Mums is the Word
Annie's Blog
When I came across this blog post by Regina Yunghans of the Apartment Therapy blog, I just had to repost it! This blogger has excellent step by step instructions with pictures included and they are easy to follow. Try it yourself, and let us know how it went--now is the perfect time of year to give it a try!
1 Comment
This project's inspiration was drawn from the Uncommon Designs Blog which took inspiration from the Garnet Hill catalog. I love how my project turned out. I used loose sheet moss rather than what was used in UD's example because that's what I had on hand at the shop. I think the rough moss gives a more rustic feel to the lettering, which matches the other decor I chose for the porch. The "J" is crooked in this photo, and I definitely recommend using the Command adhesive Velcro hangers as used on the Uncommon Designs' blog. The snow was starting to fall as I took this photo, so the "J" will be straightened soon, once the weather improves! Command Adhesive Velcro Hangers This is the sleeker design done by Uncommon Designs, using sheet moss which is attached to a fabric backing and cut out with scissors. Supplies:
Step One I used the DecoArts acrylic paint with the sponge brush and painted all sides of the letters. Step Two Following the instructions on my spray adhesive, I sprayed the surface of the letter and the back of the moss. I let each item sit for 30 seconds to 1 minute to encourage the adhesive to get really tacky/sticky. Then I pieced the moss together until it covered all surfaces. I use Tack 2000 for just about any craft project (at home or in the store) needing spray adhesive. Step Three This is where I used my own flare for the project. This bouillion wire is decorative and functional. I used it to bind all of the moss together, and to sparkle and bling when the light reflects off of it. Step Four I decided the moss was too brown in places, so I hit it with a little Fresh Green Just For Flowers from Design Master. The color turned out just right! This is the paint color of the century as far as my flower shop goes, I absolutely love it. And here's a tip: use Fresh Green paint to liven up the colors on your silk flowers. It sounds crazy, right. Just try it. If you have some tired old silks, touch them up with the Fresh Green, you'll thank me later! Step Five Since I used the loose moss, I wanted to make extra sure it would stick together, so I sprayed with Dresden Clear Glaze. Step Six Since I have plenty of florist's wire on hand, that's what I used to hook all my lettering together. You can thread the wire underneath of the moss on the front side, so that it doesn't show. My letters happened to come with these screws in the back of them so they could hang them in the store display. If yours don't come this way, use little screw hooks and suggested by the Uncommon Designs blog. Step Seven
I snaked the final long length of wire from top to bottom, behind the red mesh, so you don't see the wire from the front of the project. I twisted the long wire on to each wire loop that I had made (like on the picture above), so it took some good laying out and measuring of the wire to make sure I had enough to go from the bottom letter to the top, twisting around each loop on the way. Be sure to finish off the tail of the red mesh, I hadn't measured my porch before I started the project, so I left it plenty long so I could cut it later instead of having it too short. Like they always say: Measure twice, cut once! In my case, I measure 3-4 times because I have a tendency to forget! :) I hope you liked this project! Do you think you could tackle this? Email or call the shop at 801-540-5999. I would love to hear your ideas for making the project better! September brings cooler weather (we hope), school days and Homecoming Dances! We've added a Google calendar to our website where you can see all the happenings here at the shop. Also, you can set a reminder to pick up those dance flowers! May this harvest season be as prosperous as it has been for the little guy or gal on the left, who is one of our permanent residents! Calla lily is a common name for the beautiful Zantedeschia aethiopica, which is native to the Southern and Eastern parts of Africa, in the countries of South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland and others. It's the national flower of the island nation of Saint Helena, where I'm sure Napolean himself enjoyed the prolifically growing wildflowers while he was exiled there. This is a perennial plant which grows from rhizomes, in large clumps, preferring to live along the banks of or in streams and ponds. The lovely, arrow shaped, slightly ruffled leaves grow to 18 inches long. The flowers grow as an inflorescence (Isn't that a fantastic word?!), meaning groups of flowers growing off of a stem. The spathe or cup-shaped part of the flower grows up to 10 inches tall and the spadix (the yellow part in the middle of the cup) can grow up to 3 and 1/2 inches long. The plant is evergreen in certain climates, and deciduous--meaning they shed certain parts (like a tree sheds it's leaves or a deer sheds it's antlers) in climates with a dry season. Callas grow in other areas of the world, having been naturalized by someone who took the plants to a new place, where the plants thrived in their non-native climates. For example, in Australia, Zantedeschias have become a toxic weed and a pest. Hard to believe such a magnificently beautiful thing could be called a pest but it's true. The plant contains oxalic acid, which can be poisonous (poisonous can range in severity from making someone really sick to killing them) to people, plants and animals. If you want to plant these in your yard, consider the pets and small children that might have access to the plants. Also, if you want to plant these in your yard MAKE SURE YOU GET A VARIETY SUITED TO YOUR CLIMATIC ZONE. I've spent far too much money on beautiful purple, yellow and pink mini calla plants that are not suited for my zone. Some of them will do okay if you baby them, but let's be honest here--I don't have the time or attention span to baby a plant in my yard. If it doesn't take to the climate, it will die. It's the sad truth. Oh, and calla lilies aren't really lilies. They do come in many wonderful colors, one of my favorite varieties is Picasso, a marbled pale to medium pink mixed with cream. Callas make a great cut flower choice and are perfect for event work. They can last for many hours out of water, and their unique shape lends itself to setting any wedding they are used in, apart from the rest References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zantedeschia_aethiopica http://www.theflowerexpert.com/content/aboutflowers/exoticflowers/calla-lily Picture from www.homeologymodernvintage.com I love terrariums and today you aren't stuck with the heavy wooden based, flimsy glass panel numbers from the past. Now you can put a terrarium in any container, which puts you on the cutting edge for style. Besides all that, terrariums are low-maintenance ways to keep plants in your home. Check out this blog post from {Home-ology} modern vintage blog, where the author lists the easy steps and a recipe for success at creating your own terrarium. It's the Wednesday before prom and we have more orders than we've ever had for one dance weekend. We are still taking orders, but there's no telling how soon we reach our limit. Please order now if you haven't already. If you have already ordered, thank you!
Pictures of prom flowers can be found on our website here. We'll see you Saturday from 10am-2pm. Don't forget, we close at 2 on Saturdays. No new orders will be taken on Saturday. Happy Promming! Looked out the back window of the shop and saw this. The icicles aren't limited to the back door of the flower shop. They go all the way across the back of our historic building. Have no worries though, the front of the building is icicle free and the inside of the shop is warm, colorful and inviting. When I was a little girl, my aunt and I would go door to door selling poppies. I didn't know why we did it, I just tagged along. I remember then, that people were very willing to donate money to buy a little paper poppy. It seemed unusual in my little kid opinion that people would spend 5-10-even $20 on one little paper flower, when I could barely pay 50 cents for a packet of pop rocks at the Kaysville Drug Store. We sold those poppies in the summer time, and now I know why. Poppies are traditionally worn on Memorial Day, in commemoration of those military personnel who died in the service of their country. On Veterans Day, we honor all veterans. The poppy was chosen because of the poem In Flanders Fields, by Colonel John McCrae. Now, why did my aunt and I go selling poppies for veterans? Because, my grandmother's first husband died serving this country, in World War II. And she felt it was only right that her family would help participate in raising money for the fund that had helped her as a war widow. It seems that no one knows anything about poppies anymore, but last year as I was walking out of the grocery store, a disabled veteran sat, selling poppies. I thanked him for his service and purchased a poppy. I wore it on my shirt that day, and not a single person I ran into knew what the poppy was for. So, this Veterans Day, even though it isn't the designated day, I'll wear my poppy and hopefully spread the word about this day of remembrance. Thank you, Veterans. Thank you. All I can say is that my intentions are good, and we've all heard the old saying about intentions and paving and roads. Speaking of road pavement projects... Two years ago--or was it one?--yes, one. We were holding a parade to honor the excitement of the end of road construction. A parade in November? Yes. While it was windy and freezing for the first time that year, the parade went off and everyone had a great time, especially when Santa came with his secret service elves, riding on a backhoe. Since then, business has been great and that is in no small part due to wonderful customers, friends and family. This week, the crews have come to back to do some finish work on the Layton Parkway and its just a tiny little inconvenience for commuters, but it's looking fantastic and looking like it will be finished soon. I promise the next post will be much sooner than the last. Maybe promise is a strong word...we'll just see how it goes. Annie This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar. I look Good! We pride ourselves on custom dance creations. You can call and order dance flowers over the phone, just tell us the color of the dress we are trying to match. We'll take it from there. We use a variety of flowers that compliment your color choices. The beauty of making corsages and boutonnieres this way, is that we choose from the best product available on the day that we make it. Of course if you have preferences, we will do our best to accommodate your wishes. Awesome bling is available for an extra charge, so whether you want a classic style or something funky, you've come to the right place! |
AuthorAnnie is the owner of Annie's Main Street Floral and the author of "The Final Arrangement," part of the flower shop mystery series. Annie is Immediate Past -President of the Utah Professional Florist Association, a native of Layton Utah, and alumna of Layton High School. Archives
March 2017
Categories
All
|
|