Ready for Spring - You're Own Little Flower Box

Vintage craft magazines can be such great sources of inspiration! McCall's Needlework and Crafts magazine from 1967 is the source for this charming little project.

It's a trinket box, but what I like about it is the technique can be adapted to so many materials end uses. They suggest you use felt for the flowers and leaves, but you could also use different types and colors of paper, fabric, leather or even rolled fondant! Here's the template for the flowers:

Just right click, or command click on the image above and choose save to download them for your own use. You can resize them as needed in photo editing software.

I did a needlework project based in part on this idea. Instead of glue I used french knots to embroider the felt flowers to the surface. Here's the end result:

What would you do with this idea?

Gowns of the Past - My History as a Couturier

When I was younger, I used to go to a formal affair every year. This was also around the time I was in school studying fashion design, so I would make a new dress for myself for the events. Now that I'm doing a grand purge of all my belongings I've come across all those dresses again and have decided to get rid of them. Some of them were really beautiful and I thought I'd share them with you here.

This one of the first ones I made. It's white silk taffeta and it's trimmed at the bust and back waist with artificial flowers of every color and description.

This one is a big wedding cake of a dress. The bodice is pastel plaid silk taffeta and the skirt is a huge 6 layers of different colored pink netting and tulle. It was not easy to maneuver in, but was stunning to look at!

This one is quite dramatic. It was made as an homage to Charles James, who I was quite taken with at the time. It's made of red silk taffeta and features a midnight blue tulle skirt. I love the asymmetrical bodice and taffeta drape at the waist. It's trimmed with rich red roses.

This one was made from a vintage 1960's pattern and features a bell shaped silhouette. It's made of a really lovely pink and gold lamé fabric with a floral print - lots of metal in that lame, it's very heavy.

This one, though not a gown, was my final project at FIT. It's a wedding suit with very curvy 50's styling to the waist and hips. The top of the jacket stands away from the body and is filled in with peach and pale yellow roses - giving the effect of the bride being the centerpiece of her own bridal bouquet.

I hope this little trip down my memory lane was fun. If you're interested in any of these little numbers they're all available this week on eBay. Have a look!

Faded Faux Finery - Vintage Artificial Flowers

I've always been enchanted by vintage artificial flowers. They have a subtle, faded beauty to them that has a very nostalgic quality.

These beautiful roses are made of cotton tinted pink. They have fuzzy chenille stems! These and the other that I have are called millinery flowers. They're made of paper or fabric, have flexible stems that were wire or bias tubing and were sold in dime stores for use in hat making and other crafts.

I was very lucky to run across a large stash of them years ago at a thrift shop. I snatched them up and stored them away for future use and we found the perfect opportunity for them in the Shower episode of my show.

We used them to create a charming party room for the fictional guest of honor for our shower.

The art department created a nosegays like these...

...to use for trimming the banquet table and decorating gifts.

They also trimmed up some darling decorative umbrella frames I had found at a thrift shop as well to use as a centerpiece.

These lovely little decorative objects can be found on eBay and Etsy. Search for "millinery flowers" and all sorts of options come up. Right after the war they were made in occupied Japan and some of the ones I have still bear that label. They're not outrageously expensive and are perfect for little accents in your craft projects. You can even find them new at floral supply houses, though I don't think they're quite as charming. Do you use artificial flowers in your crafting? If so, how do you use them? I'd love to see some pictures!

My Garden of Brooches - Fabulous Flower Pins

Hello people! Sorry for not publishing this yesterday. It's been a busy few days...

I just love flower pins. I have many of them. They're so bright and cheery and perfect for spring! Here area few of my favorites.

This is one of the ones I wear most often. I love the simple restraint in rendering the daisy and it's got such clean, clear enamel, even after so many years! It dates back to about 1967 and has matching earrings!

This lovely blue flower with subtle shading is from a bit earlier - perhaps 1964. 

This one is my favorite color of pink - Shocking! The detail in these pins is one of the nicest aspects of them. Look at the hand applied dry brushing of black on the tips of the petals.

On a more somber note - a flower broch for film noir - this pin is plated in a gun metal finish and features a single stone as its center.

Another bright and cheerful daisy pin - this one is a cluster made up of plastic daisies and beads. It's like a little tuffet! It also has matching earrings, but, remarkably they were bought at completely different times and from different vendors.

This charming yellow bloom has cupped petals and a salmon pink center.

This is the prize of my collection. The "petals" are made of fibers and the pin features an enameled leaf, stem and center. Notice the center is dry brushed as well. I saw this pin in a different color way in a museum exhibit once. It's was fun to see it and know I had one at home.

Join me on Twitter! I'd love to see your bright, shining screen name among my followers...

Creative Entertaining with Edible Flowers

Hello people, thanks for joining me! This week is all about flowers - edible flowers that is. Eating flowers sounds incredibly decadent - sort of like something that would get the Romans in trouble with the gods like plumbing with lead or Nero fiddling. It's quite respectable, however, and won't bring any lightning bolts down on your head. It's a wonderful idea for creative entertaining.  I especially like serving flowers in salads. The bright oranges, yellows and reds of nasturtiums are so beautiful tucked among the variegated greens of the different lettuces. They also make a delightful conversational opener for a dinner party!

Now, there are certain flowers that are just delicious and perfect for a nosh, including nasturtiums, violets, pansies, Johnny-jump-ups, roses, orchids, chrysanthemums, and clover. You can find a complete list of edible flowers here.

 It's so important to know what you're eating, however. Certain flowers are poisonous and should be avoided - these include: daffodils, foxglove, crocus, azalea, rhododendron, lilly of the valley and wisteria. A more complete list of dangerous flowers can be found here.   

 In addition to being used on pastries and in salads as demonstrated in the show, edible flowers can also be used as garnish or frozen into ice blocks and floated in your favorite punch or in small ice cubes for summer cocktails or candied with sugar. It's such a delightful way to liven up your meal. Try it the next time you entertain. Your dinner parties will never be "business as usual" again!

 Thanks for coming by. Come back next week for some more fun!