for a first attempt but I expended a lot of effort (albeit mentally) getting the job done.

The vases are Hoosier (circa 1965); the teacups and saucers are from my mother's wedding collection; the plates are from my sister as a hostess gift; the spoons are tarnished but pretty and came from Winners; the table covering is two tea towels (also used when we were in Radium in the fall last year as napkins) and the flowers are Mums with sprays of eucalyptus.

TOTAL TIME: 1.5 HOURS (WAY TOO LONG)
TOTAL COST:  $12.07