Home Décor For the Holidays

Getting our home ready for the holidays is such a special treat. Unpacking all of our beloved decorations and displaying them part of the holiday ritual in many homes.  Local Color Flowers and Once Upon A  Table: Vintage China for Hire is happy to share some of our favorite holiday home décor ideas with you this season. Special thanks to Stacy Bauer Photography for these amazing photos!

Our favorite way to welcome guests into our home is with a welcoming wreath.  A wreath on your door is the first sign that Christmas has arrived. This wreath is in tones of blues and silvers to represent the cold of winter.  It’s filled with locally grown evergreens, dried flowers and pine cones.

 

Can’t you just feel it? Walking in from the cold to a warm and cozy home filled with your friends and family .  Mantles are a wonderful focal point in any home that has one.  Take care to give it some extra attention during the holidays by adding some of your favorite seasonal decorations.  Here we have a trio of wooden trees from Hannah's Ideas in Wood, milk glass votives, vintage Santa sled from Once Upon a Table and some natural elements foraged from the yard.

 

There are lots of ways to use natural elements in decoration. These natural placemats were easy to make and add a bit of the outdoors to you celebration. 

It’s likely the bar will be a gathering spot this holiday season. Don’t forget to dress it up with flowers, fancy glasses and sweet holiday décor.

 

Don't forget to add a little holiday cheer to the powder room.  Pair your favorite soap with a few of your favorite flowers.  Our friends at Plant Masters are multi-talented.  Not only to they grow flowers year round, they also make soups in a rainbow of colors and fragrances.  The pretty celadon colored soup dish is from  Once Upon a Table Vintage.  

Sharing a meal with folks you love is one of the best parts of the holiday. Candles and garland are a simple, beautiful way to decorate your table. Of course, this is the time of year to bring out the fancy china.  This burgundy banded china from Once Upon a Table is a perfect addition to any holiday table.

Once the decorating is complete, it’s time to celebrate! Hoping you and your loved ones have a happy holiday! Much love from everyone at Local Color Flowers, Once Upon a Table and Stacy Bauer Photography!

To see more photos of our Holiday Décor photoshoot, click here!

The Holly and The Ivy: The Original Holiday Décor

By Irene Donnelly

During the recent wreath making classes hosted by Local Color Flowers, I noticed that the holly hardly ever gets used.  Of all the evergreens we pre-cut and offer to students, the holly is rarely touched.  It must be the thorns that deters them.  Students tend to lean toward magnolia, cedars, firs and berries but as folklore has it, the most commonly used holiday decorations were holly and ivy.

Bringing holly and ivy indoors dates back to the 4th century when Pagan people would celebrate the winter solstice or the “return of the sun”.  It was considered bad luck to bring these evergreens indoors before the solstice (December 21st/22nd) and equally bad luck to leave them up past the twelfth day of Christmas, (January 6th, also known as Epiphany).  The hardiness of both plants was believed to ward of evil spirits and protect the household through the winter, as well as provide homes for faeries and spirits wishing to escape the cold.  These greens would give people hope and reassurance that Spring would eventually return.

According to folklore it was said that whichever plant, holly or ivy, made it’s way into the home first would predict whether the husband or the wife would run the household the following year.   Holly having associations with masculinity and ivy with femininity.  In Roman times wreaths of holly and ivy were given to newlyweds as a token of good will and good luck for the future.

As Christianity spread through Europe, pagan traditions were reluctantly incorporated along side Christian celebrations.  The ancient symbolism of both holly and ivy were altered to conform to new Christian beliefs so that people could continue to deck their halls without being damned.  While holly formerly symbolized  “protection and good will” it began to take on new meanings.  The leaves and berries would symbolize the crown of thrones worn by Jesus and the drops of blood that was spilt.  Ivy on the other hand held it’s original symbolism as representing “eternal life”. 

As time when on, holly and ivy remained the predominate evergreens in holiday decor throughout Europe and the New World. Every establishment from churches, houses, bars and schools would be decorated.  The tradition of trimming interiors grew to decorating front doors and streets.  Cards and wrapping paper use holly and ivy as a symbol of the season and there are a number of carols that incorporate the plants into their lyrics.  In fact, holly was the favored decoration for celebrating Christmas until the 1800’s when “Prince Albert popularized the Christmas Tree”.

All symbolism and tradition aside, the only green plants around my home right now are holly and ivy.  Even though I am a nut for symbolism, I think it is possible that people just used what was available, abundant and beautiful in December to decorate their homes.  I can’t think of another time of year where people emphatically decorate their homes with plants.  I guess their is some magic to it after all.

In a couple of weeks I will defiantly celebrate the return of the Sun and longer days by decorating my home with a tree, a wreath and perhaps some garland.  I’ll fold in a little Christianity and a whisper of Santa Claus and I’ll be sure to make it all disappear by January 6th.  I hope to find more people reaching for holly and ivy in our upcoming  holiday centerpieces class and open studio sessions!  Now to get rid of those pumpkins. ;)

Making Holiday Centerpieces Easy and Fun!

Our last design class of 2013 was a Holiday Centerpiece class just a few days before Christmas! The class was filled with both beginners who were designing with flowers for the first time and some more experienced students who had come to our classes in the past. We were also thrilled to have Balance Photography at the class taking pictures of all of our student’s work!

Everyone was excited about the amazing local flowers and foliage we had to use for the class. I know a lot of folks think that there aren’t flowers available in the winter in our region. Not so! We had tulips, calla lilies, lilies, snap dragons and ageratum.

We also had lots evergreen foliage, berries, branches and pinecones.

Each student’s arrangement was unique and reflected their style and personalities!

 

Thanks to all our growers for such a wonderful selection of goodies to work with! Farmhouse Flowers, Flowers by Bauers, Locust Point Flowers, LynnVale Studios and Seaberry Farm!

Thanks to Balance Photography for all the amazing photos! to see all the photos from our class, click HERE! You can also check out some of our student photos on Instagram  and twitter using #locofloclass

Thanks to everyone who came out to our class! Hope you had wonderful holiday!

Our 2014 class schedule will be out soon! Be sure to follow us on Facebook for an update!

Make Tribe’s Make It Merry

By Carling A.W. Elder

By Almost exactly one month ago, I had the pleasure of attending perhaps one of my most favorite holiday events of 2013. Make it Merry, hosted by the lovely ladies of Make Tribe, was an incredible night of crafting, chatting, friending, and learning at Artifact Coffee in Clipper Mill. The event was a collective effort of Make Tribe and eight other talented vendors including Priya Means Love, Almanac Industries, C. Connor Rasmussen and the Bar at Woodberry Kitchen, Karson Butler Events, Laura Hooper Calligraphy, Esther & Harper, Hex Ferments, and yours truly, Local Color Flowers.

As Christmas tunes wafted through the beautifully decorated Artifact Coffee, guests were split into groups of ten. The groups of ten then circled the room and completed a holiday craft at each vendor’s station. While they crafted, guests sipped seasonal cocktails and chatted with each other, happily making new friends, or reacquainting with old ones.  By the end of the night, each guest had made many different crafts including cocktail bitters, a leather bracelet, a coffee body scrub, paper bows, and a holiday swag. Needless to say, the wire baskets holding each guest’s creations were overflowing!

I’m always finding myself in awe of how we can all be given the exact same materials, and yet create something so unique, and so undisputably, ours. Swags are a perfect example of this. Ellen and I came to the event loaded with all varieties of evergreens, including cedar, white pine, juniper, and holly. We also brought tons of decorations such as shiny jingle bells, bright Christmas ornaments, gold and silver pinecones, and sparkly and natural colored ribbons for everyone to use. 

Once a group of ten guests had gathered around our station, I began instruction. Swags are fairly easy to make, but can still be a bit intimidating. After basic instructions, I was more than happy to see each guest attack making a swag with excitement and creativity! As a result, each swag turned out beautiful and unique as a gorgeous decoration for a front door, or a lovely gift to give.

 

At the end of the night, each guest left Make it Merry with a brimming basket of completed crafts. These crafts were a beautiful reflection of each guest’s own taste and personality; as well as a mini reflection of the vendor who dreamt of the project.

This combination of camaraderie, crafts, and collaboration made Make it Merry a wonderful event, and the perfect way to kickoff the holiday season! Many thanks to Make Tribe for including Local Color Flowers!  Check out more photos and video of the Make it Merry Event!

Be sure to stay tuned Make Tribe’s social media sites (Facebook and integral), and maketribe.com to be in the know when they announce their events for 2014!

(Cool) Projects

(Cool) Projects: by Carling A.W. Elder

Back in August, Ellen and I had the pleasure of meeting with Heather Weisse Walsh, Editor of (cool) progeny, to hear all about this fun, family-friendly publication, and to see why Local Color Flowers might want a dose of (cool).

Started by Heather and her husband a few years ago, (cool) progeny is an online resource for parents that is dedicated to “putting (cool) back in to the crazy, upside down world of modern parenting.” Heather told us that when she and her husband became new parents, they kept striking out while searching for information about family-friendly events and activities in Baltimore. So they took matters into their own hands, and (cool) progeny was born!

(cool) progeny is bursting with good stuff! The website is divided into seven main categories of: eat, play, learn & create, style, parents, party, and out & about. Each category features articles from guest contributors who are all experts in different fields. When Heather asked if Local Color Flowers would like to partner with (cool) progeny as “Floral Experts,” we thought it might be fun to come up with some kid appropriate floral projects. So we began brainstorming…

The first project was Halloween Terrariums.  It was easy to get the kids involved in building a terrarium. They could layer the ingredients of their terrariums (rocks, charcoal, and dirt), plant the succulents, and then have a blast decorating their terrarium vessels! The Halloween Terrariums gave the kids some of their first experiences caring for plants, and they turned out so fun! 

Our second project with (cool) progeny was a “Thankful Tablescape”  For this project, the kids got to forage for natural elements such as mini pumpkins, seed pods, and Indian corn to place on their family Thanksgiving table. They also got to write what they were thankful for on the gourds and pumpkins. At the same time, the adults could design a seasonal arrangement in a large pumpkin as a centerpiece. The kids had a great time picking out their favorite natural elements for this project, and it was an easy way to include children in Thanksgiving decorating.

The third project was Holiday Swags.  A swag (a bundle of greenery that hangs on your door) is perhaps the easiest holiday floral project you can make! I loved working with Lila (Heather’s beautiful daughter) on this project. It was so fun to show her the different evergreen and berry varieties as we made her swag, and to see which decorations she chose. I wasn’t too surprised when she chose a sparkly silver ribbon and shiny Christmas ornaments :).

In the floral industry, we don’t often get to work with children. We mostly work with Brides, Wedding Planners, and well, other adults. As is necessary, conversations are often centered around details, time-lines, and requirements. There’s not much opportunity to just play with all of our amazing plants and flowers and see what comes out of unbridled creativity.  Working with the kids and seeing the flowers through their eyes was so much fun!

What I loved most about our projects with (cool) progeny was the chance to create and have pure fun with flowers and these cool kids. I’ve worked with evergreens a million times, but I don’t know if Lila ever had. I could see her curiosity as she felt the different branches and sniffed their spicy scents. Making these floral projects was a first-time experience for these kids, and it was exciting for them. Their excitement was exciting to me.

It makes me so happy to have had a small part in these kids’ first exposure to the floral world. I’m grateful to (cool) progeny for recognizing the value in teaching children early about the world of flowers, and for creating the online space to share these teachings with others. More (cool) progeny and Local Color Flowers collaborations are in the future, and I can’t wait to play some more!