Holiday Wreath

You asked and I answered!

I had multiple requests for the Inspired Buyer event's demo that I teach an easy way to make a Holiday Wreath. But I'm gonna cheat and show you the finished product:


This is SO easy that I'm not even going to attach step-by-step pictures.

What you need:
1 Grapevine wreath
2 to 4 different plant and berry clippings that you like
(I chose sustainably grown materials of Liquid Amber leaves, Red Ilex berries, Seeded Eucalyptus and Yellow Solidaster)

What you do:
Start from a point in the wreath.
Clip 6 inch pieces off the plant and berry stems.
Insert the stems into the wreath until secure. Be sure to insert the stems in all the same direction.
Work your way around the wreath until you end where you started.

Viola! You have a holiday wreath!

And of course, this is a completely sustainable way to create a holiday wreath! Not only is the entire wreath decompostable, you can reuse the grapevine wreath for any holiday...including Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Statement Pieces for Your Holiday Party

Every year when the holidays roll around, I always get asked for some festive decorating tips for holiday parties. One of my favorite things to do is create Statement Pieces as a focal point of any event with small, simple supporting pieces. And intimate gatherings are no exception!

We recently decorated for a Coordinator luncheon at the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach. I really wanted to embrace the concept of the use of a Statement Piece along with the colors and feel of the season. Here's what I came up with:


What's the first thing that your eyes go to? Yep, its the center arrangement.


The supporting pieces on either side of the Statement Piece are very simple in monochromatic colors, staggered across the table.




Only 2 of the arrangements had a mix of colors.



And mini pumpkins and gourds were clustered together in groupings throughout as a seasonal accent.


The colors were kept simple: yellow, orange and deep red.

I know its the day before Thanksgiving. So I hope I have inspired you to pull in some fun decor for tomorrow's dinner party!

A special Thank You to Molly of Luminaire Images for capturing such beautiful images of our flowers!

Floral Color Combinations for Autumn

Its funny how Southern California's season changes are more punctuated by our retail stores than Mother Nature. We see a few trees change color here when Autumn rolls around but its nothing like this:



And as inspiration goes, I got inspired to create a few arrangements for fall.




Just because you can't go somewhere to get the full experience of fall doesn't mean you can't bring it to you!

Happy Autumn Inspiration!

Autumn tree photos from google images.

Corona Del Mar Home Tour 2010

This year, Floral Sense had the pleasure to decorate a beautiful home located in the heart of Corona Del Mar. The participating vendors included Baccarat, Villeroy and Boch and Wendi Young Design.

These arrangements were designed in gorgeous Baccarat crystal vases.
The collections include Ginkgo, Mille Nuits and Spiral respectively.











We also designed some succulent arrangements in these pretty vases:



And the rest of the home was designed with these colorful accent pieces.









Congratulations to the Corona Del Mar Home Tour for another successful year!

Baccarat Vases

Earlier today, I had to swing by Baccarat at South Coast Plaza to pull from their amazing line of fine crystal for the Corona Del Mar Home Tour. Marcy, the boutique manager, and I had way too much fun brainstorming together in the midst of all the beautiful pieces to choose from. It was tempting to pick everything to showcase. But here's a sneak of some of the vases I'll be designing for that we FINALLY narrowed it down to. And yes, even the kitties will be making an appearance next Tuesday!


My favorite piece is The Forest of Dreams Five-Vase Holder designed by Marcel Wanders:

(This picture is borrowed from the Baccarat website.) This particular piece is surprisingly versatile. You can remove the vases to switch it out with tea light holders or stick-candle holders. And the ornamental detail I just love!
This one retails for $3500.

Baccarat's stemware is a whole different story of prettiness! Just go to their website or visit their boutique at South Coast Plaza. All I know is that I am very excited about accenting their crystal with some gorgeous flowers.

More to come on the Corona Del Mar Home Tour!

Planning a Green Event - Part 7: The Registry

Mainly for those of you who are planning a wedding, your gift registry is the perfect place to start making sustainable choices for your home, if you haven't already. Viva Terra has so many beautiful eco-friendly products from furniture to clothing. View their home goods and you just might fall in love again.


Another option, given that you don't need much, is to give your guests the option to donate to a charity that you love or purchase carbon offsets. I know most aren't too familiar with purchasing carbon offset to counter your own carbon footprint, so here is a great article on www.wikihow.com that explains this a bit more.

Happy planning!

Floral Centerpeices - Manzanita Branches

I am amazed at the versatility of manzanita branches. And the popularity of these simple pieces just seems to keep on chuggin'. Just a few variations to this centerpiece can completely change the look and feel. Just take a look at the next 4 pictures. The first three were Floral Sense events and the fourth is by Nancy Liu Chin for the San Francisco Dream Wedding Giveaway.




All four pieces have the same basic structure. But you change the container, base decor, flowers and/or setting and the entire ambiance is so different.

Another variation that I love is when the branches are accented with colorful pomander balls, draping jewels and hanging tea lights. Here's a great picture of the pomander idea (www.marigoldevents.com).


Manzanita branches seem to making their way into home and office decor too. Its a great idea because there is no maintenance involved and looks great!


These manzanita renditions were created by The Juicy Leaf in Santa Monica, CA.

You know what else? These can be Green solutions to your events since they can be reused in home decor. As for me, I've decided to turn one into my jewelry organizer on which I hang all earrings and necklaces. Works like a charm! Next time you're at an event and the centerpiece is one of these branching beauties, see if you can snag one to take home. Better yet, go out and buy a branch and see what creative masterpiece you conjure up.

Happy decorating!

Make an Arrangement with Flowers from Your Own Garden

Ironically, one of the most expensive flowers on the market are garden roses. I'm not talking about the roses you see in the grocery store but the ones that people grow in their own gardens. You know, the really fragrant roses that grow on bushes and produce these ginormous blooms.



As a floral designer, I know that I've paid as much as 6 times the cost of the commercial rose for a garden rose. So if you have a flower garden, pluck a few and throw 'em in a vase. Trust me, you won't need much design talent to make it look gorgeous since these beauties look stunning without any excess fluff. And they will make your house smell luscious.

And just for the record, I'm jealous of you green thumbers. I can't grow anything to save my life.

Floral Inspiration from a zebra?!

Design can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. But the key to great design starts at the point of inspiration. And truly anything can serve as a medium. When I am asked to design floral arrangements for an event, the first place I usually look to is the person that the occasion is held for be it the bride and groom or the birthday girl. If I'm designing for a home, I look to the homeowner and their sense of style.

Except, this time, I was given just two words:
ANIMAL PRINT.

As in this?

Hmmm....this is going to be interesting. Mother nature is one of my favorite places to go for creative sparks but I've never been given an animal to turn into some fabulous decor.

So, imagine my excitement when I came across this leaf. And yes, it's real.


Give the leaf a literal little twist:


And viola!


Its amazing what a little inspiration can do. All you need is a place to start and ANYTHING can be your muse.

Corona del Mar High 36th Annual Home Tour

For the locals of Orange County, many are very familiar with the annual Corona del Mar Home Tour fundraiser for CdM High School and Middle School. For my readers outside of Southern California, this home tour is the only fundraiser held each year for these two schools and is a huge labor of love presented by its PTA. It was amazing to see so many members of the community come together in support of these schools including the local branches of Bloomingdale's, Williams-Sonoma and Crate and Barrel. And trust me, this is SO much better than selling wrapping paper. What an honor and privilege it was to participate as a sponsor for this amazing event!

This year's home tour took place on Tuesday in which eight fabulous homes were displayed. The Hayward Residence was the beautiful home in which Floral Sense custom designed the floral decor for. And Madeline, the ever-so-gracious homeowner of this Cape Cod Charm, was so fantastic to work with.

Shall we begin the tour?

Welcome to the dining room in all its glory:

Some of my favorite features to this room are the picture collage of botanicals and the natural lighting. The concept of 'less is more' was the way to go for this table with a minimal variety of flowers.

The beautiful tabletop settings were provided by Barclay Butera. Don't you just love the seascape details?

Moving to the kitchen dining table, Barclay Butera also provided these tabletops. Those little pails at each setting are actually candles. Love 'em! And the florals: take a closer look and you'll find the use of some unusual products. See if you can label a few.

My seasonal favorite botanical to use right now is the snowberry (the tiny white balls that look like little white berries).

As you can see, this kitchen is absolutely gorgeous so a simple collection of bud vases and an apothecary jar is all that is needed for this island.

For those of you wanting to do this at home, just take some curly willow and mini calla lilies and twist them around into the jar. Its so effortless but quite impactful.


Moving into more non-traditional flowers in the bathroom arrangements, here are two very different looks but still keeping true to seaside feel.




And welcome to the outdoor living room. These fabulous furniture and accent pieces were provided by Trina Turk. I just love the bright colors and designs! The flower arrangements, of course, by yours truly in citrus colors.


The close up reveals the varying textures. Want to know a secret? I used green cauliflower.


I hope you enjoyed the tour!

Thank you Corona del Mar Home Tour for allowing me to service you! And a special thank you to Madeline Hayward, Ray and Kristin of Barclay Butera, Jenna of Trina Turk, Lori of Feathers, Natalie of A Good Affair and Drexelle and David of D Park Photography.