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DIY: Floral Crown

I seriously, seriously love floral crowns. They are perfect for weddings, wedding showers, maternity shoots, baby showers, newborn photos or just because! I have made suggestions on outfits with which you can style a beautiful floral crown at the bottom of this post.

Ever since I started my Floral Arranging 101 class, I’ve been motivated to create my own. I have read a number of DIYs (like this, this and this), and decided to give it a try! At first, I thought about doing a little one for Isla (she’s already worn this one in her newborn photos), but decided to do an adult-sized one and I’m so glad I did! I will admit that this DIY is perhaps not the most technical (as I use a hot glue gun, which would make many florists cringe!), but it works! Read the process below:

  1. I went to the grocery store and picked up some cremones and carnations. Then I went to my front yard and cut down some foliage for fillers – you can also find these in the floral department of your local grocery store.
  2. I cut all of the flowers so that they had 2-3 inch stems and then laid everything out on the island and placed it in the order I wanted for the crown.
  3. I took an 18 gauge floral wire and bent one end about half an inch from the end and thread one of the carnations through – it is important to use a thick stem flower versus a piece of foliage at the end.
  4. I then began to add the flowers and foliage by wrapping floral tape around the base and the floral gauge – laying the pieces along the length of the wire. When I got to a carnation or a cremone, I would take the wire through the stem of the flower versus the side layering technique.
  5. Tip: As mentioned earlier, I also used a hot glue gun to secure some of the floral tape to the wire, and in some instances, to glue the bushy leaves to the wire.
  6. When I finished filling the floral wire with flowers, I cut two pieces of cream ribbon 7 inches in length. Put a dot of hot glue on one end of each strand of ribbon and secure it to the end of the wire. Once the glue is dried, you can put it on your head and tie a bow at the back!

You can extend the life of your crown significantly by storing it in a drawer in your refrigerator. Mine lasted four days, then some of the flowers started to wither. Make sure you start the process with the freshest florals you can find.

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Arrange all flowers in the order you’d like them on the crown, then thread them through the floral wire (steps 3-5 above)

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Add the ribbon to the ends and tie, then voilà… a beautiful floral crown!


How to Style the Crown

Floral Fridays: Tulip Love

Week two of my Floral Arranging 101 with Nicole’s Classes has come and gone, and the homework assignment was to create a wild English garden arrangement. Our instructor’s example (see top photo) is literally to die for. I want her talent! Like I said last week, the local Durango flower and vase options are very limited, so I couldn’t produce as fancy an arrangement; however, I chose a bold colored tulip as my focal flower and ran with it.

I absolutely adore tulips (second favorite, to peonies, and runner-up to garden roses). I dug into my wedding pinboards and found some of my favorite tulip bouquets and arrangements. They also make for the perfect desk decoration – I’ll be sharing my favorite office spaces next week! I can’t wait.

Lastly, the winner of the BABYBJÖRN Carrier We giveaway is Vanessa W. Congratulations! Make sure you enter the BabyLit giveaway by midnight tonight and use code ‘Isla’ to receive 40% off at BabyLit.com. Have a wonderful weekend!

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Tulip Floral Inspiration

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Week 6 in Durango

Week six has come and gone, leaving Isla almost 12 weeks old and us with only a few weeks left in Colorado. We had our favorite weekend so far, given that one of my best friends, Kirby, her husband, Brett, and their adorable 7 week old, Lillian, came to visit us. They arrived on Thursday, and we filled the next four days with multiple hikes, raft rides, walks through town, a visit to Durango Mountain Resort, and plenty of laughter and relaxation at the house. After the girls went down, we played games like Taboo (obsessed) and categories (we amazed the boys with our sports knowledge). It is such a blessing to have a best friend with a daughter so close in age to Isla – now we just need them to move to Texas from Oklahoma City!

Below you’ll find some photographs from the past week – lots of Lillian and Isla, including her new sassy shorts from Sugarplum Lane. Only two more weeks left! I cannot believe it.

Reminder: Today is the last day to enter the BABYBJÖRN Baby Carrier We giveaway. You have until Friday to enter the BabyLit giveaway and until Sunday to use the promo code ‘Isla’ for 40% off all books (this is a great deal!).

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Me and my sleepy head while at Durango Mountain Resort

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Two generations of best friends
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Sneak peak of my floral arrangement for week 2 of Nicole’s Classes

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Isla was cracking me up during the taking of these pictures – that tongue! Similar J. Crew onesie and similar RH Baby & Child Lovey

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The future best friends in their matching Baby Gap rompers

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Our OKC Thunder loving lady and squeaky Sophie

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Kirby and her mini-me, Lillian, in this sweet J. Crew polka dot onesie

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These are my new favorite shorts ever – can I get a pair?

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Isla loves her Sugarplum Lane shorts and Carter’s top

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Serious father-daughter conversations (those are some serious duck lips!)

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Isla is one messy lady, so we’re loving these J. Crew tanks – puke resistant!

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Brett was prepping for the alpine slide race with Sasha | Cutest dads ever | The view of downtown Durango from our morning hikes

 

Magenta Florals

I just completed the first week of my Floral Arranging 101 class, and I am addicted. Our homework assignment was to create a hand tied bouquet, using primary, secondary, and filler flowers, with additional greenery to give it texture. We had suggestions for which flowers to use, but the local Durango grocery store’s floral department is not the best, so I went out on a limb with my selections. My mom told me about April’s Garden after I had already made my bouquet, so I’ll head there next week.

I’m very amateur in the world of flowers, so I bought The Flower Recipe Book to help me. I’m so excited about this purchase – not only does it help with the arranging, it’s also the prettiest coffee table book. I highly recommend you buy it if you’re interested in flowers.

Lastly, the Milk Nursingwear giveaway ends tonight at midnight. Make sure to enter today!

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My absolute favorites – as mentioned here


I love a pop of magenta in a bouquet and have shared some of my favorite wedding arrangements below (all sourced from Style Me Pretty). What is your favorite pop of color in a floral bouquet?

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Week 5 in Durango

Week five has come and gone, and ohmygosh, I am not ready to go back to the ‘real world’ (i.e. Texas). However, I do miss everyone like crazy, and cannot wait to hug all of my family and friends. This past week flew by in anticipation of one of my best friends, Kirby, arriving on Thursday. I managed to run every day this past week, clock between 13,000-20,000 steps every day, enjoy short hikes to the top of a nearby mountain in the mornings, continue my Illustrator 101 and Floral Arranging 101 classes, work on the blog (some fun giveaways coming up soon!), and spend lots of time with Sasha, Belle (our dog) and sweet Isla. We also hiked the 6 mi. trail of the Animas Mountain together for the first time – Sasha and I did it last Labor Day when we were visiting (see photos here).

As you can tell from the thousands of photos below, I love taking pictures of Isla’s cute face, because I know I won’t have as much time to once we are back in Houston (and because she cannot yet tell me to stop).

In case you want to keep track of our Colorado sabbatical, you can also read about Week 1, Weeks 2 and 3, and Week 4.

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Isla being sassy in her Carter’s Romper (similar here) – that last face kills me – her personality is shining through

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Pretty in pink (and white!)

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Cheesin’ it up

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Hot pink is my absolute favorite (similar bodysuit here)

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Someone was none-too-pleased with us taking photos before she got to eat ‘lunch’

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Bows on bows on bows (buy dress here) – and Sophie the Giraffe making an appearance (and Isla loves her hands if you can’t tell!)

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I swear this isn’t a hunger cue, Isla just adores her hands (praying this is ‘self soothing’!)

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Kisses from her ‘Tata’ and (the much dreaded) tummy time (similar outfit here)

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Saturday mornings are for PJs and superman time with dad

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Her hair is seriously out of control, but I love it

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Isla’s little Gap peplum top and leggings

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This was taken after five minutes in her new heaven – i.e. the Skip Hop Treetop Friends Activity Gym… she’s enamored (this is a GREAT baby shower gift)

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Loving the views from the top of the Animas Mountain – Isla loves the view from over my shoulder (her favorite holding position)

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Vegan ice cream at Cream Bean Berry – my one true weakness!

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Isla LOVES (eating) this lovie!

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A sneak preview of my first homework assignment from Floral Arranging 101 (more to come tomorrow!)


Three weeks left! Have a great day. xo