First Come Flowers

How To Create Fall Vignettes with Gourds and Pumpkins

Gourds and pumpkins are great for fall decorating. Learn how to create your own displays using gourds and pumpkins with items you already have. Great vases and baskets can be picked up at your local flea market for very little.

 

First Come Flowers

 

Place Gourds in a Vase -  It's pretty easy to get this sophisticated look. It just takes a little time to find the best way to arrange them. You can either go with lots of contrasting colors or use a single hue.  Place them gently into the vase, being certain to face them in the direction you want them. The smaller the gourds, the easier they'll be to assemble into a pleasing display.

 

First Come Flowers

Place Gourds in a Dark Box - Believe it or not these gourds are actually in a black plastic crate on the ground in the flower district. I took this picture from above. The darkness puts the spotlight on the gourds don't you think? You can get a simlar look by placing them in a dark and shallow basket or bowl.

 

First Come Flowers

Place your gourds and pumpkins into a basket -  Again arrange them casually until they look the way you want them. Experiment with various sizes and shapes.

Here are 5 tips for displaying pumpkins and gourds:

1. I used fresh gourds and pumpkins, which are pretty cheap, but you can use artificial too if you want.

2. The larger the pumpkins and gourds, the harder they'' be able to arrange. 

3. You can mix in fruits or veggies, but they will probably may begin to spoil unless they're in a cool area.

4. Make sure the pumpkins and gourds are in perfect condition. They're the same price as the jacked up ones. LOL! They look much better and will last longer if the stems are in place.

5. I bought mine from a local farmer's market here in downtown Yonkers, NY for 2 for $1.00. Some places will sell just one for over $2.00. So you may want to shop around for a better deal.

I didn't have time today to download all of my pictures from my camera, so I may be posting more pictures at a later date.

If you enjoyed my humble pictures, please feel free to pin them on Pinterest.

All the best,

Mimi

 

 

 

 

5 Ways To Use Flowers To Make A Gray Room Bright

 I love gray rooms. In fact, I love gray anything. I painted my kitchen a pale gray. Nearly everyday I wish I'd had the nerve to go a few shades darker. But I was afraid that on rainy days it would be too depressing.

But when I began adding touches of brightly colored flowers and accessories, I realized that gray didn't have to mean drab.

Here are 5 Ways To Use Flowers To Make A Gray Room Bright 

Image: Pics Decor

1) Buy random yet unusual flowers and place them in a simple vase.  At Fly Me To The Moon Florists, we sell unique flowers by the stem.  Make your own  work of floral art or ask the florist to do it for you.

 

 

Image: via Inspiration for Home 

2) Grab a simple vase and a bunch of flowers. Place them by your bed and you'll feel like you 're in a hotel.

 

Image: Inspiration For Home

3) Match your flowers to your decor. Pick a color, re-cover a few pillows or buy some new ones. Then get some flowers to match. 

 

Image: Pics Decor

4) Go for a monochromatic look. Choose one flower, one color and place them in a vase of water. If you're not sure how to care for fresh flowers read this post.

Image: Monique Lhuillier

 5)  Take your flowers to work. Bring flowers to your job on Mondays to lift your spirits for the entire week. Pick your favorite color or flower. Make sure they're fresh by reading this post on cut flower care.

Check out even more gorgeous gray rooms on my Glamorous Gray  pinboard.

What's your favorite way to liven up a room?

Mimi

 

 

9 Ways Chalkboard Paint Can Enhance Your Floral Arrangements

 

Chalkboards aren't just for old school class rooms anymore. With chalkboard paint you can turn almost anything into a cool place to doodle or write. 

Chalkboard  Jar Vases  - The matte black surface is perfect with brightly colored flowers.

 

Chalkboard Outdoor Party Decor - Add a chalkboard to your outside party decor. Use seasonal items to dress it up.

 

Chalkboard Painted Vases - These would be wonderful for decorating a tablescape for a special event.Or place fresh flowers in each and use them for party favors.

 
 

Chalkboard Painted Rectangular Vase - An old metal or wooden box can also be transformed into a handsome vessel for flowers when you add plastic liners inside to hold the water.

 

Spray Painted Wine Bottle Bud Vases - Spray paint a few bottles white. Paint a square with chalkboard paint then write out your own sentiment.

 

Fancy Framed Chalkboard - Paint a piece of wood with chalkboard paint then frame it with an unusual frame from a thrift store. Then use your best penmanship to craft a nice background for a display of your favorite objects. Don't forget the flowers!

 

Chalkboard Globe  - This globe has absolutely nothing to do with chalkboard paint and flowers. I just thought it was so cool. I saw a globe for $5.95  in the thrift shop in my neighborhood. I was so tempted to buy it, take it home and spray paint it with chalkboard paint.  

But somehow, the thought of depriving  a child of that wonderful globe and the places they could visit in their dreams  stopped me dead in my tracks. I'm sure someone else bought it and sold it on ebay for a lot more than that. Bet they didn't even bother painting it .

 

 

Chalkboard Paint Tags - These tags would be a great addition to a wrapped floral bouquet. They ould also work well on uniquely wrapped gifts. 

 

What unusual items have you seen that were painted with chalkboard paint?

Mimi

Image: Centsational Girl

Image: Rust Sunshine

Image: Heavenly Blooms

Image: Chalkboard Vases

Image: FlowerBox

Image: A Subtle Revelry

Image: Wedding Bee

Image: Globe

Image: Tags

 

Linking to: 

At The Picket Fence 

French Country Cottage

My Romantic Home

Savvy Southern Style

Got A Dressing Table? 6 Ways To Glam It Up With Flowers

If you have a dressing table,you have to have fresh flowers on it. Well, actually you don't, but why not live a little.

 

via BHG

I'm not talking about "breaking the bank" flowers. Just a few blooms to give your dressing table a bit of glam.

I told you about the flowerless dressing table I got from my aunt when I was a child. If you missed it, you can read all about it here.

But otherwise, be inspired by the lovely floral vignettes pictured below.

 

6 Ways To Glam Up Your Dressing Table with Flowers

Eclectic Revisted

Now don't kill me. There are at least 2 dozen beautiful roses in the vase on the dressing table above. But if you had only 3 roses, you could still get a million dollar look.

1.  Just cut a few roses short and place them in a small vase or old perfume bottle. They'll look gorgeous clustered. They'll even last a bit longer too. I do this a lot with broken flowers at Fly Me To The Moon Florists

 

The Ardent Sparrow

2.  Place a single blossom or two in a taller vase on either end of your dressing table. Use flowers that coordinate with the overall color scheme of your room.

 

via BHG

3. Use a flowering plant on your dressing table. Simply place it in a decorative pot. Learn how to take care of plant drainage problems here.

 

via rosesand rustblogger

 

4.  Go flower crazy if you don't actually plan to sit at your dressing table. If you do, cut your flowers a bit shorter or move them to one side. 

 

 

Gypsy Purple Home 

5.  Place the flowers near the table for a touch of drama. This will work especially well if you keep a lot of bottles and stuff on your dressing table. If you're like me though, you'll knock over the vase moments after placing it on the floor.

 

 via BHG

6.  Mix it up. Your flowers or vase don't have to match anything else. If the color makes you happy use it! 

If you think I'm trying to get you to use flowers in every room of your house, you're right. Why not? We only live once.

What 3 things would you keep on your dresssing table?

 Mimi

 

 

10 Tips For Bedside Flower Displays You Can Make Today

You can create simple flower arrangements to put near your bed today. Professional floral design skills aren't necessary. Just follow the 10 tips below:

 

Decor4all

1.  A few white flowers in a colorful room give it a neutral pop. Use hydrangeas as pictures above or any white flower you like.

 

Rue Magazine

2.  Place flowers in cube vases at your bedside. Just cut the flowers and place them where you want in the vase.

 

Hvitur Lakkris 

3.  Plant flowers in a container with drainage or place potted flowers inside a watertight container.

 

Emily Ruddo

4.  Stick a few blooms in a vase or bottle with a small opening. This makes the blooms stand out.

 

Polka Dots and Puppies

5.  Cut roses or other flowers about the same length and place them in a vase of water. The more the merrier.

 

 Gap Interiors

6.  Use one striking flower like a gerber daisy (above), a lily or alstroemeria in a simple or unique vase for great impact.

 

Just Call Me Grace 

7.  Keep a small bunch of inexpensive flowers that complements your decor near your bed at all times to lift your spirits.

 

Everyday Lovely

8.  Cut a few flowers from your garden and place them in a color coordinated vase.

 

Gap Interiors

9.  Clear glass vases are great for spring and summer bedside blooms. They make an airy and refreshing floral arrangements.

 

Decor4all 

10. Use the same flowers in various colors or different flowers in a mix of colors to add spice to your room.

Further Reading:

Even You Can Spruce Up A Room With Flowers

8 Secrets for Selecting Fresh Flowers the Way Florists Do

6 Tips for Caring For Fresh Flowers In The Summer

 

You may also like my "Rooms to Dream By' pinboard on Pinterest.

Anything goes when it comes to bedside flowers. Whatever puts a smile in your heart each morning works.

Which bedside flower arrangement would you like to find in your bedroom tomorrow morning?

Mimi

 

 

 

6 Free Online Decor Magazines You Don't Want To Miss

Looking  for fresh new decor ideas, but don't want to plunk down the hard cash for the magazines?

 

 
via les than perfect life of bliss

 

Or maybe you have the cash, but don't want to wait for the magazine subscriptions to arrive at your house.

I've been on the hunt for some great online sources for you. Places where you might find good ideas for incorporating flowers and plants into your home.

 

Here are 6 links to free online decor magazines to inspire you. So sit back, relax and enjoy:

Sweet Paul Magazine - Decor, crafts,  food, entertaining.

Heart Home Magazine - A British magazine of decor, flowers, and great ideas for entertaining.

Rue Magazine - Decor, fashion, and fun.

Lonny Magazine - Fresh decor ideas.

Matchbook Magazine - "Field guide to a charmed life."

Ivy and Piper - Bold decor from around the world.

 

Looking for more articles and images of flowers and decor? Follow my my "Living A Floral Lifestyle" pinboard on Pinterest.

 What other great online decor magazines have I missed?

Mimi

Linking to:

2805

At The Picket Fence

Beez Rental Designs

Beyond the Picket Fence

Chic On A Shoestring

Common Ground

Debbie Doo's

Elizabeth and Co.

Finding Fabulous

French Country Cottage

Home Is Where My Story Begins

Ivy and Elephants

My Romantic Home

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

No Minimalist Here 

One Artsy Mama

Primp

Redoux

Rose Vignettes

Savvy Southern Style

Serenity Now

Simply Sweet Home

Stuff and Nonsense

The Charm of Home

The Not So Functional Housewife

The Shabby Nest

Three Mango Seeds

 

 

Even You Can Spruce Up A Room With Flowers

Look at any designer room online or in a magazine or book. What do the pictures have in common? Flowers! 

Elle Decor

 

But not just any flowers. Simple flowers. 

The flowers are rarely in fancy flower arrangements put together by floral designers. Well okay, maybe they are. But they're simple flower arrangements you can make yourself.

 

Here's How To Get The Look:

1) Buy one type of flower in only one color. A bunch of green spider mums. Three stems of orange lilies. A handful of white carnations. Get the idea? The attention goes to the flowers. The texture, color and shape of this simple flower arrangement stands out.

 

Elle Decor

2) Buy one kind of flower in different colors. Three colors works well, but buy as many colors as you like.  Just stick to one type of flower. 

3) Place your flowers in a simple yet interesting vase. It doesn't have to be expensive. You can get three of the same vases and line them up in a row. Or use a jar if you like.

 

Kathryn Wiens

4) Cut the flowers to the right length. Depending on the flower, I like to cut them so that the blooms sit just above the neck of the vase. Why?

• Shorter flowers generally last longer, because the water doesn't have to travel up a long stem.  
• Flowers cut short make the arrangement look more lush.

 

How does having a simple flower arrangement around make you feel?

Mimi

Time For Flowers On The Dressing Table

 

Image:   This is Glamorous

 

I still have my aunt's dressing table. I don't recall it ever having flowers on it though. When I saw this image on Roseline's blog, This Is Glamorous, it brought back great memories.

 

Image:   Market Publique 

 

As a child, I loved going into her walk-in closet. There was an amazing assortment of handbags. And beautiful cardboard hatboxes lined the shelves. She had pretty fancy stuff. 

I was named after my Aunt Muriel. I guess I'm a little fancy too. Because when I started taking French in junior high, I began spelling my name  M-ur-i-e-l-l-e.

My older cousins couldn't pronounce Muriel. So they just called her Aunt Mimi. I got her name and the nickname.

I loved going into her closet. The mirrored tray with all her fancy bottles of perfume. The ornate hairbrush and comb. I guess that's why I love vintage ladies stuff so much.

Image:   At Home With The Farmer's Wife

My mom had some of this stuff too, but since Aunt Mimi didn't have 4 daughters she could keep it all out on display.

I recall the wonderful scent in that closet.The beautiful old suitcases.

She had a little stool at her dressing table. But I didn't want that. Just the table.

Our table has elegantly carved wooden legs. It's been painted many times since I loaned it to my daughter. She thinks it's hers now. But not yet.

We used to re-decorate her bedroom every 6 months. But now, at the ripe old age of nearly 17, she has returned the table to its original splendor.

 

Image:  Urban Nest

Gone are the neon picture frames, stenciled graphics and multi-colored pencils. Mirrored trays and dainty dishes of earrings have replaced them. Colognes, pearls, and vintage-style jewelry now take center stage on this family heirloom. It's come full circle.

Every once in a while, I place a small cluster of pale pink carnations (her favorite) in a little vintage vase on the dressing table to surprise her. I smuggle them in from the flower shop.

Soon that dressing table will officially be mine again. And there will be a constant parade of the biggest, palest and most beautiful pink and white roses you've ever seen gracing it.

But for now, pink carnations will do.

Mimi

 

Image:  this is glamorous

 

5 Tips For Displaying Decorative Birdcages

You've seen these decorative birdcages everywhere. If you're like me, you probably own a few. But once you buy them, what are you supposed to do with them?

Here are 5 tips  for displaying those decorative birdcages:

Ruffled

1) Hang them from a tree like a chandelier. Hang many of them. They can transform a hum drum tree into a work of art in seconds.

Well probably not seconds. There is the attaching of the wire or cord to the birdcages so they hang straight, getting of the ladder, and getting someone to climb the ladder or at least hold it...

 

Ruffled

2)  Fill it with flowers and use it as a centerpiece for a special event or wedding.  Use a great contrasting color for the flowers so they don't blend in with the birdcage.

 

Miss Gracie's House

3) Get one or two exquisite blooms and place them in a simple vase or jar in your home.  Large headed roses, peonies, chrysanthemums or a small bouquet of your favorite flowers would add a nice touch to any room.

 

via Weddings on the French Riviera

4)  Place a wide-mouthed vase of water in the birdcage and just stick flowers into it.  After you place each flower step back and see where the next flower should go.  That way you won't end up with a giant blob sticking out of a cage. 

 

Wedding Bee

5) If the cage is MADE OF METAL you can put lighted candles in it.  Do not try this if the birdcage is made of wood. It might look nice, but not for long. Battery-operated candles would work well in any type of birdcage.

What ideas do you have for decorating these birdcages?  

Mimi

 

Linking to:

Simply Sweet Home

Common Ground

My Romantic Home

Stuff and Nonsense

At The Picket Fence

French Country Cottage

The Not So Functional Housewife

No Minalist Here

5 Tips For Displaying Poinsettias

 Poinsettias! They're not just red anymore!

Image:   Southern Hospitality

Poinsettias come in a wide array of colors. Red, white and shades of pink. Poinsettias  are also available in colors nature never intended.

You can find poinsettias in almost any color. You can even buy one to match your couch. Those poinsettias have either been tinted or painted. You can see some here.

Most of us just take the traditional red poinsettia and plop it down on the nearest table. That's okay, but you may want to consider a few of these ideas:

 

Image:  BHG

1) Super-size your poinsettias. Get really big ones that will make a statement in your space. Imagine how the room above would look if they had two dinky little poinsettias on the floor.

Image:   via Boutique Paoeny

 2) Consider a color other than the standard red. And place a bunch of them in one spot. This is where you use the smaller poinsettias.  

 

Image:   BHG

 3) Cut a few stems and place them in small vases.  Place them on a cake stand or two to give them height. You can also place them on a tray or in a row down the center of a table.

 

Image:   Southern Living

4)  Place potted poinsettias in a basket or large bowl with other potted plants. You can even add cut flowers in a vase tucked down inside or in water tubes.

 

Image:   BHG

 5)  Put your potted poinsettias down into decorative pots and set it on a mantel or table. Add a few accessories in complementary colors to create a vignette.

So those are my ideas about how to display poinsettias. What are yours?

What do you think of tinted, painted and glittered poinsettias?

Mimi

 

Linking to:

French Country Cottage

At The Picket Fence

Coffee & Conversations

Chic On A Shoestring Decorating

Common Ground

My Romantic Home

Primp

Stuff and Nonsense