Creative with Flowers - # 21 - Pink Dahlias and Eucalyptus

I'm still enjoying the last few flowers with summer colours - like these pale pink Dahlias with a white and soft yellow centre. Aren't they gorgeous? 

This series of blog posts - called 'Creative with Flowers' - are about using flowers in creative ways. It could be about how the flowers are combined - maybe in a little bit of an unusual way. It might be the choice of vase - maybe not a vase at all but a container that could be anything from jugs, bottles, jars, tins or teapots - vintage or new it doesn't matter. 

As always my arrangements will be quick and easy - and there will always be lots and lots of colour!

I love bringing flowers home from the farmer's markets and my local dependable flower stall - sometimes I will also venture to one of the nearby supermarkets.

My routine is always to condition the flowers as soon as I get home - even before I do anything else!

So make sure to condition the flowers as soon as you get home. Remove any foliage that will end up below the waterline in the vase. Trim the ends of the stems at an angle and put in fresh water as soon as possible.

I have used three little bottles from IKEA as my vases for the Dahlias and Eucalyptus. I found the set at a local charity store.

They have quite a narrow neck so perfect for just a few stems.

I have used one Dahlia stem and one or two stems of the Eucalyptus. That was really all that would fit into the narrow neck - but I have then repeated the same arrangement in all three vases. Keeping the three containers together as a little group works well and has more impact than just a single vase on it's own.

As my little side arrangement for a few short Eucalyptus - I used a very small preserving jar.

I have also used a few props: a small place mat from Sweden in a rag rug technique; a mini watering can with a ribbon from Jane Means' Ribbon Collection; and some Victorian iron works from a local reclamation centre. 

Enjoy your flower arranging and have a fabulous and floral Wednesday!

Thank you for visiting 'Of Spring and Summer - I will be back on Friday with another FLOWERS by ingrid and titti. Hope to see you then. 

Ingrid 

~ xoxo ~

[Styling, photography and text © Ingrid Henningsson/Of Spring and Summer.]
[Gorgeous Flowers and foliage from: Forever Green Flower Company.]
[Ribbon from: Jane Means' Ribbon Collection.]

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A Bunch for the Weekend - # 85 - Hydrangea and Eucalyptus

I know that I have featured a lot of Hydrangeas lately - but what's a girl to do? A major weakness for hydrangeas? Well, that might be an understatement.... so here we go again....!

It's always a pleasure and lots of fun to buy a bunch of flowers for the weekend and this series of blog posts, called 'A Bunch for the Weekend, will show you how you can make quick and easy flower arrangements for your home. 

Buy the flowers where it's convenient and easy for you whether that is from a flower stall, farmers' market, the supermarket or a florist. 

Always try to buy seasonal flowers - they will be a lot cheaper.

Make sure you condition the flowers as soon as you get home. Remove any foliage that will end up below the waterline in the vase. Trim the ends of the stems at an angle and put in fresh water as soon as possible.

These beautifully coloured hydrangeas has a delicate mix of light pink and equally light green petals.

As a little bit of a contrast colour I added some muted grey green Eucalyptus foliage.

In the background is a small 'side vase' with a very, very delicate grass called Panicum. 

I have also made some napkin rings by simply tying a thin ribbon around a folded napkin and then stuck some sprigs of eucalyptus and hydrangea under the ribbon.

The ribbons are from Jane Means' ribbon collection. It's a narrow stitched grosgrain with pink stitching along the middle.

On the little foot stool are two Marimekko Iittala Kivi tea light holders. These two are in clear glass but they come in many different beautiful colours.

The other tealight holder is from Georg Jensen it's called Bloom and is made of stainless steel. I love the simplicity of the shape and the silver colour.

The painting in the background is by my dear and very talented sister-in-law Amy Trachtenberg.

Hydrangeas are only with us for a little bit longer - enjoy them while you can....!

Enjoy your flower arranging and have a fabulous and floral Friday and a great weekend!

Thank you for visiting 'Of Spring and Summer' - I will be back On Sunday with another floral quote by someone passionate about flowers. 

Ingrid 

~ xoxo ~

[Styling, photography and text © Ingrid Henningsson/Of Spring and Summer.]

[Ribbons from Jane Means' ribbon collection. I am part of Jane Means' Ribbon Bloggers Team - who on a regular bases feature Jane's ribbons.]

P. S. Did you know that you can subscribe to receive a notification via email whenever I have a new blog post. Just fill in your email address at the top of my blog on the right.

For more floral inspiration you can follow me on:

Pinterest:   https://www.pinterest.com/ofspringsummer/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ofspringandsummer/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ingrid.henningsson

Creative with Flowers - # 17 - Purple Lisianthus

Lisianthus is an extremely popular and very pretty flower - and it can last for up to two weeks. Pretty good!

This series of blog posts - called 'Creative with Flowers' - are about using flowers in creative ways. It could be about how the flowers are combined - maybe in a little bit of an unusual way. It might be the choice of vase - maybe not a vase at all but a container that could be anything from jugs, bottles, jars, tins or teapots - vintage or new it doesn't matter. 

As usual my arrangements will be quick and easy - and there will always be lots and lots of colour!

A close up of the delicate flower, some buds of different maturity and a few of the grey-green slender leaves - twisting and turning.

This time I have used three new contemporary vases. They are all fairly small and of three different material and colour. One clear glass, one black and one white. What links them are that they all have some kind of surface texture on the sides of the vases and they are all neutral in colour - not taking anything away from the flowers.

I have tied a piece of ribbon around the narrow neck of the glass vase. It's a dark purple stitched grosgrain ribbon from Jane Means' ribbon collection and it matches the purple flowers perfectly.

To make the most of this lovely flower: handle with care - the petal can easily mark and the stems can easily snap.

So from the same bunch I have made three slightly different arrangements. A low and tight arrangement with the stems cut very short, in the small black vase. A medium sized looser arrangement in the clear glass vase and a taller and compact one in the white vase.

I love how the buds sits above the flowers giving the arrangements lots of texture and movement.

During the summer mix with Scabious, Nigella or Freesia.

Great flower to use for arrangements to be placed on tables, in windows and on mantelpieces. 

Enjoy your flower arranging and have a fabulous and floral Wednesday!

Thank you for visiting 'Of Spring and Summer' - Titti Malmberg, from HWIT BLOGG, and I will be back on Friday with another FLOWERS. Hope to see you then. 

Ingrid 

~ xoxo ~

[Styling, photography and text © Ingrid Henningsson/Of Spring and Summer.]

[Ribbon from Jane Means' ribbon collection. I'm part of Jane Means' Ribbon Bloggers Team.]

P. S. Did you know that you can subscribe to receive a notification via email whenever I have a new blog post. Just fill in your email address at the top of my blog on the right.

For more floral inspiration you can follow me on:

Pinterest:   https://www.pinterest.com/ofspringsummer/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ofspringandsummer/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ingrid.henningsson

Supermarket Flowers in Jam Jars

A lot of different supermarkets sell bunches of flowers for a very reasonable price - but they often lack a bit of imagination. 

I think we can do better than this! Don't you think so too?

Start off by taking the bunch apart. Condition the flowers by stripping off any leaves that will end up below the water-line in the container. Trim the ends of the stems at an angle and put in fresh water as soon as possible.

Then separate the flowers and foliage by colour or type of foliage, so that you can see how many stems of each you have.

This bunch consisted mainly of pink roses, pink spray chrysanthemums, purple stock, purple trachelium and freesia. 

Nice colours and the flowers were fresh but I wanted to do something drastically different.

I wanted to use some recycled jam jars as my containers. They are quick and easy to make as they are small in size. As an added little extra I have tied a pretty ribbon around each jar.

I used all the flowers in the bunch and I didn't substitute with any other flowers or foliage. So choose carefully when you pick out the flowers in the supermarket.  

I made two jars using mainly pink flowers. They are similar but a little bit different. I used two different ribbons both are light grey in colour - a nice contrast to the pink. 

The third one has three different purple flowers. There I used a dark grey ribbon as a contrast to the purple.

You need to cut the stems quite short. Measure against the side of the jar. Be generous with the amount of flowers in each jar. You want it to look full and abundant not stingy in any way.

Little jam jars can be used for almost all occasions and for most rooms in the house. The added ribbons from Jane Means' collection, also make it all look a little bit more special.

Enjoy your flower arranging and have a fabulous and floral Wednesday!

Thank you for visiting 'Of Spring and Summer' - I will be back on Friday with another 'FLOWERS by ingrid and titti'. The first FLOWERS, from Titti Malmberg and I, after a break over the summer. 

Ingrid 

~ xoxo ~

[Styling, photography and text © Ingrid Henningsson/Of Spring and Summer.]

[Ribbons from Jane Means' ribbon collection.]

P. S. Did you know that you can subscribe to receive a notification via email whenever I have a new blog post. Just fill in your email address at the top of my blog on the right.

For more floral inspiration you can follow me on:

Pinterest:   https://www.pinterest.com/ofspringsummer/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ofspringandsummer/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ingrid.henningsson

Flowers and Ribbons - # 6 - Clematis and Sweet Peas

This series of blog posts is called 'Flowers and Ribbons' and is a collaboration I do with the ribbon designer and wrapping expert Jane Means. We are an international team of bloggers who use Jane's ribbons in some of our posts while Jane provides us with her ribbons.

I wanted to show how you in different ways can combine ribbons with flowers and make the whole arrangement that little bit extra special.

The flowers that I have used here are purple clematis and two different sweet peas both similar in colour as well as picking up the purple in the clematis. 

I have used ribbons in two different ways. The first one is just simply tied around the container of the main flower arrangement. In this case a grey metal container and the ribbon I have used is a stitched grosgrain in a dark grey colour. The ribbon is almost black so it still show some contrast with the grey colour of the container. 

The second way is around the stems of a mini posy of sweet peas. I have used a narrower stitched grosgrain ribbon but it's in the same grey colour. I also added a purple luggage tag to the ribbon.

The little glasses, with the floral motif, that I'm using as vases are from Anthropologie. 

The clematis that you can buy from the flower stalls and florist shops is different to the climbing clematis that you might grow in your garden. It's cultivated to grow long straight stems that is easily mixed with other flowers. If you can find this kind of clematis - go for it - it's well worth it and they keep on flowering and I love the bell-shaped flowers.

It's always fun to be able to use flowers that are a little bit unusual - using clematis and sweet peas together has worked out to be a great combination. 

Enjoy your flower arranging and have a fabulous and floral Wednesday!

I'll be back on Friday with more floral delights from Of Spring and Summer.

Ingrid 

~ xoxo ~

P. S. Did you know that you can subscribe to receive a notification via email whenever I have a new blog post. Just fill in your email address at the top of my blog on the right.

For more floral inspiration follow me on:

Pinterest:   https://www.pinterest.com/ofspringsummer/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ofspringandsummer/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ingrid.henningsson

Creative with Flowers - # 7 - Blue Muscari and Iris

Here are two blue charming early spring bulbs - Muscari or grape hyacinths as they are also called and Iris reticulata 'Harmony', a stunning little early flowering mini spring iris. 

The grape hyacinths are planted in a plastic lined basket. Once they have finished flowering you can plant them in the garden or in a more permanent container. 

I tied a ribbon in almost the same colour as the flowers around the middle of the basket to lift the dark colour. The ribbon and the matching blue tags are from Jane Means. 

The little iris I also tend to grow in containers - always raised off the ground - or they will otherwise be nibbled by slugs and snails.

Iris is not strictly a bulb - but the reticulata irises are what is called bulbous irises - so you can more or less treat them like a bulb. 

After many years of growing these irises I have quite a lot so I often cut a few and use them as cut flowers. Being such a tiny plant it's such a pleasure to have it close up in a little vase or container on a table next to you. 

Like I have done here - I have used some small vintage blue ink bottles - perfect for little short stems. You can fit from one to three stems in each and you can display them as single vases or grouped together on a little tray or saucer. 

Enjoy your flower arranging and have a fabulous and floral Wednesday!

I'll be be back on Friday with another 'A Bunch for the Weekend'.

Ingrid 

~ xoxo ~

For more floral inspiration follow me on:

Pinterest:   https://www.pinterest.com/ofspringsummer/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ofspringandsummer/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ingrid.henningsson

Flowers and Ribbons - # 5 - Jars with Ribbons - Part 2

Over time you have probably noticed that I often feature beautiful ribbons. I'm part of a team of international bloggers who use ribbons from Jane Means' ribbon collection. Jane provides us with ribbons and we use them in some of our blog posts. 

I'm now doing a regular series of blog posts called 'Flowers and Ribbons' where I use Jane's ribbons in combination with flowers and foliage.

This is Part 2 of 'Jars with Ribbons' - you can see Part 1 here if you missed it.

Again we are taking a look at a simple way of creating stunning little flower arrangements using pretty flowers, ribbons and re-cycled jam jars as vases. Quick and easy and for very little money!

Old jam jars are perfect for making low and compact flower arrangements. Cut the stems quite short, let the flowers rest on the edge of the jars and fill the jars with as many flowers that will fit.

Just like in Part 1 I have kept the colour scheme very tight. This time around its all white with a few hints of green.

I have used pure white single tulips, green and white parrot tulips and a white hyacinths.

There are five jars altogether - one has the all white tulips on their own, one has the white hyacinths also on their own, a third is filled with the green and white parrot tulips and a fourth is filled with a mixture of the two tulips. In the last one has snipped off little individual hyacinth flowers floating in water.

The ribbons are a mix of stitched, striped and two sweet little gingham narrow ribbons and amazingly they all pick up the colours in the flowers.

Use the jars on their own or grouped together on a little tray or try them in a row in the middle of a table or along a mantelpiece.

Have a lovely floral day!

I'll be back next month with another 'Flowers and Ribbons. Before that I'll see you later in the week.

[Styling and Photography: © Ingrid Henningsson/Of Spring and Summer.]
[All ribbons shown are from Jane Means' Collection of Ribbons.]

You can also find me on:

Instagram - https://instagram.com/ofspringandsummer/

Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/ofspringsummer/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ingrid.henningsson

Flowers and Ribbons - # 4 - Jars with Ribbons - Part 1

Over time you have probably noticed that I often feature beautiful ribbons. I'm part of a team of international bloggers who use ribbons from Jane Means' ribbon collection. Jane provides us with ribbons and we use them in some of our blog posts. 

I'm now doing a regular series of blog posts called 'Flowers and Ribbons' where I use Jane's ribbons in combination with flowers and foliage.

This month we are taking a look at a simple way of creating stunning little flower arrangements using pretty flowers, ribbons and re-cycled jam jars as vases. Quick and easy and for very little money!

Old jam jars are perfect for making low and compact flower arrangements. Cut the stems quite short, let the flowers rest on the edge of the jars and fill the jars with as many flowers that will fit.

I have kept to a tight colour scheme using pink double tulips and pink and white ranunculus in one jar.

In the other one I have used the same pink tulips again with some pure white single tulips and and a green and white parrot tulip.

The ribbons are from Jane Means' ribbon collection - one has pink stripes and the other has pink stitching, in two different pink colours, along the edges.

The two arrangements work very well together on a coffee or side table as well as perfect side by side on a mantle piece. Or use them separately with some colour coordinated props picking up the colour in the flowers.

Have a lovely floral day!

I'll be back next month with another 'Flowers and Ribbons. Before that I'll see you later in the week.

[Styling and Photography: © Ingrid Henningsson/Of Spring and Summer.]
[All ribbons shown are from Jane Means' Collection of Ribbons.]

You can also find me on:

Instagram - https://instagram.com/ofspringandsummer/

Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/ofspringsummer/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ingrid.henningsson