Earlier in the Spring a client called and asked me to help her with some floral arrangements for her house, she and her husband were hosting a political fundraiser in their home for a candidate running for a local office. A day later she texted me and said she had just been informed that the Governor and First Lady of Oklahoma would be stopping by the fundraiser which I understand to be code for, “we need to up our game a little”. I did three floral arrangements, one was placed in the dining room on the table with the campaign literature, another was placed on the kitchen island where the snacks and hors d’oeuvres were going to be and another small arrangement in the downstairs powder room. She also asked me to come up with something for their front doors if I had time. I called my friend Shana from Ink Stained Fingers and told her I would be dropping off some painted wooden plaques at her house and needed her calligraphy skills on them, I also went online and immediately found a couple of boxwood wreaths and ordered them. I attached the plaques to the wreaths and hung them on the front doors of my client’s house and they look great. This is something Shana and I are definitely planning on selling on our new site when we are up and running. Here are some photos of our creations and I’ll go into more detail with pics. Let me know if you are interested or need anything for your doors, inside or outside, or for any celebrations or holidays. Enjoy!!!
Creating A Floral Centerpiece On A Stand
April 29, 2019
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A few weeks ago I shared the decorations and food I did at a party for a client when she hosted a birthday party for her BFF, some of you messaged me and asked about the floral centerpiece I did on the coffee table. The piece was unique because it was in a crystal bowl on a stand and the bowl was shallow so it would hard to almost impossible to get flowers to stay in the bowl since you would have to cut the stems so short. Today I thought I would share with you how I created the centerpiece and the “tricks” I used to make it secure and full. I’ll share photos I took on my iPhone as I created the centerpiece and we’ll see what it takes to create the above-finished product. Enjoy!!!
‘The Gown’ A Book Review
April 16, 2019
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(via)
Every once in a while I like to share something I’ve experienced, whether it’s a film, a restaurant, a recipe, or a book and today I want to share a wonderful book I finished reading over this past weekend entitled ‘The Gown’. The Gown is a historical novel that follows real events but with some real and some fictional characters, in this case, it’s the wedding of then Princess Elizabeth in 1947 in post-WWII England. The novel opens with Ann who is arriving at her small cottage outside of London and we learn that Ann is an embroider in London for Norman Hartnell in his fashion house. Hartnell was known for the beautiful clothes he designed in the 1930s, 40’s, and 50’s for the ladies in the British Royal Family, especially the King’s consort and current Queen’s mother, Queen Elizabeth. During the story we also meet Miriam, a young Frenchwoman who has made her way to London following the war, she is also a classically trained embroider who goes to work for Hartnell, but she also has a secret. The book does a little time traveling as we meet Heather in 2016 who is Ann’s granddaughter living in modern day Toronto. Without going into a lot of detail and giving anything away we witness the creation of Princess Elizabeth’s wedding dress for her November 1947 wedding to Prince Philip, we watch as the young ladies meet the young men who may or may not be the men of their dreams and come to terms with who they are as well as coming to terms with family secrets and events that shape their lives. The book is a peek behind the curtain at what it’s like to work in a couture fashion house and the research and detail work that goes into creating something like a royal wedding gown. I strongly recommend this book if you enjoy historical fact and fiction novels as well as romance and/or fashion. The Royals make a few appearances in the book but it mostly focuses on these three women as they each struggle in their own lives to live their dreams and become who they were meant to be. I look forward to reading the other books by author Jennifer Robson, I hope you’ll read it and Enjoy!!!
‘The Gown’ author, Jennifer Robson (via)
Birra Birra Craft Pizzeria
April 12, 2019
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Last weekend Michael and I were invited to the soft opening, kind of a sneak preview, of Birra Birra Craft Pizzeria here in Oklahoma City. Jeff Dixon is one of the owners of Birra Birra and had sent us an invite, full disclosure I’ve known Jeff since he was about a year old when my mom went to work for his dad in his dad’s new medical practice in Weatherford back in the early ’80s. Birra Birra is GORGEOUS, it has a sleek feel to it with lots of metal, glass and gorgeous light colored wood used everywhere, it feels very California or dare I even say it, very LA. We had signed up for an 11 am reservation on Saturday, we were immediately seated and given menus, I ordered a cider and Michael tried one of their on tap beers and we ordered their Zucchini Fries as an appetizer while we perused the menu. The bar boasts the longest Ice Rail in the U.S., a great way to keep your beverage chilled while you are sitting and enjoying your food at the bar. Birra Birra is part of the Provision Concepts family of restaurants which also includes Hatch, Broadway 10, and Sidecar Barley & Winebar. Enough chatter, I’m going to share the photos I took on my iPhone and I’ll give you more details with the pics. For any of you locals, Birra Birra is located in the Chisholm Creek area of north OKC, just off the turnpike between Penn and Western. They have a gorgeous patio area that overlooks the lake and fountains. Enjoy!!!
Easter & Spring Decorations
April 9, 2019
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A couple of weeks ago a client/friend called me and asked me to help her with a birthday party she was hosting for her best friend, so today and tomorrow I’m going to share with you what I did to get her house ready for the party and then what I did for the party itself. Today we are starting with the decorating. We decided to go ahead and decorate the house for Spring and Easter, my client has some beautiful Easter pieces she’s collected over the years and she gave me permission to use whatever I wanted. I have lots of pretty photos to share with you and will go into more detail on what I did with the photos. I hope you find some inspiration and enjoy the photos as much as I did putting the decorations together. Enjoy!!!
Hey There Tall & Purple ~ Liatris
March 5, 2019
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Last week I shared photos of floral arrangements I did in a client friend’s home for a lady’s party she was hosting and some of you messaged me and asked me what the tall purple flowers are that I used in the silver pitchers in her Living Room. Those are Liatris or you may also know them as Blazing Stars. I like to use Liatris if I need some height in an arrangement but don’t have enough room to use something like Gladiolus or Birds of Paradise. Liatris comes to us from the Sunflower family and is native to North America. I’ve gathered some images for you of Liatris in nature and used in some other arrangements other than the ones I recently did, I hope this gives you some inspiration and as always, Enjoy!!!
Royal Check From MacKenzie Childs
March 1, 2019
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As you know by now I really like MacKenzie-Childs and their beautiful products. I’ve always been a fan of their original Black and White pattern, Courtly Check and then when they came out with the lighter version of it in Parchment Check, but now I’m thrilled with Royal Check which is a Blue and White version of the original. This will work with so many things, especially if you’re a collector of Blue and White dishes. I can also see using the Blue and White Royal Check all through the Spring and Summer, think how fun it will be mixed with Red for the summer holidays and it will also look awesome with Orange in the Fall. My dream would be to have Black and White Courtly Check for the Fall and Winter months and Blue and White Royal Check for the Spring and Summer months…I may have to work on that. Join me today for a look at the beautiful new pattern from MC and revel in all its blueness. Enjoy!!!
VOW Party Florals
February 26, 2019
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A client friend of mine is part of a group called VOW, which stands for Visionary Oklahoma Women. Every month or so the group gets together to discuss projects and sometimes have a program presented by someone, last year I presented a program on florals at this same party. The February get together is always right around Valentine’s Day, this year it was a week later due to scheduling for a large group and it happened this past Sunday afternoon. My friend Teresa was the hostess for the party in her beautiful home in the country outside of OKC and Edmond, for the last few years I’ve been Teresa’s go-to guy for flowers for her parties, get-togethers and dinner parties. I stuck with Valentine colors for the flowers and did lots of Red, Pink, and threw in some Purple. I want to share the photos of the flowers with you and show you how some relatively simple arrangements go a long way in decorating for a party. Enjoy!!!