Fun With Flowers: Real and Faux

 

Happy Tuesday, My Lovelies!  What have you been up to lately?  I've been working on several projects, and I'll share a couple of them here on the blog.  

I've been enjoying flower arranging this summer, and I've also had fun with a few faux flower projects as well.  There are several farms near us specializing in beautiful cut flowers, and since it's zinnia and dahlia season (one of my favorite times of the year), I've been purchasing local flowers and arranging them.

B Arrow Farms has the most beautiful and fragrant roses.  This arrangement only had a couple of them, yet our entire family room smelled like heaven.  A little goes a long way with them! 

It's always a good idea to mix a few unusual textures in your late summer arrangements.

I like to add light and airy Queen Anne's Lace and velvety cockscomb.  

Also, placing the cosmos higher than the other flowers adds interest.

During the month of August, I will be sharing three fairly easy early autumn crafts.

The first craft was inspired by an email I received from Terrain.

As the days shorten, I like to add little lights and candles around the house.  I thought this would be a great project to lighten-up a dark spot in our home.

Back in the day, Terrain and Anthropologie had blogs that shared how-to's and even recipes.  Also, Terrain would share a project (like the pretty cloche above) and have a list (and sell) all the elements to make it.  Not so much anymore...

As of writing this post, Terrain is still selling the lights and the faux parrot tulip.  The tulip is $38, but the LED teardrop lights are currently on sale for $34.95 (originally $48).  Unfortunately I could not find the cloche anywhere on the site.  Frustrated, I went to Michael's.

This is my first try making a woodland cloche.

I purchased everything for this cloche at Michael's.  I must say that I like their selection of moss better there than at Terrain.  I thought the little bubble type lights were cute until I placed them in the cloche.  Also, Michael's has the most beautiful faux flowers that uses the Real Touch technology by Ashland Home.  They do feel real, and I purchased a pink rose, white rose, and a neutral dahlia.  

I didn't really like my first attempt because I wasn't crazy about the lights in the cloche, and I thought that the rose was too reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast.  I decided to order the teardrop lights from Terrain, and repurpose the lights from Michael's.  I also went out hunting for another flower, too.

This is what I did with the bubble-like lights.  I like them here, and just like the lights from Terrain, they are on a timer, 8 hours on and 16 hours off.  They come on at about 5:00 PM, and the little battery pack is inside the little Flora Doora bag with the floral stems.  Our daughter loves this at night, and so do I.  I placed all three of the Real Touch flowers I purchased from Michaels in it.

Below are the items I used in the new and improved cloche.

Items Needed for Project:

Wooden stick from yard

Moss

Cloche

Florist wire

Flora Fōm

Faux Flower

Fairy lights

It's easy to make this.  The first thing to do is cut the Flora Fōm to fit the cloche's base.  Cut wire about a foot long, and push both ends carefully through the Flora Fōm.  Twist the wire around the battery pack of the fairy lights after placing batteries inside.  Turn on lights.  

Push the stick and the flower(s) through the Flora Fōm for stability.  Place on cloche base.  Next, wind the lights around base, flowers, and stick.  Add the moss to cover the Flora Fōm and battery pack.  Carefully place the glass dome over the arrangement.  Et voilà!  Done and dusted.

This is what my second attempt looks like:

Where it lives on our bookshelves

I am happy how it turned out.  I found some smaller parrot tulips at a local store called The Mercantile, and I thought the scale was correct for the smaller cloche.  I ended up using two in my cloche, and I had a few left over for another little Flora Doora on my work table.  

While at The Mercantile, I found a little cabbage bunch in pretty colors.  I thought it would be cute in my MacKenzie-Childs bunny vase.  

I will probably put this little guy away in a couple of weeks when I bring out more fall decor, but I can enjoy it until then.

I know cloches were all the rage there for a little while.  Do you like to style them?  Are you interested in trying this project?

If so, please pin it!

Please come back tomorrow for a very special What I'm Reading Wednesday post featuring the very latest from author Barbara O'Neal.

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill