{ Part 20 in the abc's series. Click here, then scroll down to read previous posts!)
Tabletop!
Creating outside the box table centerpieces is something that is near and dear to my heart. I love using fresh / real greens, flowers, vegetables, fruits, nuts, etc. in my own arrangements...and I use that term loosely! I like a natural look and have made many a floral designer more than a little nervous when they have to make something for me.
I stumbled on to this tutorial for a fresh fall harvest centerpiece that I love and think you should try! It's so easy! It's from the brilliant people at Pottery Barn and the container they are using, is one we carried here a while back! Love that!
Now, most of you have heard me talk about one of my favorite places to shop that is across the state, Terrain. Terrain is the greenhouse owned by Anthropologie and I love it even more than an Anthro store! I try to go there at least once a year since they opened (maybe 4 or 5 years ago) and I have even attended a couple cool workshops there! The first workshop was led by the head buyer who spoke about the far off lands they travel to for product and ideas. She was so interesting and inspiring and afterwards we exchanged business cards. For me, that in itself was a feather in my retail cap!
The other workshop I attended was the Handtied Bouquet Workshop! I LOVE HANDTIED BOUQUETS and even considered carrying some of these here at pepperberry's on weekends or special occasions only....at any rate, that never came to be! Here are a couple pics of my experience there.
My "station". They had a beverage and tea towel {to keep} for all of us! Just part of creating the experience, which they're brilliant at, btw!
Buckets and buckets of blooms and berries...all ours for the taking, no limits!
My finished product...ignore the vase, I just plopped it in there for the pic. See the dangling things? And the fiddlehead fern? And the poppy's and hydrangeas? Love, love, love.
Ok, on to a couple other arrangements I've made, then to some that were made to order!
These were the arrangements I made for my parents 75th birthday party! The hydrangeas were from my yard. You'll see that I love using 2 different centerpieces at my functions...and, invariably, one always seems to be a topiary!
When I use fresh fruit, I always make sure they are special ordered in. They really need to be grade A. Anything less doesn't look good. Joseph's was happy to order a couple cases of grade A lemons for me!
I made this pretty little arrangement for a small bridal shower that I co-hosted for my nephew's
bride-to-be! It was a springtime so I used your typical tulips, but jazzed them up with fresh asparagus!
Then, I paired them up with Lavender topiaries that I bought when I was at Terrain {for my handtied bouquet seminar}, alternating the two centerpieces down the long table for 20!
For my next trick...! Another bridal shower, this time for my new daughter-in-law! I did not make these {I don't think!} but, as you can probably guess by now, I was very specific when I ordered them! Can you see that I also am a container freak? It's just as important as what goes in them!
The topiaries for this table were ivy double ball topiaries. We saved them, ordered a few more and used them at my son's rehearsal dinner.
Now we're on to yet another bridal shower, this time, for my daughter, Maggie. I'm moving into another phase here...it's my individual centerpiece phase, which ended up carrying through to her wedding! The individual centerpieces for her bridal shower were the little pots of Rosemary. The little vase of Billy Balls were one of the two arrangements that lined the long table.
Not a great picture....picture taking was not the priority that day since I had a different role... but we used large white pitchers filled with spring flowers between the small billy ball vases. I personally loved the contrast in size. The large pitcher arrangements were not made by me, but I did the billy balls!
Here we have the seating for Maggie's wedding. We went with Rosemary topiaries in square glass cubes in the center, with individual centerpieces in small cubes, for each of our guests to take home with them. Maggie is a *square* kind of girl!
Here is a shot of the individual arragement. And yes, it took more than a bit of convincing for GW to agree to making and delivering over 200 of these!
So many of you ask me about my holiday decorating at home. You may be surprised to know that it doesn't look anything like my husband's store! I use only fresh. I can tell you that my poinsettias are re-potted into my own clay pots {I'm a pot snob!} and, the table in my entryway has a silver tray with my Grandmother's Bible open to the story of the Nativity laying on fresh greens, strewn with an assortment of nuts, pears & pomegranates. That probably gives you a pretty good idea of how I do things at home!
I hope this post inspires you to use plants, fruits, vegetables, etc. in your own creations! Did you know that the new White House florist does? She came in at the beginning of the Obama administration and she is my new floral HERO! Her name is Laura Dowling and I've pinned some of her work on my Posies and Potagers board on pinterest! You can also see some pictures of Terrain on that board!
Update: 11/24/12 Thanksgiving small centerpieces for a very small table:
and, a sea of lemon arrangements for a bridal shower!
to be continued...but probably not tomorrow! I need a day or 2...
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