How-To Floral & Lifestyle Blog by Expert Julie Mulligan

How-To's

Flowers That Speak to the Heart

May 8, 2018

I love putting the right combination of flowers and container together to create a gift that speaks to a person’s heart. This time it spoke to my heart as well because I was creating a Mother’s Day gift for my granddaughter to give to her mom, my daughter-in-law Lina.

Lina and I both love objects with a story and history, and she has always admired my collection of Made in America hobnail milk glass from the Fenton® company!

I have given Lina a few pieces over the years, including this cachepot. It’s one of my favorite shapes and sizes. It looks stunning filled with fresh-cut flowers and just as fabulous when empty with an LED votive light inside. It gives the milk glass a pretty warm glow.

Once we chose the container, it was time to choose the flowers for our bouquet. Olivia knows what she likes and pink is her favorite color!

Mother's Day

Mother’s Day Wine Tasting

May 7, 2018

A Unique Mother’s Day Activity to Wow Mom

Spring is here and Mother’s Day is right around the corner. Have you started to think about how you can show mom just how much you love her and how special she is? Hosting a Mother’s Day wine tasting is a fun way to spend time with mom for you to enjoy the holiday together!

The planning and preparation can be as much fun as the event itself! Getting together with a few of your and moms friends to plan a Mother Daughter Wine Tasting party, makes for a great girls day and for a guaranteed good time. In addition to the mother/daughter ideas, a Mother’s Day wine tasting for the whole family (21 and older of course!), can be equally as fun!

A rustic, natural Napa Valley-inspired wine tasting can make for the perfect setting to incorporate so many of the most popular trends: burlap, chalkboard, mason jars, monograms and Made in America.

How-To's

More Ways to Personalize Your Mother’s Day Flowers

May 4, 2018

My grandson Manny was impressed by a Valentine’s post that I did showing how to use a wood-burning pen to personalize a birch container, and asked me to help him make one for his mom for Mother’s Day. Of course I said yes!

I chose a tall cylindrical shape vase for him to work with because it is the perfect shape to fill with beautiful spring tulips.

We started by making a template for the heart.

Holiday Decorations

Flower Cake for Mother’s Day

May 1, 2018

Cakes aren’t just for birthdays…especially when the cake is made entirely of fresh flowers! The Birthday Wishes Flower Cake™ is one of the most popular signature arrangements from 1-800 Flowers.com, but can easily be transformed for any holiday or special occasion, like Mother’s Day. While traditional cakes are presented, eaten and gone quickly, the flower cake becomes part of the festive décor and can be enjoyed for at least a week!

If you aren’t up for a DIY Mother’s Day project and don’t plan to make the cake from scratch (shortcuts are perfectly acceptable!) you can easily order the Birthday Flower Cake^™ and have it delivered right to your door. Instead of using the candles that are included with the cake, simply switch them up for a fun, festive cake topper. I made this one with straws, string, assorted printed paper and tassels. However, there are so many cute ones out there, and they are relatively inexpensive and can be reused. Continue Reading…

How-To's

Making It Personal for Mom: Continued

April 25, 2018

As easy as it looks to use a Sharpie® to give your mom’s gift that personal touch, it just might not be your thing!

Well here’s a super cute and super easy solution! I picked up multiples of this perfect little “mug with a message” at my favorite off-price lifestyle store. I immediately thought of so many mom friends that I wanted to surprise with a little something on their special day! Continue Reading…

How-To's

Make it Personal: Your Mom, Your Story

April 22, 2018

The hottest plant in home décor is by far the succulent! I have a bit of an obsession with them (that’s a whole other story and someday I’ll tell you all about it!), but right now, I want to show you a few easy ways to personalize a succulent garden specifically for your mom.

Start with a pre-made succulent garden in a clean, simple container. The Succulent Garden by Real Simple®, available exclusively at 1-800 Flowers.com, is perfect for this project.

Holiday Decorations, Mother's Day

Mother-Daughter Flower Crowns & Crafts

April 18, 2018

Who doesn’t love a pretty flower crown? This trend is hotter than ever, and what I love about them is that with so many ways to design them, each crown can be your own unique creation!

I’ve done a few posts over the last few years dedicated to floral crowns and flower fashion accessories of all sorts, for big girls and little girls too. Within these posts are step-by-step instructions on all the basic techniques used in making crowns: wiring, taping, threading and gluing, which you can find here.

However, this Mother/Daughter Flower Crown Brunch is for young moms with babies and toddlers, so you can forget about finding the perfect technique and instead focus on having fun!

Here are my top tips for throwing a pretty and festive Mother’s Day get-together that will entertain (relatively) news moms and little ones, too:

Be prepared and be flexible. Have everything set up and ready to go before any of your guests arrive. Keep it simple so that you won’t be worn out before the party even starts.

Keep the food simple but delicious. I ordered a fantastic brunch gift basket from Harry & David and had it delivered the day before the party. All the goodies came packed in a beautiful floral hatbox that I used as the vase!

How-To's

Flower Jewelry: Techniques Used for Making Flower Crowns

April 17, 2018

I am in love with flower crowns of all styles and sizes. Sometimes, the bigger the better.

Like this one that my granddaughter Juliette wore for my niece’s wedding on Block Island!

It was so much fun watching Juliette and her cousin Abigail enjoying all of the magical moments of their cousin Jenna’s wedding. They were living their own fairy tale! When Jenna placed the flower crowns on their sweet little heads, it was truly their “crowning moment”!

Continue Reading…

Entertainment

“Feathering the Nest” for a Baby Shower

April 17, 2018

One of my favorite themes for a baby shower is “feathering the nest,” which is really the whole point of having a baby shower. I actually threw my daughter-in-law Lina a “birds nest” themed shower when she was pregnant with my beautiful granddaughter Olivia Grace! It was a no brainer because Lina already had a thing for birds! There are so many ways that you can incorporate this theme into your gathering from the invitations, to the décor, and even the food. Here are just a few decor ideas using flowers, nests, eggs, and bird cages that you might want to try too!

We knew that Lina was having a girl, and since purple is her favorite color I started simple with purple hydrangea in purple mason jars. Continue Reading…

Flower Care & Handling

Tulip Care Tips

April 2, 2018

In honor of tulip season and tulips being one of my favorite flowers, I wanted to share some tips and tricks to help you care for your cut tulips! Check out my videos below for how to straighten bent tulips or for an easy way to arrange tulips in a vase using a grid: