April 8, 2012

Happy Easter!

I hope this finds you looking forward to a wonderful day filled with family and friends.  Perhaps you’ve already been to the Easter service at church and the kids have already founds all of the Easter eggs or, perhaps, you have those events yet to transpire.  Whatever the case, here’s my hope for you . . . that the eggs you dyed last week were the ones you hard boiled and not the raw eggs.  Further, if you did happen to dye the raw eggs, I hope the Easter Bunny didn’t hide one of them in your shoe—where it subsequently broke.  (Not an imagined scenario and still elicits fits of giggles around the King Kompound.)

This year, as I am protesting the ridiculously early arrival of spring, I’ve done very little to decorate for spring.  I pulled out a few bunnies (mainly because they never made it up to storage last year and were easily accessible in places like my china cabinet—where I shoved them when I started pulling out the Santas).  I’ve told you, I prefer the decorations of fall and winter, but I do love my rabbits!  My favorite is the large rabbit planter, which holds a Christmas cactus (just now noticing the irony) year round.  My Dad was particularly fond of it, too, which makes it extra special to me.

I’ve made a few other changes, such as switching the brown transferware teacups on my display stand, with my floral teacups from my Grandmother’s collection.  I’ve also planted a few spring flowers in the pots on the front porch, but I’ve yet to put out my spring wreath.  Actually, I think I disassembled it last year; I’ve had it hanging for years and the flowers were fading or blowing off in the wind.

(This is actually a tree stand--I've balance a plate with 

a large candle on the bunnies' heads.)

(I almost always prefer concrete or outdoor statuary to 

ceramic, wood or other styles of animal replicas.)

I guess that means I’ll be assembling a new wreath for the front of the house.  When choosing supplies and colors for my arrangements, I try to find the most natural looking flowers and greenery—nothing sets my teeth on edge like blue roses or any other not-occurring-in-nature combination of color and flower.  I also look for quality construction in my faux flowers—considering how much effort I put into these things, I want them to last.  I’ve found that I prefer the asymmetrical style for wreaths, where most of the wreath form is exposed (I almost always use grapevine forms), with just a touch of color adorning one-third of the wreath. This style is also a cost saving measure—it is much less expensive than decorating a full wreath.  It allows me to hang a large wreath, appropriate for the space, without breaking the bank.

I’d be happy to discuss ideas with you or you can research ideas and tutorials online.

(Side note:  I haven't settled on a wreath design, but will post a picture as soon as I do.)