We had a blast over the Labor Day weekend. Our friend Bev came for a visit. We enjoyed delicious food and lively conversation and a couple road trips. I would say a good time was had by all. But it is time to get back to work.
Thursday and Friday of last week were spent getting the house ready for her arrival. In addition to a thorough cleaning, we spent time making everything look as beautiful as possible. That included fresh flowers and, ... some artificial greenery too. It all blended together so nicely that I wanted to share with you how we did it.
At the top of the stairs on the second floor landing, we have a very small space where a small footed chest is located. I added the silver leaf tray (which was a gift from Bev some few years ago) and then set about putting together a display. Here we have beautiful, fresh alstromeria in the foreground. In the background we have greenery which we picked up from IKEA - which is artificial. It gives a nice full look to our display, but we do not have to worry about watering. We only need to concentrate on watering the fresh flower display.
I started with this square glass vase, from IKEA. A thorough washing with warm soapy water and then dried by hand with a good quality terrycloth towel made this little vase sparkle. I added cold water and a few drops of Clorox bleach to keep down bacteria in the water. Then, the beautiful bunch of alstromeria. These are my very favorite flowers next to tulips. Tulips are not available all year and alstromeria are, so I am lucky that I can have flowers in the house all year round that are pleasing.
I found this urn in my stock of "stuff." It was on a shelf, sitting all alone. I have no idea right now where I bought it or how long I have had it. But I knew it would work perfectly on this tray.
The large green moss covered ball fit perfectly in the top of the urn. I really liked this look. The ball came from Target. I think they came in a set of three - small, medium and large. This is the large. The other two are floating around somewhere. Probably on the shelf where I found the urn. The picture frame and print above came from IKEA. A very nice touch for not a lot of money. We do a similar thing with the artwork as we have with the plant and flower displays. We have some pieces which are very expensive and some from IKEA.
Another shot from below to give you a different view of this beautiful display.
Downstairs, in the kitchen, I decided to fill in among the real plants with a little artificial greenery too. Can you tell which is real and which is artificial?
Advances in artificial plants has been amazing over the years. There was a time when I would never have considered artificial plants of any kind. And there are still some of the less expensive that I would never use. But there are plenty out there that look so incredibly real and they are perfect to fill in and give a fuller look to any display. Sort of like hair extensions, but for floral displays.
Thursday and Friday of last week were spent getting the house ready for her arrival. In addition to a thorough cleaning, we spent time making everything look as beautiful as possible. That included fresh flowers and, ... some artificial greenery too. It all blended together so nicely that I wanted to share with you how we did it.
At the top of the stairs on the second floor landing, we have a very small space where a small footed chest is located. I added the silver leaf tray (which was a gift from Bev some few years ago) and then set about putting together a display. Here we have beautiful, fresh alstromeria in the foreground. In the background we have greenery which we picked up from IKEA - which is artificial. It gives a nice full look to our display, but we do not have to worry about watering. We only need to concentrate on watering the fresh flower display.
I started with this square glass vase, from IKEA. A thorough washing with warm soapy water and then dried by hand with a good quality terrycloth towel made this little vase sparkle. I added cold water and a few drops of Clorox bleach to keep down bacteria in the water. Then, the beautiful bunch of alstromeria. These are my very favorite flowers next to tulips. Tulips are not available all year and alstromeria are, so I am lucky that I can have flowers in the house all year round that are pleasing.
I found this urn in my stock of "stuff." It was on a shelf, sitting all alone. I have no idea right now where I bought it or how long I have had it. But I knew it would work perfectly on this tray.
The large green moss covered ball fit perfectly in the top of the urn. I really liked this look. The ball came from Target. I think they came in a set of three - small, medium and large. This is the large. The other two are floating around somewhere. Probably on the shelf where I found the urn. The picture frame and print above came from IKEA. A very nice touch for not a lot of money. We do a similar thing with the artwork as we have with the plant and flower displays. We have some pieces which are very expensive and some from IKEA.
Another shot from below to give you a different view of this beautiful display.
Downstairs, in the kitchen, I decided to fill in among the real plants with a little artificial greenery too. Can you tell which is real and which is artificial?
These are artificial. The ferns are the real deal.
Advances in artificial plants has been amazing over the years. There was a time when I would never have considered artificial plants of any kind. And there are still some of the less expensive that I would never use. But there are plenty out there that look so incredibly real and they are perfect to fill in and give a fuller look to any display. Sort of like hair extensions, but for floral displays.
