I wanted to share a just a few of the smiles that were created during a recent Sunflowers for Smile Farms fundraiser. The fundraiser came about when the owner of Dos Gringos, a flower farm in California that 1-800 Flowers is proud to partner with, reached out to me about some extra sunflowers they had. It was at the beginning of the quarantine and everything was on hold – but the flowers were in bloom and ready for harvesting!
At the same time, the big annual fundraising event for Smile Farms, Inc. had just been canceled due to the pandemic. Smile Farms is the signature philanthropic partner of 1-800 Flowers and my brother Kevin is a farmer at Smile Farms at IGHL. So, when I got that call from Dos Gringos, I knew exactly what we could do with those sunflowers!
The sunflowers were cut on the farm in San Diego and shipped to the 1-800 Flowers store in Carle Place where they were given a fresh cut and put in buckets of water for hydration.
We had multiple pick up locations, including Smile Farms at IGHL (thanks Joni Lynn for your help) as well as the 1-800 Flowers Carle Place store.
But the location that really rocked was Bungalow Bar in Rockaway Beach. The team at Bungalow Bar, led by GM Katy Bree, never says no to a good cause! And Rockaway is the most generous, supportive, community that you will find anywhere!!
One of the lucky recipients of a sunflower bouquet was my brother Kevin, who I mentioned is a farmer at Smile Farms at IGHL. Kevin lives in one of IGHL’s group homes. As we all know quarantining can be stressful but a delivery of pizza and sunflowers sure can help bring some smiles to the day!
With the sunflower bouquets priced at a bargain $10 a bunch, many people bought multiple bunches so that they could share the smiles!! As you can see from these photos, sunflowers and doing good make people happy!
I don’t know if you have noticed but houseplants are back in a BIG way! It’s true what they say about everything “old is new again”. The last time people were this plant crazy was back in the 70’s. This time around however, there is a new affection for cactus, succulents, and air plants. If you don’t believe me just do a quick search on Pinterest, where according to Garden Media’s 2019 Plant Trends Report, searches for indoor plants are up 90% compared to previous years. And at the top of that search list is “succulents”.
At the recent International Floriculture Expo – the largest floral B2B trade show in North America – in Miami Beach, this trend was obvious by the increased number of plant focused vendors. And these are not your mama’s old plants! Here are just a few of the fun, unique, and easy to care for plants that will be coming to a shop near soon! Or you can go to the plant collection at 1-800 Flowers.com, where you will find the latest varieties in unique containers to gift yourself or to send to a friend!
If you are super adventurous and want to take your plant collection to the next level, then hop on the “Plants as Art” bandwagon. Here’s a little inspiration from the Expo to get you started!
Even the lobby of the hotel that I was staying at during the Expo was beautifully decorated with “plants as art”!
And in response to all the buzz, around succulents and air plants in particular, the 1-800 Flowers retail location in Carle Place, NY held a Creative Workshop for their customers and friends. Each attendee made their own succulent garden and air plant drift wood sculpture. As you can see from the photos below that everyone had a great time while learning new skills and getting some tips from the pros at 1-800 Flowers!
If you’d like to attend a DIY class at 1-800 Flowers, click here – Creative Workshops – to learn about all upcoming events:
As if being surrounded by the most spectacular blooms imaginable, the workshop was held at one of Charleston’s hottest event spaces (The Knot 2018 Best of Weddings Pick). The Cedar Room at Mercantile and Mash, located in the celebrated Cigar Factory, is an open and airy space, featuring historic wood columns, hardwood floors, and original elements of the circa 1881 building. The walls consist of rustic brick and floor-to-ceiling windows that reveal a view of the architecturally acclaimed Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge.
Our first hands-on project, after creating our mood boards the previous evening, was making a hand-tied bridal bouquet. Kaylee demonstrated her technique first, then turned up the music and set us free!
Kaylee’s floral style is exactly the look that my daughter Casey wants for her September wedding. And she is not alone. According to the UK magazine, Wedding Flowers & Accessories, the search term, “wild wedding flowers”, has seen an 85% rise over the past year!
I have been creating hand-tied bouquets for so many years, having originally learned from the best of the best in Holland. But this look is much more wild and free, and to the untrained eye, doesn’t even seem that it is “arranged”.
With my mood board for inspirational guidance, I selected my foliage and flowers and then just did my thing!
Loved it!
Mayesh even had a professional photographer and “bride” model on hand to capture each attendee’s finished bouquet in the perfect environment. It’s that attention to detail that sets one workshop or class apart from the others, don’t you think?
The final installment of my Create and Curate post will be about the final project – a floral arch installation that is to die for!
In honor of the 50th Anniversary of the “Summer of Love,” I have been bringing “Flowers to the People”! It has been so much fun sharing the joy that flowers and plants bring into people’s life. Here are a few images of a couple of the events that I was a part of!
Nurse’s Appreciation Week
Every year for the last few years, 1-800-Flowers.com has participated in Nurse’s Appreciation activities at Winthrop Hospital. It’s a chance to say thank you for all the hard work that these professionals do every day to take care of those in need. It takes a special person to give so much of themselves. And it takes so little to say thank you!
This year, in honor of the Summer of Love, we created a DIY Flower Crown bar. We demonstrated the various techniques used to make floral crowns from the very simple to the more complicated. Flower crowns are so popular now that everyone was thrilled to learn a little something to be able to make their own or just to get ideas and inspiration for upcoming showers, birthday parties, weddings, etc.
Next Stop – MS 137, America’s School of Heroes
My daughter Meggie is a special education teacher at MS 137, and she asked if I would teach her class how to make a flower arrangement for their moms for Mother’s Day. I jumped at the opportunity! Each student brought in an empty tin can to use as the vase. A simple ribbon tied around the can showed them how easy it is to repurpose and recycle.
As a surprise for Meggie and her dedicated colleagues, 1-800-Flowers.com provided blue mason jars and enough flowers for each student to make another floral bouquet to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week! I don’t know what the class enjoyed more, making the arrangements or surprising their teachers, paras, and principal with the beautiful flowers.
After the success of the Mother’s Day lesson, I was asked to come back and do a planting lesson with the class for Father’s Day. And I knew right where to go for the expert advice needed—Smile Farms! Smile Farms is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide adults with developmental disabilities meaningful work opportunities in agricultural settings. My brother Kevin works at Smile Farms, and I turned to him and a few of his co-workers to help put a video lesson plan together. To learn more about Smile Farms, click here. Here are a few shots from the classroom:
As you can see from these images, it was another successful event! I am looking forward to continuing to spread the joy during the 50th Anniversary of the Summer of Love by bringing the Flower(s) to the People!
The American Grown Field to Vase Dinner Tour has announced its 2017 schedule! These dinners are must-attend gatherings that place seasonal, local, and sustainable American Grown Flowers at the center of the table where locally–grown food is served by a farm–to–table chef.
I was lucky enough to attend an American Grown Field to Vase Dinner at the Brooklyn Grange Rooftop Farm in 2015, and I still find myself daydreaming about that evening from time to time—especially now, at the end of a long winter, with hints of a spring that is fast approaching. Seeing the first signs of crocus pushing through the hard ground reminds us that our days will soon be filled with bright blue skies and beautiful flowers in an array of vibrant colors.
Believe it or not,allof the amazing flowers used in the arrangements for the dinner were grown right in Brooklyn at small urban gardens.The combination of black-eyed Susans, zinnias, sedum, and scented geraniums was breathtaking!
My family had just launched Smile Farms, a non-profit organization creating opportunities and jobs for disabled adults at local farms, urban gardens, and greenhouses in communities, and we were thrilled to be invited to introduce Smile Farms at this event.
The magic started the minute that you stepped out onto the roof of a building at the old Brooklyn Navy Yard.
To be on a farm yet still in the center of a major industrial city was quite an experience.
Co-founder, President, and Director of Agriculture, Ben Flanner, was gracious and informative as he conducted tours and shared his vision and dream of growing fresh local vegetables and herbs on rooftops and unused spaces of New York City.
Our chef for the evening was Tom Kearney, executive chef and partner in Brooklyn’s The Farm on Adderley, which is just one of the local restaurants that buys products grown by Brooklyn Grange. He did not disappoint! Here’s a link to a great interview with the restaurant’s co-founder Gary Jones about sourcing locally in an urban community: http://www.americangrownflowers.org/meet-our-chef-for-brooklyns-field-to-vase-dinner/
As if all of this wasn’t enough, we even received a water salute from one of the FDNY fire boats!
Check out the list of this year’s Field to Vase Dinners at http://www.americangrownflowers.org/fieldtovase/. If there is one planned for your area, I highly recommend buying tickets and treating yourself to an evening of fine food, flowers, and friends!
Following on Galentine’s Day and “Ladies Celebrating Ladies,” we have another occasion to acknowledge the important women in our life: March 8th is International Women’s Day, a global day recognizing the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women and marking a call to action for accelerating gender parity. The theme of International Women’s Day for 2017 is #BeBoldForChange.
I have always known the power of strong women. I have had some amazing role models in my family, in my friendships, and in my career in the floral business. I want to honor one of those women in particular: Bobbi Ecker Blatchford. Before Bobbi passed away on February 3, 2017, she had dedicated her life to the floral industry and was a mentor to many.
I didn’t know Bobbi very well, yet she held a special place in my heart all the same. I first met Bobbi at the annual International Floral Expo in 2010, where she was honored at the conference’s inaugural flower-naming ceremony.
I knew immediately that Bobbi was a woman who made a difference. A woman who loved and laughed and lived life to the fullest. Our paths crossed a few more times over the next seven years, at various floral industry events, and each time I was impressed with her zest for life, her kindness, and her smile. Especially her smile.
I’ve come to know more about Bobbi since her passing, from the loving stories shared and tributes paid to her on every social media outlet. There was tragedy and heartache in her life, but you’d never have known it. And, to me, that takes courage. Instead of being bitter and wanting pity, Bobbi chose to bring love and kindness into everything she did and to share it with everyone she met. Bobbi chose to #BeBoldForChange. Sometimes, choosing kindness and smiles in the face of adversity is a bold move that can bring about great change.
On this International Women’s Day, in honor of Bobbi, put a pretty hat on your head or a flower in your hair, love in your heart, and a smile on your face… and be #BeBoldForChange. I hope you are lucky enough to have a woman like Bobbi Blatchford in your life.
Here is a link to the beautiful tribute paid to Bobbi at the IFE Rose Naming Ceremony
I get to work with some amazing people at 1-800-Flowers.com. They’re the kind of team players who are always happy to help out and who jump at any opportunity to give back. So where else would I turn when I was organizing the Wine and Painting portion of the second annual Golf and Wine & Paint Classic benefiting Smile Farms.
Golf fundraisers have been around forever. They provide an excellent opportunity for corporations to give back to communities while also rewarding employees and clients with a beautiful day on the links. We decided to add a new twist to this year’s event by including an afternoon wine tasting and painting session that would wrap up at the same time that the golfers would be finishing their game and heading back to the clubhouse, where the evening’s festivities included cocktails, awards, a silent auction, and dinner. Adding the wine tasting and painting turned out to be a huge success! It was so relaxing and everyone had so much fun. Our goal was to make everyone feel like I imagined these two women must have felt when I took this photo of them in La Jolla, CA this summer.
A bunch of fresh cut lavender, with its sweet and calming scent, placed at each setting added just one more layer of sensory stimulation.
As this event was a benefit for Smile Farms, the theme for the afternoon was “Grown in America.”
WINE PAIRING
Chandra Savage, the Production Manager in the Creative Services Department at 1-800 Flowers.com, also happens to be a certified wine educator and owner of Mo Wine. She volunteered to lead the wine pairing portion, which kicked off the afternoon and set the mood for the rest of the day.
Michael Green, a food and wine expert, and a Smile Farms board member, donated four wines—2 white and 2 red—produced in America. Chandra introduced each wine and recommended the following food pairings for each:
• Heitz Cellars Sauvignon Blanc (Napa Valley, California) with goat cheese served on a radicchio leaf • Nelms Road Merlot (Washington State) with a pâté and charcuterie board • Bedell Cellars Chardonnay—produced right here on the North Fork of Long Island—paired with an artichoke bruschetta • Soter Vineyards sustainably grown Planet Oregon Pinot Noir paired with slices of roasted pork loin
The overall opinion was that all of the wines were delicious, and our artists continued to enjoy the selections while they created their masterpieces! The sauvignon blanc in particular was a surprise to a few who said that they were not normally fans of sauvignon, but really enjoyed the Heitz Cellars!
PAINTING
Our art instructor was Carly Fitzsimons, who works in the 1-800 Flowers.com photo studio and has been featured in many of my blogs posts! She’s an artist, a model, and a do-it-all kind of girl who has helped out with many Smile Farms projects.
A beautiful bright yellow and red sunflower design from Social Artworking seemed like the perfect subject to paint on a beautiful late September day.
I have used this site before and find it very easy when planning a painting event. Their designs are modern and fun and you can order everything you’ll need including instructions and even tracing paper for those who feel too intimidated to go totally freestyle!
At 1-800-Flowers.com, we work with some amazing flower growers in California. Two of those farms—Sun Valley Flower Group and Dos Gringos—were kind enough to send us bunches of fresh cut sunflowers that we used to decorate, beautify, and inspire!
It was so much fun seeing how each person’s finished canvas reflected their own interpretation of the original design. Creativity was encouraged along with laughter, good conversation, making new friends, and supporting a great cause.
We wanted the artists’ to be included in the awards portion of the evening without it being a “competition” so we came up with awards based on quotes and personalities of famous artists. All attendees filled out the following questionnaire at the end of the class:
“I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart.” – Vincent Van Gogh
Who do you think made the biggest effort and threw their heart and soul into their painting?
“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”– Pablo Picasso
Who do you think was the most relaxed during this afternoon’s painting class?
“Every good painter paints what he is.” – Jackson Pollack
Who do you think was the messiest painter today?
“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” – Edgar Degas
Whose painting style and approach did you find to be the most inspirational today?
“Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it.” – Salvador Dali
Who do you think had the most fun creating their sunflower masterpiece?
Can you guess from the photos who received which award?
Based on the feedback from this event, we will definitely be doing more Wine and Paint classes in the future. It was a great way to spend the day and raise much needed funds for an organization dedicated to providing meaningful work opportunities to developmentally disabled adults at local farms, urban gardens and greenhouses in the communities throughout the country where they live.
Smile Farms believes that our communities are made of all types of awesome people, and by bringing together innovators, collaborators and makers of change—we can create a movement that nurtures a world where people with differing abilities are always included and employed.
CARLE PLACE, NY – I always enjoy a good party, and with Thanksgiving just around the corner, on November 12, 2015 I was fortunate enough to help 1-800-Flowers.com host a “Bring Back the Centerpiece” party for local New York bloggers/writers. At the event held in the 1-800-Flowers.com Design Studio, each blogger was able to design their very own Thanksgiving centerpiece and add their own creative flair!
To further the bloggers’ floral design experience, I brought some help! One of our extremely talented 1-800-Flowers franchisee owners, AnnMarie of Imperial Florist in Baldwin, NY, joined the party to help the bloggers craft their masterpieces. AnnMarie is also part of the 1-800-Flowers.com Local Artisan program, which allows florists to showcase their truly original arrangements on the 1-800-Flowers.com site.
From Left to Right: Jane Morales, owner of Long Island Mamas; Alejandra Ramos, owner of Always Order Dessert; Julie Mulligan; AnnMarie, florist at Imperial Florist; Kimberly Thomas, owner of Valley Stream Mom; and Rachel Weingarten from Parade.com
Before designing, we kicked off the event by giving the bloggers a quick introduction about our 1-800-Flowers.com history, tactics for my own blog, a look into Local Artisan designs crafted by AnnMarie, a mini studio tour, as well as an overview of the floral inspiration behind selected fall floral arrangements from 1-800-Flowers’ Thanksgiving collection.
Then it was time to start crafting!!
Before the session AnnMarie and I had crafted a few Thanksgiving centerpieces to give the party goers some floral inspiration and options. We thought it would be more fun to let them decide on their final arrangement.
From an extraordinary birch branch floral centerpiece, to fall flowers in a mason jar, I shared some of my best Thanksgiving centerpiece secrets. In addition to traditional centerpieces, I also shared how to create a vase using colorful peppers, a place mat using fall leaves and mod podge, and tealight holders using artichokes and apples!
While we’re talking about sharing our design secrets, here are tips on how to make some of these easy Thanksgiving designs:
Make an apple tealight candle holder by using an apple corer to cut a circle in the top of the apple just big enough for a tea light. Secret: Amazon sells a tealight apple cutter! Note: We use flameless tealights vs. real candles – safety first!
Make an artichoke place setting tealight candle holder or vase. Cut off the artichoke stem so that it sits flat on the table. Then, separate the leaves at the top of the artichoke making an opening to place the tealight candle. To make a vase out of the artichoke, add a piece of soaked floral foam instead of the tealight, and then add your favorite flowers; we used red roses. Now you’re ready to add your place card: take one of the outer artichoke leaves, separate it a bit without breaking it, and place a card underneath the leaf. This works great for business cards too.
Decoupage leaves onto a mason jar for a festive fall vase. We used mod-podge to glue down the fall glycerin leaves to the mason jar. Hint: If you buy packaged leaves and they are flat and stuck together, use a steamer to help separate them.
Add height and extra fall flair to your Thanksgiving floral arrangements with tall pieces of wheat or grasses!
Extend the life of a sunflower by removing the petals to give it new life; it still looks pretty! You can also make it into a tealight candle holder by cutting a hole in the center!
Create a flower arrangement in a pepper vase! Cut out the top of the pepper like you would a jack-o-lantern, clean out the center including the seeds, place a piece of soaked floral foam in the center, and then carefully arrange flowers as desired!
I’ve said it many times before but my favorite saying is, “If it can hold water, it can hold flowers!” 🙂
After a hard day of centerpiece crafting, we enjoyed a nice lunch together, and snacked on some treats courtesy of the 1-800-Flowers Family of Brands: cookies from Cheryls.com, popcorn from The Popcorn Factory, moose munch from Harry & David, and chocolates from Fannie May.
Before I end this blog post, I HAVE to show off our bloggers’ amazing finished products. What I love the most is how each Thanksgiving centerpiece really brings out each bloggers’ unique style and personality. Meeting these lovely and creative women, and seeing their gorgeous Thanksgiving centerpieces definitely #MadeMeSmile.
Happy Thanksgiving and I encourage all of you to BRING BACK THE CENTERPIECE!
I’m still thinking about this whole feeling good and being happy thing. Of course, I immediately think of the power that flowers have on one’s well-being and state of mind, but there are so many little ways and things we can do each day to make a difference. Have you heard of The Happiness Project? It’s a book by best selling writer, Gretchen Rubin, that is an account of the year she spent test-driving studies and theories about how to be happier. She also has a website and a blog where she shares insights to help you create your own happiness project. I highly recommend checking it out. At the very least, take one minute to watch this utterly charming, sweet, and heart-warming video that Gretchen made based on one of the Four Splendid Truths that she identified – “The days are long, but the years are short.” To view the view click here.
One of my goals this year is to work on my own personal happiness project. From time to time, I will share with you some of the things that I have found or learned that might be of interest to you too. It might just be a quote or a beautiful image. Please feel free to pass these along and share your thoughts with me. As Chris McCandless (on whose journey the book “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer was based) wrote at the end of his Alaskan journal in big block letters: “HAPPINESS ISN’T REAL UNLESS IT IS SHARED.”
