ClassiclyAmber » flowers

Fav Gardening Finds + Ideas

classiclyamber — Tue, 18 May 2010 12:30:30 +0000

Who could blog about gardening and not include Grandma Martha? I need to use all of these ideas mentioned here!

1. Garden Tool Container 2. Bucket Hose Storage 3. Magnetic Garden Organizer 4. Garden Protector 5. Saving Seeds 6. Plant Protector 7. Testing Old Seeds 8. Growing File

Here are some flowers that I’ve got my eye on! Aren’t they lovely? I would enjoy having these as friends in our yard:

1. Ice Cream Tulip 2.Pink Sunrise Muscari 3. Sorbet Peonies

Our family practices organic gardening for several great reasons. Because of that, we have to deal with any bug problems in a different way than just attacking them all with harmful chemicals. I am saving these resources:

What have you planted this year? Or if you could plant anything, what would it be?

Ranunculus Finds on Etsy

classiclyamber — Wed, 12 May 2010 17:03:26 +0000

Ranunculus: one of my all time favorite flowers! They look like a cross between a rose and a peony and come in a gorgeous array of colors. I have called around to several nurseries here inquiring about them, and am disappointed to hear the person on the other end of the line saying “Huh? A WHAT? Can you spell that for me?” And I know that we can grow it here. This is zone 7 after all, people!

While not everyone in NC has heard of this brilliant flower, there are plenty of people on Etsy who have. So this is where I will send all those people when they act clueless about Ranuncu-WHAT? I wanted to share some nifty finds with you today and hope it brightens up your week!

[from top left clockwise:] selenavallejo + honeytree + ciaobellaphotography + BornBarefoot

Madeline Bea Photography

[from top left clockwise:] blacksatinshoes + designstash + nanno + milkmoneyshop + YJdesign

[from left clockwise:] olivesonastring + dsbrennan + permanentmagenta

Blooming Plum Trees + Photo Shoot Casting Call

classiclyamber — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 13:00:40 +0000

One of my fav things about this time of year is watching the plum trees burst into blooms!

And the lovely scent? Oh heavens, does anyone bottle that somewhere? I LOVE the way plum blossoms smell! MMmmm…

The blooms just don’t last long enough! They are here but for a few weeks and then they are gone again, with the promise of juicy, plump fruit on the way.

Last, I want to share with the locals about a nifty photo shoot casting call for Gerber Childrenswear on Monday, April 5th. Armando Bellmas is the talented photographer you’ll find in my sidebar and he will also be taking the shots of cutesie babies for this audition in Charlotte, NC. I am thinking that that will be such a fun day! I would love to just sit and watch it all play out. My baby is too old for this, but I know that several of you have little ones in the age range that they are seeking. Do try out! For more information on the casting call, please check their Facebook page HERE. For more information on the photographer, please click HERE.

I do hope everyone is having a great week and I wish you a lovely Easter weekend~!

Paper Flower Bouquets

classiclyamber — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:56:23 +0000

It’s going to be a GORGEOUS day here, peeps! So bring on the flowers! Even if you don’t have any in full bloom just yet, you can make some beautiful blooms yourself. Check these pics for inspiration and click through to the tuts!

Lolly has some GREAT tutorials and printable PDFs so you can make your own paper bouquets right here! I love the way that she’s used different centers for these pretties.

And when I think of making paper flowers, of course I automatically think of Grandma Martha. Scroll down to see all of the flowers that she’s made with her own two hands. That’s right! Her own two hands!

This says that it’s for kiddos – which would definitely be lovely in their cute lil’ Easter baskets, but I’d also love ‘em for myself! Get the tut here.

Who doesn’t love a party with big, poofy pom-poms overhead? Get the tut here.

This is the cutest party favor idea! Get the tut here.

I love these basic flowers mixed in with other types of flowers, too. Get the tut here.

There is a ton more inspiration and tuts for paper flower crafting over at Martha Stewart Weddings.

If you are having a party and don’t want to make your own pom-poms, then there’s always Etsy! Check out PartyPoms:

I don’t know about you, but I think it will be fun to make these – and I’ll get the kiddos to help make some, too! My new office space is in need.

Have a beautiful day, everyone~! <3

Spit-Shinin’ the Sink

classiclyamber — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:48:01 +0000

If you haven’t heard of this, here’s a fun, all natural way to clean your sink!

Take a lemon and cut it in half. Spit on it, if you want to. [I normally don't, but what-ev floats your boat]
Sprinkle salt all in your sink.
Then use the salt-crusted lemon as a scouring sponge and scrub your sink down
After your lemon half is spent, then you just chunk the whole thing in your disposal, turn it on and it will clean that, too!

You’ve seen those cleaners at the store that say “Smells like real lemons!” Well, why not just go ahead and clean with REAL LEMONS? Then your sink really will smell just like real lemons!

I try to keep a bag of lemons at all times because we use them so much with both cooking and cleaning. One of these days, we might just break down and buy one or two lemon trees to grow inside since we don’t have the weather for them year round outside.

Doing dishes has never been my favorite chore – but something else that I’ve discovered is that when you keep your sink pretty (in addition to keeping it naturally clean), then you will fall in love with dish washing! [That might be stretching it just a little, right?] I don’t mind it nearly as much when I’ve got pretty flowers to look at – at the same time. If you have a window at your sink, definitely try keeping a little bit of flowers nearby and you’ll be surprised at how it lifts your spirits. Right now, I’ve got some Rosemary and two different varieties of Hyacinths right on the windowsill and the Paperwhites are finishing up. My new goal is to always have some greenery and something blooming around the kitchen sink because I love it so much!

And isn’t this a cool idea? It’s something else that I’m interesting in trying, but am not totally sure which window to do it at. Do you think it would be wrong to put it up at our kitchen sink? Depending on how full the shelves are, it could block the nice view from the sink. However, it would be cool to have all of those fresh herbs right here in the main part of the kitchen! I like that it’s fairly easy to install, too. To get the full instructions, just click the pic!

What are some things that you have done or could possibly do to make your kitchen sink area a more pleasant one to be around?

Forcing Spring

classiclyamber — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:23:16 +0000

I just love it when spring happens and the perfect weather sails in. But since this is only early February, I have a ways to wait before that happens. But who says we have to wait until then to enjoy beautiful flowers? You can force spring in your home by making these bulbs bloom indoors.

Many people are blogging about this now, but I first learned about this years ago when I was watching a Martha Stewart show. She was showing the different types of bulbs that you could force indoors. That was the first day I had even heard of paperwhites – and I loved them instantly! I told myself that I would have some for myself for the next year, but never bought them. Fast forward about 8 years later, and I finally got my first paperwhites!

Can I say two more things about these flowers?

1. I didn’t force these myself. We were shopping at Trader Joe’s last night and they had soooo many flowers on sale! Anyways, to learn more about forcing bulbs on your own, click HERE.

2. Paperwhites are so pretty, but they shoooooooooooooooooooo’ nuff do smell FUNKY!! Yeah, I’m not quite sure what to describe that sniff-sniff as. It’s not quite yucky, but it’s not quite lovely, either. However, the beautiful flowers make up for the funk (in my opinion).

Let’s make this 3 things:

3. Did you notice that several of their centers naturally created a heart? How perfect is that? <3 it!

Oh! And one more:

4. I. Still. Want. A. GOOD. Snow. Day. First!

YMMXEEYQSMBH