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Showing posts with label French Crowns. Show all posts
Showing posts with label French Crowns. Show all posts

Sunday, June 10, 2012

A Garden Party


Don't you just love summer? Short-lived though it may be in this neck of the woods, I enjoy every precious moment. The bright sunny days, the surrounding greenery, blooming flowers, outdoor picnics, and planning summer vacations are enough to lift my spirits and make me smile :) I love outdoor entertaining! Remember the succulent peat pot party favors for my garden party? Well, today I thought I will share with you the outdoor table I had set for my guests: 
The elements that went into my impromptu garden tablesetting:
I love succulents, as you can probably tell! Planted in clay saucers, they make beautiful centerpieces for any garden party:

Two different sizes of shallow clay saucers (6" and 8") were stacked after spreading a layer of potting soil in each. Stones and succulents were then added alternately in each saucer:
Stones help improve drainage as well as look pleasant visually:
I added a mini clay pot at the top that acts as a candle holder:

An image of  Marie Antoinette from The Graphics Fairy was added as a tag around the candle, and a glass hurricane shade placed over it finishes off my centerpiece nicely:
Love how it turned out:

I found this urn at Michael's. I like the graceful shapes of garden urns. They make wonderful planters for ferns:

These beautiful glasses are from the Dollar Store. I adore the leafy green color of these glasses:

A small cream pitcher holds the spoons:
White luncheon plates with ecru napkins:

This plant stand from Ross is used as a stand for the plates:


I used peat pots to make these candle holders. Click HERE to view how to make these crown peat pots. After painting them with black craft paint I mod-podged a French label from The Graphics Fairy:
It's funny how this one says "rats in the basement." I certainly don't want those rodents in my basement (lol!)
The numbered tags around each of these candles are found from Pinterest HERE. Since I used taper candles, I placed a mini clay pot inside the peat pot to act as a candle holder for safety reasons :
Next, I cut out  the number labels and glued them to round metal discs, easy peasy!

While they do look adorable, one word of caution I would like to add here: never leave burning candles unattended. Next time, I am going to use votives or pillar candle candles which burn inward in lieu of taper candles that drip down. As the candle burned, the melting wax kept dripping over the tag (and thread), and, eventually, we had to remove the entire tag as it was a safety hazard....lesson learned!
See what I mean:


 The tag had to go. It is cute even without the number tags:

It is important to place the mini clay pot inside the peat pots to catch all the drips from the melting wax:
I hope you enjoyed my garden tablescape:
I'm so glad you stopped by for a visit. I always appreciate your sweet notes and thoughts. They make me smile!


Thank you Terri @ A Creative Princess for featuring my "Beachy" Living room HERE. Stop by and say hello to Terri  and be inspired by her many creative projects or take part in her weekly party along with other inspiring crafters. 
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Saturday, May 19, 2012

Succulents in Peat Pots

I love planting succulents in flower beds and containers. They are so easy to grow, are very drought tolerant, make beautiful accents in containers, and are excellent ground covers in perennial borders.
 There are so many varieties of succulents; they add wonderful texture.
Variety: "Hens and Chicks" (cute name):
Variety: "Stonecrop"


These crown pots started out as recycled paper seed starters from the Dollar store. They were then cut into the shape of a crown. Click HERE for the crown template
I used the same crown template on scrap fabric for a crown and attached it to the peat pots using mod-podge. After that I applied a coat of gesso over the fabric. It gives a wonderful chalky texture to the fabric. This is my first time working with gesso, and I have to say I'm loving it! Thank you Rosemary at Villabarnes for introducing me to gesso. This product is wonderful and if you want to see more of the wonderful projects created by her, then click HERE. Next, I just hand stamped different Frenchy graphics on the pots:
I used a painter's round brush and craft paint for the black trim at the top of the crown:


Succulents in  cute peat pot crowns make wonderful party favors for my Garden Luncheon:


Basket filled with pruned  dappled willow branches from the front yard:
I love the striking variegated leaf of the Japanese Dapple Willow tree. It makes a beautiful addition in any landscaping:
Its slender branches and unique foliage look so pretty in the basket:

My guests loved these succulents peat pots as gifts:
Since they are biodegradable, these decorated peat pots can be planted directly in the flower beds:
Here's a sneak peek of my Garden Party table, which deserves its own separate post, I think.
It is a pleasure to have you visit me and I always appreciate you taking the time to leave me such wonderfully sweet comments. I hope you enjoyed these succulents in peat pots as much as I. 
And my thanks to Mary @ Very Merry Vintage Style and Jann @ Have a daily cup from Mrs Olson for featuring my French postcard pillow HERE and HERE. Also, my gratitude to dear Maya @ Completely Coastal for sharing my decorated fabric book covers with her readers HERE.
Thank you ladies! Stop by and say hi to them if you get a chance or join their weekly parties if you want to share your creative project of the week:)

Have a beautiful weekend everybody!


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