'I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck.'

{Quote by Emma Goldman}

We love to throw a party. We feel so blessed to have our home and love the opportunity to share it. We love that having a party is a good nudge to get projects done and get the house clean. But one of my favorite things about throwing a party is doing the flowers! I was SO inspired by this gorgeous bouquet on Pinterest that I based the flowers for the party and even used the same colors for the gift (which I will share here later).

When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.  ~Chinese Proverb

 I start off with a trip to the flower store and splurge on a few really lovely things-- this time some peonies, orange ranunculus, ruffly peach roses and another orange flower(sorry- don't remember the name).

Then, I gather cuttings from our yard to fill in... Rosemary, Lamb's Ear, Azalea, Lady Banks Rose, Hosta, Fern, Succulent, Euphorbia, Dogwood, and Mahonia berries.

I never throw a jar away! Besides having free vases at home, they are great for giving away arrangements... My husband especially loves that part because otherwise we can start drowning in jars.

{I love my felco clippers!}

Then I make a really big mess. I go from vase to vase spreading out the flowers and then I do the sculptural work of weaving stems through, propping flower on flower... pinching off a leaf here and there when it blocks a flower from view.

As I worked on these flowers for my cousin's baby shower I felt the presence of her mother, my aunt. She passed away a few years ago after a battle with cancer. She was a true artist whose medium was flowers. She had the most wondrous flower garden (and was the president of her garden club) and she made beautiful arrangements. As I was making little groupings of threes (threes stems of rosemary etc) I remembered the little bits of design advice that I had absorbed from her over the years. My recent passion for turquoise brings up memories of marveling over her brilliantly vivid turquoise eye shadow... she knew that color was nothing to be afraid of, but a friend to be embraced and enjoyed. I knew that my cousin and uncle would have a deep appreciation for lovely flower arrangements; it felt a little bit like having her presence at an occasion that would've been so so dear to her.

::right now::

Right now, I am:


::preparing for a shower to celebrate my cousin's first baby and...

::enjoying our house and yard while it is in entertaining mode; ah! so clean and lovely ;-)

:: crafting something lovely for the expected baby girl and her mama.

:: loving the automatic scissor button on my machine! It was the deciding factor when I was picking my machine and I am so thankful I have it, especially when I applique lots of tiny separate pieces.

:: sharing our leftovers with our hens and...

:: collecting all the eggs we get in return... The longer days are adding up to many more eggs per day- hurray!

:: wishing I had practiced self restraint when I passed the Easter aisle at the grocery store... having a party is too easy an excuse for having yummies around!

:: noticing the signs of lovely spring weather... we are living outside these days!

:: anticipating some summer harvesting... see our tiny carrots? We love them roasted in some olive oil! We have added some metal buckets near our house for planters... we get so much more sun there than in our bigger garden area.

::right now:: inspired by soulemama.

while the boys are away...

the girls will... throw a baby shower... and watch a low budget jane austen film. andrew took the boys (e and otis) to visit family and play in the woods. and i helped host a delightful baby shower for my good friend sara- we are thrilled about the little boy in her tummy!

yummy!

anna helped sara try out her sling

anna and her friend lilly were chatting in the corner... anna was quite the social butterfly ;-)

here are some the flowers...

and here is what they looked like before i had fun with them

wedding flowers photos

here are some picture from the wedding--- after all the work i put in on it, i am a bit sad that i don't have many pictures... but these will give you an idea.
this first picture is of one of the centerpieces ... this one was in front of the bride and groom seats. thankfully none of the hydrangea at the reception wilted... i'm telling you-- don't use hydrangea in arrangements if you can help it! but it does look beautiful. the place cards used names from Charleston - where the couple is honeymooning...

my friend ashley put this one together while looking at the gigantic kissing ball i had done for the front entrance-- unfortunately, i don't have a picture of that one... maybe i can get some form the photographer... they were both great backgrounds for pictures...
i LOVE seeded eucalyptus- that is the almost blueish greenery
these are the bridesmaid's arrangements(that were the hasty replacements my friends made while i was putting the reception flowers out;-) they were used as centerpieces on the bridal party table.

i like this picture of one of the tables. when i did wedding flowers for a friend last year -4 days before my due date! it was at night and there was enough time to get picture before everything started, but w/ a 10:30 wedding-- and all the last minute disaster --we just couldn't even care about documenting anything.