Bow maker.

I've just spent the last 7 days helping my sister-in-law prepare and co-host her 8th Annual Holiday Greens Arrangement Party. We purchased specialty greens, bought Christmas trees and boxes of "Oasis"– soaking bricks of foam for use in vases and planters. We cut and prepared the greens, laid out a spread of food and made sure everything was ready for the 1.5 hour sessions. …


I was amazed at the amount of effort and energy that went into this event. Her living room and kitchen had to be completely dismantled to accommodate work areas, and table space for novelty picks, berry twigs and miles of beautiful ribbons. She smartly applied an adhesive backed plastic to her cream living room carpet for protection. The garage got turned into a giant greens warehouse- oh it smelled lovely. Complete with a work table and Christmas music.

Over the years my sister-in-law has collected an abundance of colorful ribbons for bow making, an assortment of florist supplies for "building" the arrangements- floral tapes, picks with wire, container liners, greens clippers, and scissors to name a few. Among the table contents she displayed an array of berries on sticks, glittery doo dads- prancing reindeer, sparkly curly sticks and jaunty snowmen. There was something for everyone. 

It was so fun to see what the women created. I was surprised at the variety of containers that were brought. Containers that I thought.. there is no way that can be used for an arrangement. Where I said "Oh I'm not sure" to a particularly non-watertight container (my floral designer opinion) my sister-in-law just moved ahead and would say…. let's see what we can do. And somehow a beautiful arrangement would emerge.

I cut greens and assisted the women..and became the official "bow maker". Now I have never been much for a bow in an arrangement. But the wired ribbons of today make a nice addition to any arrangement. And the best part? Seeing a woman's face light up with a smile when they saw my bow nestled in their arrangement. Small blessings.

It was exhausting and exhilarating to be back doing floral design. I realized I missed it and that all of my cumulative design experience (graphic, interior, exterior architectural) have complimented and added to my floral design eye. Hmmm.

I enjoyed helping to bring beauty to a home.
~ the Artist

*Photo is me and my niece Brenna helping cut greens at the party.