DIY Floral Workshop

Are you planning a wedding or an event and a little lost when it comes to your floral vision? Thinking of DIY your wedding flowers and not sure where to start? Perhaps you are a kind and generous friend who is helping someone with their wedding flowers? Or maybe you just love flowers and want to make something pretty?

Have no fear! I'll be hosting a DIY Floral Workshop on Wednesday, June 13 from 6pm-8pm in San Francisco.

In the session we will:

-       Discuss the popular flowers used in each season.

-       Basic design options.

-       How to prep and process flowers.

-       Advice on organizing and implementing a plan to DIY. {Along with a list of items needed!}

-       Receive hands on instructions on how to make your own bouquet.

-       Discuss the pros and cons of DIY.

You will be able to take home a packet full of information along with a pretty little bouquet that you will be making in class.

For tickets and more information please visit: http://stdweddingfloral.eventbrite.com/

Etsy + Stumbleupon Event

Come visit me at the upcoming Stumbleupon + Etsy Event!
Thursday, May 17
6:00pm-8:30pm
301 Brannan Street
San Francisco

More info can be found here and remember to RSVP!

Fund Finds: Stacking Rings & Pillows

It's amazing how I find things when I'm not really looking for them.  Or maybe I just have ADD.  I was looking for a headband for my little girl Ginger.  We have a family photo shoot coming up and it's essential that she has some sort of hair accessory cause she is bald.  I mean she has NO HAIR and if I put her in something blue she looks like a boy.  But that's not the point.  The point is that while I was looking for a headband on etsy I found these other items that I love.  It has nothing to do with Ginger or with the photo shoot but who cares?  Cause they are simply too cute not to share.

Here are some adorable stacking rings by Olive Bungalow.  I thought they would be cute gifts for my nieces (who are teenagers) or maybe bridesmaid gifts?  You can even customize the one with the initials.

And this one can be stacked with others...but why?  It's just gorgeous by itself.

I was also looking for some pillows for Ginger's room.  The poor girl has been sleeping in a room of chaos.  One of my goals before the end of the year is to get her room put together.  So while looking for pillows I found these at Vintage Green Limited.  Super cute ring bearer pillows.

I also liked this one from Freshline.

And in case you are wondering, I never found a headband that I liked and would be shipped in time for the family photo shoot.  Which means I'm going to have to make my own. Some times I really drive myself nuts.  But at least I found a great tutorial here on how to make one without a sewing machine (because I really don't want to dig that out of the closet right now).  I'll post it once I finish it next week!

Floral Workshop

I hosted another floral workshop a couple of weeks ago.  We had 10 students that were eagerly waiting to learn about flowers and how to make bouts, corsages and bouquets.  Usually when I have these workshops the ladies are chatting away about weddings.  But this was a very focused group - no chit chat going on this time.  As you can see their concentration paid off cause they made some beautiful flower pieces!

I went to the flower mart the day before and found these beautiful yellow roses.

So I had to buy them for the class.

Processing flowers

Spidermums

Working on an orchid bout

Jamie from Coquette Events choosing some flowers for her bouquet.

Trisha of Trisha Dean Events is working on her bouquet.

Emily's bouquet with roses, spidermums and wax flower.  It turned out beautiful!

Liz and her lovely bouquet.

Andrea with her bout creations.

Andrea and her mom Betty with their bouquets.

Jamie with her final product.

Thanks ladies for coming to the workshop.  I had a great time!

Both Jamie and Trisha wrote a little ditty in their blogs about the workshop.  If you want to get their perspectives on the workshop check it out here and here.

Branches for Wedding Centerpieces 101

Most people don't even give a second thought to tree branches and what they have to offer. In fact, most people don't even consider tree branches at all when they think of flowers. But branches have so much versatility! The creative things you can use them for are endless.

You can showcase the branches alone by using flowering trees like cherry or crab apple, or go more elaborate by decorating the branches with orchids, crystals and candles. Branches are also a great and affordable way to add some height to an arrangement if you have tall ceilings. They have beautiful lines and you can definitely find a type of branch to suit your wedding style. Here are some common branches that designers use.

Curly Willow - Curly willow come in a variety of colors. The most common is green but you can also get them brown (dried) or white (stripped of their bark).

Here are some centerpieces using curly willow:

Mazanita: These are branches are very sturdy that can handle the weight of hanging candle votives and crystals. They naturally come in a dark chocolate brown color, but they can also be sand blasted to a light brown or white color.

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Birch Branches: These branches are sturdy and straighter than curly willow. These are great for filling up space and come in a lot of varieties. You can learn more about birch branches here.

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Centerpiece Ideas for birch branches:

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Cherry Blossom Branches: These branches come ready to be used since they already have beautiful blossoms on them. Unfortunately, they are only in season late winter (January and February) for a short period of time.

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Grapewood: You can design beautiful decorative displays with sandblasted grapewood branches. You can combine moss, grasses and succulents for a natural display. Calla lilies and orchids are also great flowers to pair with grapewood.

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If you plan to use branches in any of your wedding decor be sure to ask what type of branches will be used. As you can see - there are many different options out there and you want to choose the ones that will fit with your wedding style.

Featured on SF Daily Candy

I am beyond thrilled that I was featured on Daily Candy's SF Fall Wedding Guide. I have received a lot of inquiries for my next workshop and just wanted to give a quick update. My next workshop is scheduled for late January or early February of 2010. However, I have received a lot of interest to have one in December. If I can get enough people signed up then I'm happy to host one sooner. So drop me an email line and let me know if you are interested!


Here's a link to DIY Floral Workshop II and Workshop III I hosted in the previous years. In the workshop you learn how to make your own personal flowers that include bouquets, boutonnieres and corsages. I teach you how to pick and prepare your flowers and give you a list of tools and supplies you need to get started. You get to take a resource packet home along with the flowers you put together. The cost of workshop is $75 per person. Hope you can make it to the next workshop!

Renegade Craft Fair

I'm not sure how I found this website but I'm very much looking forward to it. I imagine it's like etsy.com but you get to actually see and touch all of the awesome stuff made from scratch.

This is the little ditty they have on their "about" page:

The Renegade Craft Fair is a unique DIY event held annually in Brooklyn, Chicago, Los Angeles & San Francisco. RCF has gained a reputation over the last six years as being the biggest, best and the most well-known of all the DIY craft fairs out there. Each individual fair draws hundreds of applicants and tens of thousands of shoppers from all over the country and abroad! At RCF you’ll find all sorts of cool handmade stuff - including plush items, jewelry, posters + prints, craft kits, clothing, stationery + more.


The one in San Francisco will take place JULY 18 + 19 from 11am - 7pm, at Fort Mason Center Festival Pavilion.

I have a wedding on Saturday (Hi Catie!) but hopefully I will make it on Sunday. Hope to see you there!

Workshop Scheduled!

Alright people. I was finally able to get my *ahem* stuff together and schedule my next flower workshop!

Date: Sunday, June 14, 2009
Time: 10am-12:30pm
Location: Fort Mason in San Francisco
For more info click on the flyer!

Click to Enlarge

Hope to see you there!

A & C Wedding Part II

As promised, more pictures of Annamarie and Chris' Wedding. They pretty much did everything - from sewing the table runners, building the family tree, making the caramel apple favors to all of the flower and table decor. You can see all of the love and time that went into the details.

Caramel Apple favors

Family tree. She hung wedding portraits from the tree that her dad and Chris made. Love it!

Inspired by Stinkerpants Designs she gocco'd napkins with facts about themselves.

And here are just a few more lovely details for you to check out. I think Annamarie wrote the menu on the board. It looks like her writing (which is disgustingly perfect....)