color blocking with flowers

The other night my daughter had her end of the year chorus concert. My chivalrous husband thought ahead and bought her an inexpensive bouquet of flowers from the grocery store to celebrate the event.

That night we got home late, so I just dropped the entire bouquet into a vase of water and forgot about it. The next day, I knew these pretty little flowers needed some more care to ensure the longest life possible, so I took my cue from one of today's hottest trends, color blocking.

un-arranged flowers

Color blocking is one of the hot trends in both fashion and home interiors. But with a little know how and some simple household supplies, you can transform any boring bouquet into a trendy arrangement.

  

SUPPLIES

• flowers
• water filled vase
• scissors
• clear tape
• measuring tape

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Measure the height of your vase and the length of your flowers. Decide the vase to flower ratio. (For example, a 3:5 ratio -where the container equals 3, the flowers equal 5, and the entire arrangement equals 8).
2. Cut your flowers' stem -this is best done under running water. Cut the stems on angle to allow for maximum life. Remove any leaves that will fall below the water line -this prevents bacteria growth.
3. Tape off sections of your vases. (Make certain, the vase is dry. The tape won't stick to a wet surface.) For this particular arrangement, I created a simple grid.
4. Arrange the flowers in your vase. I wanted a diagonal stripped color block, so I started with the tall yellow lilies in the back corner and worked my way to the white daisies.

Actually, in the wold of floral design, color blocking is not new, as evidenced by the Biedermeier style originating in 1815 in Austria and Germany.

There are so many fun ways arrange flowers. What are your favorites?


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practical home accessories

The experts always say shop your home before shopping retail. This is a good suggestion. Except when there's isn't much inventory left in your home.

A few years ago, we started moving around. In preparation for our nomad ways, we really pared down. But now that we're feeling a bit more settled, there's a few practical accessories that I would like in my home . . .

A Clock
I don't own a single clock. Granted, I'm never without the time thanks to surrounding technology, but as a stand alone time piece, I'm clock-less.

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A Telephone

For years we didn't have a land line. We have one again, and it's probably time we got a house phone.

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Binoculars
I would love to have a set of binoculars handy. So many beautiful birds perch right in my own backyard and the surrounding trees. I would love a closer look.

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A Firewood Basket
We use our wood burning fireplace pretty regularly. This would be a pretty permanent addition to that area.

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An Outdoor Rug
My front porch is feeling a little bare. It would be nice to sneak a small rug under the bench I have there already.

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Does your home have any great finds or need just a few prettier practical touches? Share. . .

inspiration

Just in case you needed some inspiration to get you through the rest of this week. Perhaps you'd like to. . .


Update Your Bedroom
or just take a nap . . .

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Spray Paint Something
Use this fancy cork board to display jewelry . . .

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Really Spray Paint Something
This process involves a number of sanding and spraying steps. . .

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Get Organized
I love this printer drawer Ikea hack. . .

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Get Crafty

Maybe for a play space or a child's teacher. . .

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Have you already settled on your weekend project? Or is your weekend already filled with all those "other obligations"?

I'm still trying to decide if I want to jump on the white bedroom trend.

popping poufs

The pouf. . .it's popping up everywhere.

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I like it. It's like the more evolved and stylish bean bag cousin. And with little ones, it is the perfect solution to add a little bit more interchangeable seating to any given room.

You can buy them or make your own. I've spied a number of tutorials on Pinterest.

I also found these simple directions from Better Homes & Gardens. BHG includes the cute decorative accent stitching. Almost makes me want to sew. Hmm, we'll see.

BHG's make a pouf

Anybody make a cute custom pouf for your room? Are they as easy as they seem to make?

tangerine tango

"Whoever said orange is the new pink is seriously disturbed!"

Apparently Elle Woods, didn't know that Pantone is the one that said it.

Yep, tangerine tango is the color of year. And you can catch it all over the fashion runways and home decor already. Its such a fun color. And I love how it pops!

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As for me, right now I'm just sticking to my iPhone cover. But you never know!

What do you think? Are you loving this new color, or you still hung on Honeysuckle Pink from last year?