{late summer florals with protea blooms}

I have been wanting to create an arrangement using protea flowers for some time now, but they have such a unique look that I always end leaving them behind for easier to work with flowers.  On a trip to the flower mart this past Saturday, I passed a stall with pink protea on sale for a $1 a stem and couldn't pass up the chance to experiment with them.  For a more glam touch, I used a low profile gold ceramic vase and paired the protea with some more organic and wild feeling flowers like deep purple clover, wax flower and cream hypernicum berry.   I don't know what kept me away from these interesting blooms for so long, but I'll definitely be using them in arrangements much more in the future especially since they provide a lot of look for a low price! 

{summer flowers}

The first few weeks that we were back in downtown Los Angeles, I was itching to take a trip to the flower mart, but it didn't seem worth it to buy fresh flowers when our place was in the utter chaos of moving boxes everywhere.  The weekend before last, we finally had people over as the boxes are gone and our place is almost done so a took a quick morning trip to The Original Flower Mart.

I picked up a bunch of gorgeous pale pink dahlias that were on sale and then proceeded to add a few more organic feeling florals like scabiosa pods and clover.  I also picked up a bunch of inexpensive bright pink spray roses to fill in the arrangement and add a pop of color.   Using floral foam in my favorite trophy vases from Target, I was able to make two super full arrangements from about $30 worth of florals plus a tiny arrangement using the leftover roses (not pictured) for the bathroom.  Really is there anything better than fresh flowers in your home?!?

Green Wedding Shoes even did a great write up on navigating the LA flower mart if its your first time!!

{peony season}

The short lived peony season is now upon us!!!  With a full inventory after Mother's Day, I was able to pick up a few bunches of bright fuchsia peonies on sale at Whole Foods for $8 per 5-stem bunch (I had to stop myself from buying more than 2 bunches which was really an exercise in self control that I shockingly succeeded at.)   These lush fluffy flowers come in an array of colors usually shades of pinks or white and are definitely the one of the darlings of the flower world.  These blooms are generally a bit more pricey than your regular fresh bouquet and will require some special care in order to keep the fresh cut flowers thriving for as long as possible.  After buying my fair share of peony bunches and working alongside some of the most experienced floral companies in the Chicago wedding industry, I've picked up a few tips for elongating the life of these gorgeous flowers that I thought I would share with you today:

{one thing to keep in mind here is that you will want to buy peonies fully closed (see photo below) to last as long as possible.  The blooms will open within a day if you keep them in a warm room.  If you are buying peonies in the afternoon that you wish to be displayed that same evening you may want to select a bunch that has started to open already because your blooms might not open in time.}

{a thanksgiving holiday tablescape}

Chris and I decided not to travel home for Thanksgiving this year (flights are insane and we have been traveling like crazy this past year), but instead of spending the holiday alone in Chicago both of our families decided to travel to us!  Both our parents and siblings rented an old victorian house together in Lincoln Park and the best part of the place was the super old school dining room (complete with cheesy teal tufted chairs!) where we got to serve Thanksgiving dinner.

I really wanted to make the dinner special for our families since they traveled so far to be with us and BBJ Linen helped me bring my vision to life by giving us access to their amazing catalogue of designer rental linens and chargers.  I would have loved to go super modern and use this striped linen or use some punchy colored chargers, but I decided to keep it classic with a luxe navy blue damask topped with their gold braided glass chargers and some simple texture of with these marquis napkins.  I finished the look of the table using my own white dinnerware and gold flatware (is anyone tired of seeing this flatware yet?!?! because I'm certainly not. ok good).   For the centerpieces I made one large arrangement surrounded by five smaller arrangements then mixed in gold taper candles and gold votives.

 {check. out. those. chairs.  pretty sure they have been there since 1886 when this rental home was built}

 {the federal damask linen looks even better in person than it does in photos if you can believe it!}

 {we pre-ordered some flowers including decorative cabbage, garden roses, mums, thistle, hypernicum berry and eucalyptus from Whole Foods then arranged them as a family the night before}

 {gold vase from Target}

 {in addition to the linens BBJ gave us, we rented some luxe Murano glassware from Hall's.  Renting linens or glassware for special occasions really takes the entire event up a notch and its surprisingly resonable- it only cost $55 for us to rent 13 place settings of this Murano glassware which included red wine, water and a champagne flute!}

{I know that Crackers like this are traditionally used for Christmas, but I just love the lighthearted-ness they add to the beginning of dinner and they come with a prize (like mini playing cards, a yo-yo or pocket mirror), a joke AND a paper crown- who's going to turn that down!?}}

 {garden roses are some of my all-time favorite flowers I just can't resist them when they are available}

{we were having so much fun at dinner that I forgot to take any photos of us all together at the table- but my sister in law did capture this one of a portion of the guests near the end of the night- wearing the paper crowns from our crackers of course!}

{an orchid arrangement for the holiday season}

This holiday season is already looking scary busy between hosting our families here in Chicago for Thanksgiving, holiday parties, some travel, lots of work and flying home for Christmas.  While I love to put together fresh arrangements for our dining table (like this one), I decided to take a little work off my plate for the coming weeks by putting together an orchid arrangement that I hope to last well through Christmas morning!

I have always loved the look of 4 or 5 smaller orchids planted in a large footed vase (like this or this) and while we do have the perfect vessel to achieve this look from ZGallerie I have never wanted actually fill it with dirt since we do use it often for champagne bottles at parties.  Last week on a Home Goods trip, I came across this silver metal drink bucket for a mere $29 (similar one here) and knew it would be perfect for making my orchid arrangement vision into reality.

I picked up a few different smaller orchids from my local Trader Joe's (you can also find these at your local flower store or even Home Depot for around $6 to $9 each) and a bag of orchid potting mix.  You will also need to pick up a small pack of stones (or steal them from your neighbor's yard- I won't judge) to allow for drainage at the bottom of the bucket.  I also topped the arrangement with some bright green moss- this part is totally optional, but I do think it brightens the arrangement while also hiding the unattractive orchid roots and weird look of the potting mix!

Whenever I buy orchids for our home they last for at least a month and I am hoping this arrangement will go for even longer.  I love the luxe look of the silver bucket and clean white orchids alone, but if you wanted to make it feel more "holiday" appropriate you could add a simple holiday ribbon around the rim of the bucket tied in a festive bow.  How amazing would this arrangement be as a special gift for a hostess or your family this Thanksgiving?!?

{floral guide: thanksgiving table arrangement}

Not having access to the flower mart in downtown LA has been a big adjustment for me, but luckily I was able to find a cute flower shop around the corner from our new place that was able to order some amazing cut flowers for me this Thanksgiving.  Here is the flower guide for the two arrangements I put together for our Thanksgiving table this Thursday.  Note that I did end up adding some craspedia to the arrangements that I already had at the house so it didn't end up getting photographed above.

{amaryllis & paperwhite bulbs for the holidays}

Growing up I always remember my mother putting together amaryllis and paper white bulbs around late October/early November to display around our house for the holiday season.   When I moved out into my first place in San Francisco, my mother sent me care package filled with bulbs and all the supplies needed to plant some for my new home.  Every year since then, she sends along all the supplies for what has grown to become a long time holiday tradition.  Today I wanted to share with you the very simple yet rewarding process of planting these bulbs for the upcoming holidays.  The cost of these bulbs is low and you should be able to find them at your local garden supply or Home Depot- I have also spotted them in "kits" at Target or Trader Joes.  The ease of putting these together makes them a great hostess gift throughout the holiday season as well!

The process for planting either paper white or amaryllis bulbs is basically the same.  You can use practically any ceramic pot or glass vase you might have around so long as the bulb/bulbs can fit their width in it.  The key with bulb success is making sure not to completely submerge the bulb in water or dirt, but to plant it so that the majority of the bulb is visible above the moss in your container.  If need be place rocks or pebbles in the bottom of your container to get the bulb as high as you would like.  Use moss to anchor the bulb in your container.  Fill the entire container with water, let it sit for a few minutes and then drain all the water out by holding the bulb/moss/pebbles while tipping the container to its side.  This should be the extent of watering your bulb will require.  These potted bulbs can be placed anywhere in your home- they do not require a specific amount of sunlight!  You may want to add water and drain it once more in a few weeks if your home is very dry from air conditioning or weather.

Paperwhites and amaryllis make for great hostess gifts since they are pretty and require little effort on the part of the person you are gifting them to!  Simply plant the bulb into a nice ceramic container following the directions above and attach a cute tag like this sticker tag from Rifle Paper I recently picked up on a trip to Paper Source:

While normally I would show you the end result of planting these bulbs, if I waited that long to share it with you then you wouldn't have time to plant some for yourself!  So here are some photos of what you can hope to achieve.  While the amaryllis is my favorite because it is so dramatically beautiful, I also thoroughly enjoy the strong scent that paperwhites will fill your rooms with:

 {amaryllis}

{paperwhites}