How-To Floral & Lifestyle Blog by Expert Julie Mulligan

Mother's Day

Mother’s Day Wine Tasting

April 28, 2019

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.

Holiday Decorations, Mother's Day

Tea and Flowers for Mother’s Day

April 26, 2019

Flowers and tea sets go together like mothers and daughters: Individually they are each beautiful, but together they are even better, bringing out the best in each other! I was so excited to see that 1-800 Flowers is offering this lovely new tea set, designed by the equally stunning supermodel and mom Miranda Kerr, in their Mother’s Day Flowers Collection, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it!

Miranda created this tea set, exclusively for Royal Albert, in her bestselling “Friendship” pattern. The fact that everyone’s best friend is their mom makes this the perfect arrangement for a Mother’s Day celebration. Both the teapot and the bouquet feature lush magenta peonies and fluttering butterflies. Adding to the English garden vibe of the bouquet are roses, spray roses, and bupleurum. See what I mean about the “better together” thing? You can take the tea time theme in all different directions. Just find some great mix and match containers and see where they take you. Continue Reading…

Holiday Decorations, How-To's, Mother's Day

DIY Mother’s Day Craft: How to Make a Floral Hot Air Balloon for Mom

April 25, 2019

Mom does so much for the family throughout the year: No matter how long her to-do list is, you know you can always count on her for anything. Because she means so much, let her sit back and enjoy herself on Mother’s Day, and show her how appreciated she is. Treating your mom to a nice brunch is the best way to make her feel like a queen bee: Since you’ve already taken care of everything, Mom doesn’t have to lift a finger. To make her day even more special, pick a fun and truly original theme for your luncheon: hot air balloons!

This beautiful hot air balloon arrangement adds a whimsical take-me-away touch to any Mother’s Day table setting. As soon as she sits down, Mom will feel like she’s floating among the clouds without a care in the world! This Mother’s Day craft is really simple to make, so you can make a big, loving statement with minimal effort. Here’s how to make a floral hot air balloon for Mom on Mother’s Day! Continue Reading…

Holiday Decorations, Mother's Day

Mother-Daughter Flower Crowns & Crafts

April 22, 2019

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

How to Preserve Flowers with Wax

April 21, 2019

FRESH TALK® – Your Floral & Gift Newsletter

Create Your Own Wax Flowers

You can make your beautiful fresh-cut roses last longer than you ever imagined by dipping the open blooms in melted wax! The best time to dip your roses is at the very end of their shelf life–after you have enjoyed their beauty for over a week–when the rose is in full bloom.

I have waxed roses many times over the years using paraffin wax. Now that soy wax is readily available, I decided to give that I try… and I’m glad I did! Soy wax is a completely natural and renewable resource, has a lower melting point, and cleans up easily (with just soap and water). And soy wax is so versatile that you can melt it in the microwave! Continue Reading…

How-To's

Create Easter Decorations With Succulents

April 18, 2019

Spring is a great time to get your ducks in a row!

And these guys were looking like ducks out of water. Or maybe they’re looking for the perfect Easter bonnet for this year’s Easter Parade! So, I thought I would help them out and plant them up with mini succulents.

How-To's

DIY Magical Unicorn Decorations

April 4, 2019

Magical Unicorns Are Here!

Who doesn’t love a unicorn?! Unicorns are magical and make you smile – just like flowers! So, what in the world could be better than a unicorn made from fresh flowers?

Introducing the newest Truly Original Arrangement from 1-800 Flowers.com – Enchanting Unicorn!

Holiday Decorations

Create Fun and Simple Easter Decorations

April 3, 2019

Easter Tree with Egg Ornaments
You can create simple Easter decorations that are simply beautiful and inexpensive by using seasonal flowers and re-purposing hard goods that you already have around your house or from other holidays.

Easter Tree

Easter Egg Tree
Making simple Easter decorations couldn’t be easier! Take out your tabletop faux “Charlie Brown” holiday tree and dress it up with Easter egg ornaments and fresh flowers. For this arrangement, I placed floral foam around the base of the tree and created a burst of spring with hydrangea and statice. I then used floral adhesive to attach individual blooms of lavender stock to the hydrangea florets. I did the same thing with little clusters of baby’s breath. Bring a little bit of the color and texture of the fresh flowers up into the tree in the same way or attach with small pieces of craft wire. I included petite sprigs of solidaster into the tree branches for its sunshine yellow color. All of these flowers will air dry nicely, so you will be able to enjoy your Easter tree for a few weeks.

Spring Cornucopia

Who says a cornucopia is only an autumn decoration. I love the beautiful blue color of this vintage ceramic cornucopia. To make it a truly spectacular vision, all you need are a few stems of coordinating blue/green hydrangea. First, place a piece of wet floral foam in the cornucopia and insert the hydrangea stems into the foam. The foam will keep the hydrangea fresh for about a week – you can add water to the base and sprits the flowers with water to help them stay fresh longer. After about a week or so, let the hydrangea air dry and enjoy for a few more weeks.

You can also incorporate some decorative Easter eggs and seasonal fruits and veggies into the design. Just use your imagination! Continue Reading…

Holiday Decorations

Prepare A Traditional Irish Breakfast

March 10, 2019

Top O’ The Mornin’ To Ya!

March 17th is St. Patrick’s Day and what better way to start the day than with a plate of hot homemade Irish soda bread scones, a cup of Irish tea, and an Irish Eyes cocktail? Add some unique Irish inspired floral decor and you’re ready for the perfect Irish breakfast!

“Green Tea” Roses & Irish Soda Bread Scones

In this case, the tea is a bouquet of fresh “green tea” roses, to go along perfectly with the Irish breakfast tea of your choice! Match your tea and the tea cup of green roses, with Irish Soda Bread scones (recipe below), and you have the perfect start for your Irish breakfast!

Continue Reading…

How-To's

Tulips: How and When You Should Plant Tulip Bulbs

March 4, 2019

If there’s one way to know that Spring has finally arrived, it’s by the amazing blooming tulips you can find in your garden, your neighbor’s garden, or even the landscaping of commercial properties in your community. In fact, some people even believe that Spring doesn’t officially begin until the first tulip pops out of the ground. But regardless of how you associate them with the Spring season, one thing’s for sure – tulips are one of the most beautiful flowers you’ll see all season long.

Now, we know what you might be thinking – for tulips to thrive in Spring the way they usually do, when do they originally need to be planted? Let’s find out.