3.16.2017

My Orchid Plan

Hi blogging friends!

Here's a little story that might be more entertaining to you than to most of my "real life" friends. Sometimes I think they love me dearly but have decided secretly that I'm cuckoo to think about this stuff as much as I do. Can you relate?

The other day, my friend Kellie and I went shopping at Ikea. She's working on updating her family room, and I am never one to turn down a chance to shop for house stuff with a friend! We spotted some beautiful real orchids and I commented that I can't keep them alive. We stood there for awhile, but in the end I didn't buy the orchids, and life moved on.

Anyway, I was thinking about it afterwards and decided if I invested a bit of money on real-looking but fake orchids, surely I won't kill them and wouldn't that be fun? A trip to Hobby Lobby and some digging around in my basement for a few fillers, and voila! Here's the finished product, in a photo I snapped on my phone with really bad lighting to send to Kellie.


A few days after that, I happened to see a wonderful post about how to decorate using things you already have in your collection on Nell Hill's blog. Do you read that? I really like it! Here's the link to the article if you've got a few minutes.

One of the photos she featured had a beautiful grouping of blue and white pottery in the center of the table. Here it is:


Well, and what do I have, you may ask? Why, I have a graveyard of blue and white pieces that regularly get rotated in and out, depending on what I need. What you see below is really scraping the bottom of the barrel, mostly lids and smaller things, but I can promise you that somehow I have accumulated plenty! (My husband will assure you of this too.)


So, while Vivi took a nap this afternoon (Yes, my three-year-old still naps and it is glorious and I plan on making it last as long as I can. No judgment!), I puttered and arranged and scrounged and here's what I came up with:


I just took the photos on my phone so they're not the greatest, but you can see how using more than just one blue and white piece in the center of the table totally brought it to the next level! I grabbed the wooden tray from another room, and it helps to keep everything feel contained and collected and intentional.


Now I have a fun spring centerpiece that makes me happy when I walk by. I'll also be able to use it when we host Easter dinner, and the best part is that I know it will still be alive by then because it is 100% fake. :)

Happy Spring my friends!