If you’ve read more than a few of my blogs, you have probably gathered that I like cooking, baking, decorating, gardening and crafts. Many times, as I’ve discovered an interest, I have taken classes to learn more. Or sometimes, like this past weekend, I’ve seen something I like and tried to copy it. Sometimes it works … and sometimes it doesn’t, but the journey is usually pretty fun!
Over the weekend I went to The Ivy at The Shore – if you’re ever in Santa Monica you have to go to this restaurant, even if it’s just for a drink at the bar … the vibe is just cool! One thing that I always swoon over is their amazing flower arrangements. Roses galore!!!
I decided I wanted to try to recreate their arrangement, so I looked around and found two dozen roses for the price of one at my local grocery store. Then, I used a glass vase I already had at home and some regular Scotch tape.
Here was my attempt at copying them. For my quick attempt, Scotch tape worked pretty well (as long as I didn’t get it wet), but next time I think I will use the green floral tape found at Michaels or other craft stores. Or, I just found out about this neat little wire grid, the Easy Arranger, which you can order online. They’re reusable and help even us amateurs look like pros!
The finished product … not too bad. I might have needed one more row to make it more like a ball like the Ivy’s, but I ran out of flowers, but I’ll have have yo wait until they go on sale three dozen for the price of one. Or maybe I just need a smaller vase? Note to self for next time.
I still think it looks amazing, and it didn’t cost a fortune or take hours to arrange. Give it a try yourself! For me, fresh flowers and a beautiful smelling candle burning make my house feel fresh and cozy … and they always brings a smile to my face.
I”ve always loved that tight rounded arrangement with Roses vs. tall and straight. The Grid tape thing is Great but how many inches across was your vase for 2 doz roses and did you cut them all evenly?
Thanks for the link for the “Easy Arranger”! That would make a great Christmas gift. Your arrangement turned out great! It’s always nice to have fresh flowers in the house, especially when the weather starts to turn colder.
The one thing I always do is buy fresh flowers for my home every week and have candles going every day. They just add happiness. My family is grieving, and I pushed myself to start doing the flowers again to cheer up the house for the kids. I love this because I still struggle getting them arranged well enough. I’ve always said I will take a flower arranging course some day, but I started saying that over 10 years ago!
Great blog this week Mary Beth!….oh I love this idea!….yours actually look more beautiful to me than the restaurants!….I love the color roses you chose!..just beautiful!….thank you for sharing this idea!
I love this idea. So often I can’t get our garden roses to sit right in a vase. I had never thought of this grid idea but it looks easy and simple. Brilliant! Thank you!!
Great roses Mary Beth, I bought this very old 1870’s cottage just after my dear husband passed away we had been married 50 years..the previous owners had a huge rose bed which must have been about 35 years old…so I have kept the roses and gave them a huge prune..now they are flowering beautifully. Did remove some from the back garden and replaced with thorn-less as I have hairless Chinese Crested Dogs
.Lovely blog..look forward to reading more 🙂 Brenda in Australia
This blog is perfect for me Mary Beth! My husband brings flowers home to me almost weekly! Not expensive, usually from the grocery store. But always beautiful! Pink roses are my favorite so he try’s to get those when he can. 🙂 Trying to arrange them and get them to stand up nice and straight can be very difficult and frustrating sometimes. I’m definitely going to try this. He just brought flowers home today! As always thank you for your wonderful ideas!! Andrea
What a beautiful arrangement, Mary Beth! That’s a neat trick that I’ll have to try soon. I love that you put the Days 50 book in the one photo. Are you doing any of the appearances for the book? I wish you could’ve gone on the NYC/NJ/Dallas trip with Stephen…it would’ve been fun to see you enjoying that trip together! Thanks for blogging and sharing your tips with us, your fans!
I love it! I just recently found your blog and I enjoy reading it! You take the fear out of trying out new stuff especially for someone like me that’s not very crafty. I recently bought a house and making the transition from apartment living to house living, and you have given me a bunch of ideas about living beautiful. Plus, I’ve been a fan of yours for years on Days, and I wish I got to meet you at the NYC book signing this week. I look forward to your future blog posts, and the next exciting project you’ll do! Continue the great work and keep growing that entrepreneurial spirit you have! 🙂
Amazing! I love it and I’m going to try it this weekend!!!!
Thank you for sharing this.