Wreaths

A month or so ago I got a request to do a wreath for a wedding. I don't usually get these so it was actually kind of fun. The wreath I did was for the door of their church. I think it turned out pretty well and the bride LOVED it...which is pretty much all i care about :)

Her colors were green and white. The wreath is a double heart with carnations, mums and cymbidium orchids.

I also did a wreath with silk flowers for my desk at work. I had seen it in one of my floral magazines and wanted to try it out.

Aside from flowers, I used those decorative ornaments to take up space. The good thing about doing this with silk flowers is I could use many different flowers and have it not be super expensive. I did a heart because it was around Valentine's day when I made it...I'll probably do another one when the fall rolls around.

Simple Boutonnieres

People always think that floristry is really fun...which it is. But I'm not going to lie, there is a lot of work involved when dealing with flowers. Unfortunately, when I picked up my flowers from the wholesalers, they don't come striped, wired and taped. Just ask my friend (and boss) Kathleen! . When she was interviewing for help, she got a lot of "I don't know anything about flowers but I am a fast learner" people. Flowers can be simple to do but there IS a correct way to tape, wire and put this stuff together. When doing weddings, we are helping people celebrate one of the happiest days of their lives. We definitely do not take this lightly (mainly because we do not want screaming brides who want changes at the last minute).

As wedding season goes on, I will hopefully get to share with you my work. Please feel free to email me any questions. I am more than happy to offer any advice!

I believe these orange roses are "Tropical Amazones".

• Tropical Amazone with white statice. The boutonniere has a bow because it was for a female (similar to a pin on corsage, but smaller and less elaborate).
• Isn't the flower beautiful? I love it when roses open like that.
• The boutonniere for the groomsmen were very simple, just a rose with a lemon leaf backing.

• The groom's boutonniere was a white vendula rose with lemon leaf backing. At the tip of my roses I like to do a little swirl. These boutonnieres are all wrapped with floral tape which comes in an array of colors. Other options are available such as ribbon or wire but floral tape is definitely the most simple (and probably cheapest)
• Boutonniere for one of the ladies in the groom's family.
• Boutonniere for one of the gentlemen in the groom's family. Similar to the ladies one except with no bow. Both boutonnieres were a single vendula with green hypericum berries.

• Ring bearer's boutonniere. Green mum with hypericum berries. For the ring bearer's, it's usually best to choose smaller flowers since it is usually for someone small :) Any "mini" flower (calla lily, daisy, etc) or spray/sweetheart roses are usually good. Also, if you are putting this on someone younger than 5, I recommend using a safety pin as opposed to the pin with the pearl on the end for safety reasons!
  

Scrapbook!

I used to love to scrapbook, but it's quite an expensive habit so I try to refrain myself. i have two completed ones and one that is still in the works (which I don't think will ever be done since my sister has to send me the rest of the pictures).

But since my friend has been blogging about her scrapbooking, it's made me slightly nostaglic.

I think we went to Disneyland on a Thursday. I don't think I've ever been to Disneyland for a full day on a Thursday ever since (or ever??)

• My family!
• Closer look of the stickers
• Layering usually looks pretty nice
• In case you can't read that, it says: L O V E , enjoying each other's company
• Because we wanted to remind our parents of our achievements (kidding, I couldn't complete the scrapbook without a "daughters" page!)
• Isn't Cocoa precious?? (Cocoa is the dog, by the way. Just in case. We're pretty sure my parents love her more than they love us.)
• My kid is a genius! My sister's graduation (mine is the next picture). My sister is quite smart, so she got that sticker.
• No caption needed
• My kids are cuter than yours :)

So this is the unfinished scrapbook. Hopefully after my sister reads this she will send me pictures...the pages are already complete I just need to plop the pictures in there.

Next post: back to flowers! I have more weddings coming up since we're "in season". If you're looking for a florist please email me at flowers.by.helen@gmail.com !

Gift Wrapping Ideas

I've had a lot of birthdays to attend recently and birthdays=gifts. Good thing I enjoy gift wrapping. A nicely wrapped gift really says a lot. Of course you could always just buy a gift bag and throw the gift in there with some tissue paper but taking the time to gift wrap (and trust me, depending on what you're trying to wrap, it can take a really long time) just seems more thoughtful. Here are some simple ideas that people really enjoy:

I did this for a co-worker a while ago. Adding flowers to the box was a nice touch. In this case, I used mini calla lillies. She loved it :)

This was for my sister's birthday. Stacking gifts is always fun because I can use an assortment of wrapping paper. Good for if you really need to get rid of some paper (so you have more room for new ones). It's usually nice to have the papers match or have some sort of drastic contrast (but don't make it ugly...)

This was for my boss's son's 1st birthday. The cute tiger was from Target. I know he turned one and was probably too busy trying to go into to the pool than notice my gift but everyone else at the party loved it and I got compliments all day.

This was for a friend's newborn baby. The bear peeking out is actually a rattle that I tied to the bow. Makes a cute ornament for the gift and is useful for later!

Some pointers if you want to stock up on gift wrap:

Make sure you check out Target (my favorite!) after Christmas. I usually stock up then for the year(s). Try to pick some that are neutral (i.e. doesn't have christmas trees or snowflakes) so that you can use it year-round. Costco also has some great rolls that will last you forever. Some of the Costco ones are reversible so it's like you get two wrapping papers in one!

Happy wrapping!