Burlap Carrot Door Hanger

I usually don't care too much about decorating for Holidays, aside from Christmas. Not only do they sneak up on me too quickly, but most holiday decor is too busy for my taste. That being said, the only Easter decorations that I planned on were my two stone bunnies that I put out for Spring. Then I came across a tutorial for a burlap carrot door hanger at Frou Frou Britches, and I am a sucker for anything burlap. I loved the shabby, yet sophisticated look of the simple carrots. While I didn't actually plan to make these, I came across my burlap amidst another project and it just sort of happened. Tanya has written a great tutorial with pictures on her blog, Frou Frou britches. I mostly followed her steps, with a few minor changes. I decided to hot glue my carrots together, instead of sewing, to save time. She stuffed hers with poly-fil but I opted for crumbled newspaper (resource at hand) and then I tied mine together with jute string. I think these are adorable hanging on the door. Too bad there is not even a week left until Easter.

Spring Floral Arrangement

Although the weather these past few days has had me digging my Ugg boots out of the closet, I am dreaming of all things related to Spring. Before this cold front moved in, we had been enjoying beautiful weeks of sunshine and warm weather. I thought we were finished with Winter, but I guess not quite yet. I love so many things about the Spring time. The luscious green grass and blooming flowers are a couple of things that I associate with this season. Oh, and my birthday of course. I am a true girl and I appreciate most all flowers. When it comes to fresh cut flowers, I am partial to a clean arrangement of whites mixed with greenery.

These are a couple of arrangements that I put together for a bridal shower. All of the flowers came from Whole Foods. They always have an amazing floral selection and I can grab my favorite food items while I'm there as well. 

The largest arrangement was used for the centerpiece so I wanted to use a long-stemmed flower to create height. I chose white gladiolas as the main flower. Then I added some greenery that reminded me of monkey grass in order to create a bit of playful detail. I'm not even sure where I first got the idea to use food in an arrangement, but I immediately knew that brussel sprouts would be perfect. I placed the brussel sprouts in the vase, surrounding the flowers. The veggie decor helped to hold the stems up right and when I added water the brussel sprouts almost doubled in size. I still felt like something was missing.  I had the vegetable but now I needed the fruit. That association probably comes from my nutrition background but the idea was useful. I added a row of limes across the top and decided the look was complete.

For the smaller arrangement, I chose white hydrangeas. I can't imagine a southern girl who isn't crazy about hydrangeas. Beyond the basics, I am horrible at naming plants and flowers so I won't even try to figure out what this greenery is called. I chose it because it sprouted in funky directions and reminded me of ruffles. I think it just so happened to be the perfect complement. I never checked into buying  pre-made arrangements but I'm sure it would have been expensive for something comparable. I also liked that by making them myself, I could add the modern food detail that is not typically seen by a florist.
For a fall approach, I used a similar creation to the gladiola arrangement and added rustic sticks and cherry blossoms. I love the concept of using fruits and vegetables in floral decoration and I have many other ideas that I will try soon.