a good thing

I like fabric stores because they smell beautiful like possibility.

flower show

Oh how I love the Philadelphia Flower Show.
I live for it.
or, if not for it, at least I live because of it.

(you might think I'm joking, but I'm not.)
my parents met for the first time when my mom was leaving the flower show.
I suppose this makes me something of a flower child. (insert laugh track here?)

My mom and I attended the flower show on Friday this year, but my mom had already been there on opening night with my dad.

so, here are my thoughts on the 2010 Passport to the World Philadelphia Flower Show. I'm sure that you're positively dying to know my opinions, so I won't spend any more time introducing this post.




the shipping containers were really wonderful. one was mirrored on the walls and ceiling, and when you walked through it you could see yourself looking back at you from all directions. On the side of another container there were three small arrangements that used construction lighting and various flowers. (ranunculus were included. and you should know that I'm a sucker for anything/everything with ranunculus.)



The Antarctica section was absolutely amazing. big icicles were made out of flowers and fabric, and the lighting was nice too. A really beautiful part of it was that there were calla lilies in slowly melting blocks of ice, being held above a pool of water by ice tongs. probably my favorite section of the entire show. (It didn't hurt that the cruise ship themed display was positioned right next to it. Can you say RMS Titanic? I laughed.)



the African themed section was astounding. an entire lion was made out of plant materials and stood at the entrance. The giraffe was equally impressive, and was made out of a metal base and suspended containers of orange orchids.



ikebana, la tour eiffel, and a kiwi.
just some various other things that I really enjoyed.

The ikebana was more interesting than what I can remember from previous years, as was some of the smaller displays.

I geeked out a lot at the 'window shopping' section, especially when it came to the rain gear themed shop. Umbrellas made from pussy willow branches? Colorful boots filled with flowers? Yes please. The chocolate/Parisian themed 'shop' was nice too. (just three more weeks until I'm up off and away!)

the smaller scaled arrangements were nice too, and as they shared a common theme it was pretty unique. The ways that people varied a single theme were wonderful. The theme was kiwi... and while most people themed it after the kiwifruit there were a couple that used the lovable and flightless kiwi bird.

And that's about it. I spent a little time meandering around the various shops, and (as per usual) questioned the amount of cat themed wall hangings.

Pretty happy things

The above is hanging on my front door. The above is also handmade. The directions for the above are listed below.

1. Get a wreath form.
2. Tie greens to wreath form.
3. Tie ornaments onto wreath.
4. Tie pine cones onto wreath.
5. Spraypaint an artichoke gold and tie that on too.
6. Get a big bow and put it on top.
7. Hang it, enjoy it, blog about it.

Get it? Got it? Good.
(Don't get it? I wouldn't have gotten that either.)

1.
Wreath forms are all over the place. Find one at a hardware store or craft store.

2.
Get greens! If you live near a park, go for a walk. (the fresh air will do you well.) take a pair of clippers. take pretty branches. (on second thought, you might want to check to see if you can do that. I don't want to be advocating deforestation.)
Wire the branches to the wreath form. (Thin green wire works best, as it blends into the leaves like a ninja.) make sure that there are plenty of branches, or the wreath will look wimpy.
The back of my wreath looks like this. Yours doesn't have to be neat, so long as it gets the job done.

Alternately, you could buy an undecorated wreath. (But that is not nearly as exciting.)

3.
Get ornaments!
Want to showcase a special ornament? Wire it on and the mail person and your neighbors will appreciate it every single day! Otherwise, just find some cheap ornaments. The ones used on this wreath came glittered, but you could glitter them yourself.

If you want to do this, I'd get a piece of floral foam, a skewer, an ornament, and a lot of glitter. (don't forget to put newspaper down first!) Shove your skewer into the floral foam, put the ornament onto the skewer, drown the ornament in glue, cover the ornament in glitter, wait for it to dry, and cover it in sealant.

But before going through all that trouble, I'd go the the dollar store and see what they have there. It will save you a lot of time.
Wire the ornaments to the wreath.

Try to vary the sizes of the ornaments that you use, and remember to use ornaments that will not break! :)


4.
Get some pine cones.

You can pick them up while you are on your deforestation walk, or you could pick them up at a craft store.
Paint them if you want. Brushing on a little bit of white paint will make them look like they are snow covered! (If you want to go all out with the snow covered idea, try sprinkling the wet paint with sugar crystals or glitter. When it dries, it should have a little bit of texture.)
Wire them to the wreath.

5.
Get a dried artichoke. Get gold paint. (or spray paint)
use gold paint on dried artichoke.
wire it to your wreath.


6.
Get a long piece of thick ribbon and tie a fancy bow. If you don't know how to tie a bow, look on the internet. If you can't find a tutorial on the internet, you are not looking hard enough.

You could also just buy a premade bow.

Wire it to the wreath. If you have a spot on your wreath that doesn't have as much greenery as the others, I'd suggest this as a place for the bow to go.

7.
Make a loop out of sturdy wire and attach that to your wreath form.

Hang it. Enjoy it. :)

Phew! thats a lot of writing! Hope it all made sense, if you have any questions please post them in the comments section.