Saturday, December 4, 2010

Christmas is in the air!

I realize I have been rather remiss in posting over here. I've been busy - starting my Christmas shopping, hanging out with friends, going to holiday events - a shopping bazaar thingy and then today I did the annual Christmas in Salem home tour! Oh, how I adore snooping in other people's homes! And, for this event, there are professional decorators that come in and do up the houses; some are just spectacular - so this gives me new ideas to steal! I am not above stealing ideas, my friends! Anywho, I've also been busy decorating outside for a couple clients and then also did up a wreath for myself!

Early this week I did 6 planters for one of my clients and she also hired me to do a wreath for her. I did the wreath a few days ago, delivered it and then not-so-promptly remembered that I had wanted to photograph everything, so there ya go! I'll have to make a trip over there to take pictures soon.

Then, my upstairs neighbor always hires me to do her planter, a wreath and a garland around her door. I finished the wreath and planter yesterday but then ran out of time to do the garland - the garlands are pre-made, but I embellish them with different types of greens, berries and curly willow or other types of branches.

Shall we see the progress to date?

Here's the wreath I did up for my neighbor:Quite pretty, no? This year I used many types of greens, some flowering eucalyptus, pepperberries, curly willow and then I made that bow!

Her matching planter:


Here's my wreath. I wanted something very simple, so I just used silver ribbon and a bow for accents:The ribbon wasn't quite right in this photo, but it has since been adjusted so it doens't look like it's just a plain circle. I will sometimes fuss with something over and over and over until it looks just right. I may remove that silver ribbon and just leave the bow by itself. The jury is still out!

Here's the wreath that usually lives on the front door of the house:
It's all backlit and weird looking, but in real life, it's all pretty hues of aqua and greenish. It looks lovely on the front door. Right now it's hanging inside the door of our back entrance in the laundry/mud room.

Mud rooms are a big thing here in New England. Where we are all picking up so much mud that we need to dedicate an entire room to it is rather bothersome to me! How about a dirt room? A salt spray room? A leaf room? I need a leaf room far more than I need a mud room - having two dogs with fluffy hair does not mix well with having leaves on the ground - their fur is like a magnet for leaves! We always have leaves here and there in the house!

As I was outside photographing the wreaths and such, I saw that there are still a few things blooming in the garden! It's been COLD COLD COLD here at night, so I truthfully don't know how these things are still alive!

Asters:


Stonecrop:

And craziest of all, a summer annual, brachyscome:That's just crazy!

Since it has been getting into the 20s at night (I know, YUCK!), I decided to clip the remaining saponaria flowers and buds, as well as the nemesia flowers that all came along with the forget-me-not seeds I planted this summer. The fleurs are sitting by my sink and look so cheerful!


That's all for fleur news today. Tomorrow I am working as a guide for the Christmas in Salem event, so I'll be busy blabbing to hundreds upon hundreds of strangers and friends tomorrow! Tonight we are going to dinner with some friends, and then having dinner with family tomorrow night, so it's a social weekend!

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend!

Will talk at you again soon!

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Snooki revisited and holiday evergreens

So, a friend of mine who attended our Halloween party uploaded her pictures today to one of those online album thingies...

Amongst the fun pictures from Halloween, I found a full body shot of yours truly all decked out in my orange Snooki-ness!

Ready for it?

It's pretty horrible!


It's too bad I wasn't looking at the camera, but you can definitely get the gist of my get-up, anyway!

Here's a nice picture of my husband - The Sitch (short for Situation, of course!) - and Snooks:
I had to crop out the other person in this photo because she's sorta famous and I don't want to spread her picture around the web if she doesn't approve it first.

The friend who sent the photos to me today was dressed for the party as Joan from Mad Men. She looked GREAT!

In other world news, I did a big decorating job today. Six large planters and then I still have to do a wreath for this client. I'll take photos next time I'm there. The planters came out beautifully this year. Much prettier and more grandiose than in past years.

First I headed to my beloved Marblehead Garden Center and bought LOADS of greens, a garland and three wreaths. I was a good girl and only bought one wreath for myself. The garland and 2nd wreath are for my neighbor who asked me to decorate her door and planter next week.

I bought many prettys - oregonia (looks like variegated boxwood), boxwood, incense cedar, regular pine boughs, red pine, blue-berried juniper, and some other cute, fluffy type of pine. I also had on hand some preserved flowering eucalyptus and lots of curly willow. The planters all look VERY pretty.

While I was in the middle of working, a woman yelled out to me from the fence asking if she could please come in and see what I was doing! Turns out it was my client's neighbor and she is VERY fond of this garden and the planters and pretty things I put in there! She said she has a perfect view of the garden and she enjoys looking at it every day from her windows! She then raved on and on about how pretty the planters looked and told me how happy she was to have such beauty in her neighborhood! When she left she thanked me for beautifying the world! Very sweet, no?

So, that's all I gots for today. I'm having some friends over for dinner tonight, so I must start thinking about cooking - am making chicken fajitas! Yumm!

Hope you're having a fine Monday or Tuesday or whenever you read this!

Ciao~

Monday, November 29, 2010

My Review of Mint Julep Cups

Below is a review I submitted today to www.beau-coup.com - this is a great website that I highly recommend for anything to do with parties or decorating for them! Great value and good products...


Originally submitted at Beaucoup

In the 19th Century, julep cups were used as prizes for races but are now known as the traditional beverage of the South. Bring back tradition by awarding guests with these decorative julep cups that can serve as table decorations or favors.


Wonderful value, great product

By Life with Flowers from Salem, MA on 11/29/2010

 

5out of 5

Pros: High Quality Material, Creative & Functional, Good Capacity, Versatile, Pretty, Easy To Use, Easy To Clean, Brilliant Finish, Decorative

Best Uses: Holidays, Dinner Parties, Big Events, Everyday, Display, Special Occasions

Describe Yourself: Bargain Hunter, Frequent Entertainer, Stylish

I was impressed with the quality of the mint julep cups for the price they are offered at Beau-Coup.com. I couldn't have been happier with them!

Several flower arrangements in mint julep cups

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Tags: Made with Product

(legalese)



For some reason the image didn't come out from the Beau Coup website, so here it is!


Will post something more interesting tomorrow! Busy day today!!

BYE!