Everyone has the perfect solution for keeping tulips upright and looking great. I actually like the look of tulips when they bend. But hey, that's just me.
You've got to see this video by Chive Inc., the cool vase people. It's called, "Tulip Tips." It's hosted by Noel P. Greaves. You can see it here.
Ovando
Have any tulip tips you want to share?
Mimi
Linking to:
There are many different kinds of cut red flowers. To most people red flowers = roses. At our shop, we go way beyond red roses though.
Some of the 16 flowers listed below come in other colors too. But if it's red flowers you want I've got you covered:
1) Amaryllis
3) Carnations
5) Alstroemeria
6) Peony
tulips
7) Tulip
8) Ginger
9) Ranunculus
10) Gladiola
Fly Me to The Moon Florists
11) Lily
12) Mokari Orchids
13) Anthurium
14) Anemone
15) Gloriosa Lily
16) Hypericum Berry
Can you think of any red flowers I've missed?
Mimi
Wedding flowers are big business for floral designers. I get it. You believe you can do it cheaper and maybe even better. Maybe you can. But if you're planning to do your own fresh flowers, I 'd like you to keep these 10 things in mind:
10 Hints Your DIY Wedding Flower Plan Might Be In Trouble
1) No one planning to assemble the flowers has ever done it before. Bridal flowers must be perfect. They can look like they were just picked from a field, but you will regret it if they look amateur. Get someone who knows how to do it to help.
2) No one knows how long the selected flowers will last. Hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers. But if you make a bouquet of them for an outdoor wedding on the hottest day of the year you will be holding a wilted bunch of stems and ribbon.
3) You have specific colors you want to use to match the bridal party dresses. If you're planning to buy your flowers from a wholesale flower market try to order them beforehand. So you know they will have what you want. Better still, pick the flowers before you select the dresses.
4) You don't have a cool place to store the flowers. See if you can find someone who does. Or pick up the flowers the day before from the wholesaler.
5) You have not attended a class or done extensive research on DIY wedding flowers. It's really not as easy as it seems. You want the flowers to look beautiful for the pictures. There's a reason people hire professionals. Don't let the stress of trying to get the flowers just right steal your joy on the days leading up to your wedding. Take a course.
6) You haven't practiced making the flower arrangements before the wedding. Step away from this computer screen and start practicing right now.
7) You've selected a complex bridal bouquet, because it's the one you've been dreaming of. Either choose another bouquet style or consider having a florist just make your bouquet. It will take the pressure off. A round bouquet may be easy to do, but a cascading one is a lot of work and technique. You can make a simple bouquet if you use one type of flower in one color.
8) You don't know how to take care of flowers. You can read up on this online.
9) You plan to dye your flowers to get the color just right. Don't even think about it. Nuff said.
10) You're planning to make an extremely unusual bridal bouquet with fish heads and purple sequins. That might be your style now. But in 20 years you will live to regret it when you look at those wedding pictures. Need proof? Check out the wedding pictures of people married in the '80s. They weren't even trying to be avant garde.
Here are a few websites to help you be successful with your DIY flowers. There are loads of them. Find one that meets your needs.
DIY Wedding Resources:
If you take these hints into consideration, your DIY flowers should turn out fine.
Have a story about someone who did their own wedding flowers? I'd love to hear about it.
Mimi
Fly Me To The Moon Florists
I've just been tagged by my blogger friend Linda over at My Crafty Home Life to play this game.
Here are the rules:
1) You must post the rules.
2) Answer eleven questions.
3) Tag eleven other bloggers.
4) Ask them 11 new questions.
Here are the 11 Questions I have to answer:
1) What makes you laugh? My kids.
2) What is your favorite quote? "No matter how long the night,the day is sure to come. " African Proverb
3) Are you a morning person? Yes, the earlier the better.
4) What do you do better than most people you know? Pray for others consistently.
5) If you could re-live one day from your childhood what would it be? Sitting under my mom's sewing machine collecting sequins and bits of fancy fabric from dance concert costumes she used to make.
6) What was your best blog post? My most popular was one called, "5 Secrets for Elegant Gift Wrapping for Valentines Day." Nearly 700 visitors that day!
7) When you look back at this year (2012), what will you think will be your greatest accomplishment? Growing my blog to 1000 visitors.
8) Who is your celebrity crush? My husband, the love of my life!
9) What is your favorite movie? It's a tie between the original The Philadelphia Story and The Green Card.
10) What chore do you hate? Mopping the floors.
11) What would be your favorite meal? Anything vegetarian and Indian.
Here are the 11 bloggers I am tagging:
1) Sarah - Modern Country Style
2) Amy - One Artsy Mama
3) Amy - Botannical Brouhaha
4) Sarah - Honey of a Thousand Flowers
5) Claire - Mammabellarte
6) Amanda - Girl In Pink
7) Sheila - A Punch of Color
8) Sania - At Home
9) Vic - Cush & Nooks
10) Mia - Trenday
11) Gloria - Happy To Be
Here are their 11 questions:
1) How did you come up with the name of your blog?
2) What's your favorite snack?
3) If you were making up your own quote, what would it be?
4) What's your favorite flower?
5) Why did you start blogging?
6) What other country would you like to visit?
7) Which word do you have the most difficulty spelling?
8) What's your favorite magazine?
9) If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
10) What's your dream for the world?
11) What invention would you like to see on the market in your lifetime?
Mimi
Don't let fear of the unknown stop you from doing something you've always wanted to do.
Can you actually say that you're living the life you were destined to live? I know. The risk of doing a new thing can be frightening. But the risk of living an unremarkable life is a bit risky too don't you think?
Remarkable doesn't have to mean you invented the next best product. Or that you become world famous for doing this or that.
To me, it I means doing something meaningful for yourself or others.
Here Are 4 Small Risks You Can Take Today:
1) Take one step toward doing something you've always wanted to do. You don't have to quit your day job. If you've always wanted to be an event designer, volunteer to decorate for a friend's next party or the local nursing home.
2) Read all about it. Pick up some magazines. Do research online. Read blogs, industry websites and forums on your area of interest.
3) Sign up for a course. There are online courses you can take on a variety of subjects. Check out free or low-cost classes given at your local libraries.
4) Do that thing. If you've created something people rave about it's time to test the waters. Take the item to a local store and see if they're interested in buying it. Sign up for a flea market. Open an Etsy shop with someone else.
I was a bit nervous about my introduction to the the New York City flower district. Several months before we opened Fly Me To The Moon Florists I needed to begin establishing relationships with the flower wholesalers.
They were all men. They were all bustling around with loads of flowers. If you go there any day besides a Monday or Wednesday, when the flowers come in, you might be able to get some help. If not, you are totally on your own.
So I began going on the off days. I looked for kind faces and began asking lots of questions. The salesmen I met in those early days I still work closely with today.
If you want to do something different begin today. Just look for small opportunities to do your thing.
Mary Engelbreit once said, "Bloom where you're planted." That's what I'm talking about. Stop making excuses. Stop complaining about not living the life you really want.
Just do it! It might not be easy. You will be rejected by some. But as the saying goes, "What doesn't kill you. will make you stronger."
So what first step are you going to take today?
Mimi
Just because it's Valentines Day doesn't mean your elegant gift wrapping has to be red, pink and white. Valentines Day is your opportunity to break out of the box and declare your love in any color you like. I probably wouldn't wrap a gift in black though.
Here are 5 secrets for elegant gift wrapping:
1) Don't be cheap with the ribbon. Splurge and buy ribbon made out of satin, velvet or grosgrain. Make it wider than you usually do. It should be at least 1.5" wide. That immediately says elegant. You can sometimes pick it up at the Michael's $1.00 rack at the front of the store. Or buy it from a fabric store. It may cost you $3.00 per yard, but that's still cheaper than the Valentines Day card.
2) Shake things up with color. You don't have to buy the printed Valentines Day paper. It often looks cheap anyway. Besides, what are you going to do with the rest of it? Save it until next year?
Instead, buy a nice solid paper that can be used again for another occasion. Use a nice colored ribbon to go along with it. If you stick with solid paper and real ribbon, you really can't mess it up.
3) Try an elegant patterned paper. You'll often find individual sheets of printed paper hanging over a rack in nicer stationery stores. You'll find paper with interesting textures, colors and designs.
You can also get some newsprint and decorate it yourself with stamps or small paint brushes. You can make polka dot paper by dipping a new pencil eraser into acrylic paint and stamping it onto your paper. Use a color that will match the nice ribbon you bought.
4) Use real or fake flowers to decorate your gift. Read "How to Gift Wrap Using Fresh Flowers" and "How To Gift Wrap Using Fake Flowers."
5) Go neutral in your gift wrapping. Note how elegant this camel colored satin ribbon looks on the ivory paper. What could be simpler and more beautiful?
Do you think Valentines Day wrapping must be red, white or pink? Why?
Mimi
When you see someone delivering flowers aren't you secretly wishing, hoping and praying they're for you?
Why do you deny yourself something you clearly want? And can get for yourself?
If you want the newest gadget, you buy it. If you want a new pair of shoes, a few keystrokes and they're delivered the next day.
So why don't you just buy yourself flowers?
Only you know the answer to that question.
Here are 3 good reasons why you should start buying your own flowers today:
1) Don't give up your power to others. You buy yourself your favorite foods. You watch that TV show everyone else doesn't understand or hates. Why not flowers on demand too?
2) Life is short. How much longer are you going to wait for someone else to buy you flowers? A year? 5 years? Maybe you'll only have to wait another 6 months. But why wait at all?
3) No one loves you more than you do. You deserve to have flowers whenever you want them.
So thinking about buying yourself some flowers? Great! Go right ahead. It's about time!
Mimi
Image: blogs.journell
This beautiful brooch bouquet nearly doubled the traffic to our blog in one day. Actually,it happened the first day I ever used it.
I confess. I love Pinterest. I am addicted to Pinterest. But perhaps you're not interested in it.You've got better ways to spend your time. If so,this post is just for you!
5 Good Reasons Not to Use Pinterest
1) You don't need any more fun in your life. Your life is perfect just the way it is. You've got the life/work balance thing down to a science. But I have to tell you. Pinterest is big fun. Period.
2) You don't need another creative idea. "I love Pinterest, because it's like getting a whole lot of magazines without adding clutter in my house and without the cost." said Amy Larson in the Chicago Tribune article entitled, "9 Tips: Boost Your Business With Pinterest."
People are so creative.You'll find stuff on Pinterest you'd never find on your own. How do you find ideas you didn't even know existed? Pinterest! It's all kinds of people sharing all kinds of ideas from all sorts of places. And they're all visual.
3) You have more than enough traffic on your blog and website. If this is not important to you then feel free to skip this one. But if you're interested in getting more visitors to your blog, read this Problogger post on Pinterest: "How I Overlooked 1000 Visitor A Day Traffic (And What I Did To Grow It To 3000 Visits A Day)"
Now, I can't promise that all those visitors will actually read your blog. But they're demonstrating interest in your topic. If you have great content some will subscribe to your blog.
4) You don't like messing with technical stuff that's free. Pinterest is so easy even I can do it. Trust me. If I can navigate it so can you. Did I mention it was free?
5) You don't want to be part of a creative community. You'd rather go it alone stumbling around wishing there was someone in the world who shared your interest in paper cones. On Pinterest there is. And they're beautiful!
So if you're still not convinced. Just try it out by:
a) going to Pinterest and putting a topic in the search box on the upper left.You don't have to have an account to do this. But once you start clicking on those images I believe you'll be swept away
b) checking out my Pinterest boards here and following me.
But if you feel like you're ready to take the Pinterest Plunge. Jump right in.You'll need an invitation though. Just don't forget to come up for air.
What's your best Pinterest tip?
Mimi
Image: Brooch Bouquet
Learn how to make 25 Valentines Day wreaths yourself. Here are tutorials for making wreaths from both fresh materials such as flowers and 22 wreaths from things you probably have around your house.
Martha Stewart
1) Velvety Flower Wreath - This beautiful heart-shaped wreath is made from cockscomb. It's out of season here in the northeast, but I couldn't resist including it. Learn how to make it here.
2) Mossy Wreath - Here's a moss covered wreath great for many kinds of celebrations. Learn to make it here.
3) Carnation Wreath- This beautiful carnation wreath can be made in just about any color. Here's the tutorial.
Learn how to make 22 different types of Valentines Day Wreaths over at the blog, Tip Junkie.
What kinds of wreaths have you made?
Mimi
Linking to:
Stuff and Nonsense
The Charm of Home
French Country Cottage
You have to be careful about what you write on Valentines Day cards. One wrong word could send you down the wrong path. So think hard before you write. Then follow the 6 tips below:
6 Tips for Writing On Valentines Day Cards
1) Never write love if you mean like. Writing "I love you." to someone you'd like to know better or to an old flame will get you in trouble. The new person may get scared off. And the old flame will get the wrong message. Unless you're really trying to get back together.
2) Think before you write. If you're ordering flowers for delivery, figure out what you want on the card before you pick up the phone. Write it down. Remember the florist enclosure cards are only 2 x 3 inches. You cannot get 500 words on there. Trust me. I've tried!
3) Spell the person's name right. As a matter of fact spell everything right. If you're a bad speller it will show the person you care.
4) Write the card out yourself. No one cares how bad your handwriting is. It really is the thought that counts.
5) Don't just grab a card and sign your name on the bottom. Put a little thought into it. Write a line or two. If in doubt ask for help. But if you have trouble rhyming two words, don't copy a poem off the internet and expect anyone to believe you actually wrote it. Be yourself.
6) Sign your name. People, especially women, hate getting flowers delivered to them anonymously. Don't believe me? Read this.
What's a good line to write on a Valentines Day card?
Mimi
Image: Melissa Neufeld
