Women's Quarterly

A dear friend of mine asked me a very important question this weekend: “What gives you inspiration for your designs?” It took me a few seconds to really think of the answer, and I realized that I have a tendency to find a primary flower then find other flowers that would look good in concert with it. This is exactly what happened at the flower market on Saturday morning.

I recently joined a group named Women’s Quarterly; A fantastic group of smart and professional young women that gather once every 4 months to discuss a topic that is pertinent to our society and gender. Every time they pick a cause and through a prize drawing raise money and awareness for their non-profit of choice. This week I was asked to donate a couple of floral centerpieces to Women’s Quarterly as a prize to help raise money for GoInspireGo.

So, back to the inspiration for this weeks’ design; I found a really neat looking succulent that had deep purple and green leaves, and without any hesitation I decided it was going to be the centerpiece for this week’s centerpiece… (is that grammatically correct?)

Shopping list: Succulent, Peruvian Apple, Bells of Ireland, flowering pink Sedum, pink Amaryllis Belladonna

Price: $27.00 (I know, I know, I splurged. But it was worth it… I promise!)

This week’s vases consisted of two left over florist vases from a wedding I had done earlier this summer. With my vase and rocks ready to go, and the gorgeous succulent as my muse, I started to put the flowers together.

To help cover up some of the unsightliness of the flower stems I attached a piece of white ribbon to the mid section of the vase to help it look nicer.

Now, for some really cool news! I made a great connection today with the manager of Bay Area Bride Guide, and have agreed to blog for them! SUPER EXCITED! Stay tuned for the developments!

For Mom

“Roses, 5 Dollars” “Tulips, SPECIAL 6 Dollars”, “Hydrangeas for Mom”….These were just some of the signs that were lining the entries to the wholesaler stalls this morning at the SF Flower Market. Vendors were helping customers decide if they should get roses or tulips, while children were picking up what they could from the floor and arranging mini bouquets as they were waiting for their parents to pay. The vibe at the market reminded me of the scene out of “My Fair Lady”. I felt breaking out in song and belting out “Now woooooooooooouldn’t it be loverrrly?” (Audrey Hepburn would NOT be pleased with my singing!)

As I walked among all the gorgeous flowers, I thought that roses and tulips have been done 1,000,000 times over, and that I would work with Kale for Mother’s day. Yes, that’s right, KALE!

So here we go…

Shopping list: Flowering Kale (and you thought I was kidding), Bells of Ireland, Tritoma

Cost: $19.50

Tools: Flowers, Scissors, Recycled Containers, All Natural Wax Paper, Rubber Bands, Raffia:

Step 1: I grabbed a Trader Joe’s Hummus container, a Pavel’s Yogurt container (Low Fat of course), and a couple of Folger’s Coffee/Del Monte Peach Mason Jars and wrapped them in all natural wax paper. To make sure the paper held, I secured them with a rubber band around the top:

Step 2: Since Kale was at the top of my shopping list this week, I decided that the it would be the focal point of my arrangements and made sure that the Tritoma and Bells of Ireland accented it in all the right places:

Step 3: This is the first week that my alter ego “Phantom Floranista” and sidekick sister “Fish” dropped off the flowers at people’s doorsteps with a sign reading:

As I finish up this entry, I’m wishing that my mom was here in the US so I could gift one of the arrangements to her. Seeing as she’s thousands of miles away, I dedicate this week’s blog to her. I LOVE YOU MOM! (P.S. Thanks for all the Kale soup when we were kids…)

Phantom Floranista

The Mission: To create inexpensive arrangements using recycled materials from around the house that will fill your home with beauty, your heart with joy, and leave a smile on your face.

Every Saturday at 8:00 am (PST) I will be venturing to the San Francisco Flower Market where I will be purchasing between $10 -$20 worth of flowers. I will then arrange these flowers in recyclable/reused containers that accumulate from a weeks worth of grocery shopping, and will design arrangements that can be used as centerpieces for dinner parties, accent pieces for the house, or just a little gift for a friend. I'll be photographing, documenting, and blogging about every step to prove that floral arrangements don't have to be expensive to be beautiful.

Phantom Floranista Project: Once I've shared my ideas with the cyber world, i'll be dropping off the arrangements at random doorsteps in my neighborhood with the hope that the people who receive them will smile. It's kind of like the "Free Hugs" project, except with, well, flowers!

Who knows, maybe I can even inspire you to do the same in your neighborhood....

So, here we go.... Today's inspiration was France. I just got back from a killer trip in Paris, so naturally when I saw the gorgeous French Tulips at the SF Flower Mart, I just HAD to buy them!

Shopping List: French Tulips, Snowball Tree Flower, Water Lily Seed Pod

Cost: $20.00

Tools: Flowers, Scissors, Recycled Containers, Recycled Gift Wrap Paper, Recycled Ribbon:

Step 1: I used a Philadelphia Cream Cheese container, and a Trader Joe's Hummus container wrapped in some saved gift wrap paper, a few jars, and a wine bottle I had kept to create the "vases" that will hold the flowers:

Step 2: I arranged my containers to get an idea of what the centerpiece heights will be:

Step 3: Placement of the flowers is my favorite part. Let your creative juices flow freely, and place your flowers as your heart desires, and VOILA!

Tips:
1) Working in odd numbers is always best. It adds a level of interest to an arrangement that even numbers wont. for example, try to place 3 blossoms of a flower in the same vase instead of 2 or 4.
2)Remember that when you're placing flowers in containers for a centerpiece, you want to keep in mind that the centerpiece will be viewed from all angles, so keep it interesting all the way around.