blossom

I've had flowers on my mind a lot lately.  Partially because the mild winter and early Seattle spring have left us with blooms and blossoms popping up all over.  And partially because I've been trying to work out this whole bouquet thing.

I love flowers.   Every spring, I'm incredibly grateful for the snowdrops and daffodils that offer a promise of something other than bleak, gray winter.  And sometimes, in the summer, I can't get enough of the scent of lavender or roses.  I'll stand on the sidewalk, savoring the riches of my neighbors' gardens, until I'm practically hyperventilating.

So this whole bouquet thing should be easy.  I'm not sure, though, that freshly cut flowers are exactly what I need.  For starters, I can't stand the idea of taking my wedding vows while clutching a handful of something that's been drenched with pesticides.  I could try special-ordering an organic bouquet on-line or through a florist, but I'd really rather have something that's grown locally.

I'd love to have a bouquet of sedum and succulents, but that might take some real ingenuity in rural Ohio.  And a few wildflowers would suit me just fine, but I'm not sure what, if anything, will be growing in the ditches when our wedding rolls around.

I've gone back and forth about all this for awhile now, and I've started thinking that maybe I should just make something to carry down that aisle.  If I were a better seamstress, I'd try fabric flowers.  I've been playing around with tissue paper, but so far, it hasn't really worked out.  More on that some other time...

If you search for "button bouquets" on etsy, there's plenty of inspiration.  I do have quite a button collection, and I haven't given up on that idea, yet.  Really, though, what I've been fixating on for the past few days is this custom rhinestone bouquet by L.A.-based Noaki.  You can visit her etsy shop here.

The primal girly-girl buried deep within me really, really wants one of these.  And then, of course, the crafty-craft girl in me just wants to figure out how to make one.  Honestly, I'm inclined to leave something this ornate to the professionals like Noaki, but it has gotten me thinking about other things that I've seen lying around and how I might be able to cobble them together.

Like these glass curtain rod finials that came through the shop awhile ago.


And these little guys.

I have no idea what they were originally for.  I know they look a lot like earrings, and maybe that's what they are.  The posts seem awfully sharp for that, though.  Regardless of what they were, I'm thinking they might end up a part of my latest bouquet experiment.  Looks like I've got another project on my to-do list.  I guess I'll have to let you know how this one shapes up...