Friday's Favorite

By now, it's no secret that I love flowers. Hydrangeas are among my favorite for summertime. We have several in our yard. This year they were so pretty.

 I only treated myself to a few of the blooms, but what a treat they were. I enjoyed them so, so much. 

In fact, I still have one bloom that I've been enjoying for two weeks now. I'm hoping it will last another week or two.  So pretty!

Happy Friday!

Door Decor

Awhile back, my mother-in-law showed me this picture because she knows I enjoy floral arranging. It's from Budget Decorating-a Woman's Day publication. As you might notice, I tore it out and have been holding on to it for quite sometime. 

I have been on the hunt for a perfect bucket to make an arrangement for our front door. I finally found the perfect door bucket, but it was just a plain galvanized bucket. I thought about painting it, but then saw some wrapping paper and new that would be just perfect-it's damask. So, I cut out the shape of the bucket with the paper and decoupaged away. Then, I got some fake flowers (oh, the tragedy) and made this little arrangement. I'm loving it for summer!

Friday's Favorite

There is something wonderful about coming home to a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers. That is what happened yesterday. My sweet mama brought these zinnias to me from our local farmer's market. I put them in a vase and have been enjoying them so much-definitely a Friday Favorite! They are bright and happy and just perfect for the carefree days of summer. Hope you have a fabulous Friday!!!

Sunflowers

Sunflowers are so bright and cheerful. They make for a cheap, easy flower arrangement with a great pop of color. Sunflowers and summer, the perfect combination!

Twofer

Last week I bought a grocery store bouquet of flowers and was able to make two arrangements. I was thrilled. It felt like I got the most for my money or more bang for my buck-a two for one kind of deal. Here they are in all of their blooming beauty.

An cheerful little arrangement with yellow and lime green.

A more elegant arrangement.

Friday's Favorite: Happy Spring!

Happy Spring and Friday! 

What a perfect combination! Spring is certainly one of my favorite times of year. I am loving the beautiful weather, blooming flowers, dinner outside, swinging and wearing my flip flops. This weekend I'm planning to celebrate this lovely season by planting some flowers and sprucing things up around the house-inside and out. I hope you have a beautiful weekend!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope your day is filled with love!

Friday's Favorite

I was at a loss as for what to write about today. I asked my mom if she had any ideas and later she gave me this idea, which was perfectly fitting. Remember, I've told you my mom is good and this is just how good she is. 

She reminded me that today would have been Granny's (my dad's mom) birthday. Now Granny was one of my all time favorite people.  She and I had a special relationship, one that I'll always cherish. I miss her so much, but am thankful that a little part of her lives on through my sister and me. You see, Granny was so talented. She could cook and bake and decorate and make all kinds of crafty things. I didn't get her talent for cooking and baking, but my sister sure did. That girl can whip up the most delicious (and gorgeous) Coconut Cake and Italian Cream Cake you've ever tasted (and seen). But, I'd like to think that I got my passion for for decorating and crafts from Granny.  

Well, my mom also reminded me of a pitcher that I have that belonged to Granny. This pitcher is made of cut glass. I have never been too fond of cut glass, but I treasure this pitcher because it belonged to Granny's mother, Big Mama (my great-grandmother for whom I'm named). My mom suggested that I make a flower arrangement for the pitcher-what a wonderful idea! If you remember, I've told you that I love flowers and I get that from Granny. She was a remarkable floral arranger and just loved flowers-any kind, anywhere. So, these flowers are in memory of my sweet Granny, she'll always be a favorite. I think she would be proud of me. 

Mama, thank you for this idea. It was the perfect suggestion for a Friday Favorite!

This Bud's For You

These petite bud vases, petite being the key word, were given to me from my parents for Christmas. I have a tendency not to pay attention to the dimensions of things I see in catalogs and you know those pictures can be quite deceiving. Well, these petite bud vases are in fact petite. It was quite funny as I pulled them from their tiny packaging on Christmas morning. They weren't exactly what I had in mind, but I do think they are quite lovely. I put them out today using a few leftover buds from some other arrangements I made. They really are perfect for the leftovers. I'm very pleased with the way they turned out. In fact, I imagine I'll be using them quite a bit!

Friday's Favorite . . .

a few days late . . .

For this week's favorite I've chosen the flower arrangements I made on Friday. My oldest (not in age but length of time) and one of my dearest friends, Stephanie and her husband Ben came to visit and I wanted a little something special for their visit. I found some red and white carnations (not usually a fan of carnations, but for this I think they're perfect) and mixed them in with magnolia leaves and branches from a pine tree. The carnations I picked up at the grocery store and the magnolia and pine I cut from trees in our backyard. These are my favorite arrangements, yet!

Giving Thanks

Today was a wonderful day spent with my family. Mama, thank you for cooking a delicious meal (twice)! Daddy and Jamie, thank you for frying that delicious turkey and letting Mama and me take our long nap. Amanda and Matt, thank you for the scrumptious pecan pie. Thank you all for loving me, supporting me and making fun of my wreath above the mirror. I am thankful for you all!

Friday's Favorite

Flowers. I love flowers. My grandmother was a florist. I grew up watching her make beautiful arrangements and loving her magnificent creations. Recently, I took a floral arranging class to learn a little more about this art. It was so rewarding. I would like to think that my grandmother passed a little of her gift for floral arranging on to me. Here are of few of the arrangements I've made over the course of the past few months. Most of these arrangements are made from grocery store bouquets. A few of the arrangements I made during the summer from flowers in my yard.

My first arrangement from the floral arranging class-I don't know what was up with the tall shoot. It didn't seem so disproportional in real life.

Door arrangement made in the class-

Final arrangement made in class-I went to a wholesale floral store for this one and got a few of my favorites-Bells of Ireland, Ranunculus and Hypericum Berries

Summer flowers from my yard-

Fall flowers from grocery store bouquets-

Flowers for our tailgate this weekend-also made from a grocery store bouquet (half off, no less)