Leftovers

A pretty, festive bow hung on the chain of a chandelier makes a lovely addition to your Christmas decor. It is especially effective if you have high ceilings and a long chain. I hung a gold one in my dining room about six years ago, and it is still there.

Christmas Past: a swag hung over a mirror behind a love seat. The colors of the ribbon blend with the upholstery and the tassels add a festive touch.

This is the crazy gingerbread house at the Governor's Mansion this year. Made by Donna of Sweet Memories Bakery, it is a real treat to see! Click to enlarge.

One of the few trees in my yard that still has leaves on it; the red really stands out in a forest of gray trunks and branches. We thought it was going to be dusted with snow, but all we got was sleet, which knocked all those pretty red leaves off!

Another tree from Christmas Past; I did this one a few years back. It has about 1800 lights on it and approximately 350 sterling silver and cut crystal ornaments on it, including crystal icicles. The people who hired me to do this tree discovered the morning I was to arrive that their tree stand was broken. The gentleman jury-rigged it and it appeared to be sturdy. Just as I hung the last ornament on the tree, it toppled over on me. No harm was done, nothing broke and not one ornament fell off the tree! I was so very glad I had hung them all using silver chenille stems.

The Pink Wedding

Pink weddings always make me want to say "Gag me with a spoon." This one was three shades of pink and cream, plus the bling and glitz requested by the bride. The stephanotis in her bouquet featured rhinestones, as did the ones in the groom's boutonniere (not pictured). All bouquets by Mel. The mother's corsages had pink rhinestones in them as well.

The bridesmaid's bouquets were actually very pretty (for pink....LOL). The colors are not true here. The darker roses were a deep shade of hot pink and for some odd reason they look red here. The church did not have a lot of light, so most of the colors are skewed a little.

One of the three types of centerpieces at the reception; white branches studded with pink cymbidium orchids and enough bling and glitz for a jewelry store! Crystal clear ornaments, pink crystal droplets and beaded garland festooned each one. I know you can't see it very well, but if I lightened it any more it would drown out all detail. Rhonda and I did these on site at the country club.

There were four of these taller arrangements with flowers and branches, sitting atop a tall vase with snow and pink ball ornaments inside. Done by Rhonda.

The altar arrangement (done by Mel).


This one graced the lobby at the country club.


The pew markers at the church (I did these).



Mel made the initials for the doors at the country club. (And Blogger will not let me make this font smaller no matter what I do!)

The Top of the Table Competition

Last night, my boss - Mel Day, of Dogwood Tree Florals - took me to the annual gala fund-raiser for the local chapter of NACE (National Association of Catering Executives), titled The Top of the Table. The first three photos are of his entry, titled Autumn Sunset, in the weddings category. He didn't win, and I am puzzled by that, because his entry was elegance and simplicity personified; it accurately portrayed the colors of autumn and showed his creativity and expertise to a tee! One has to wonder what the judges were expecting!

The base of the arrangement.....


A detail of the top of the topiary....featuring garlands and baubles of amber crystal.


A table in the Sweet 16 category. No flowers here..... :-/


Another Sweet 16 entry.....

One of my favorites: "Good Year, Good Fortune" in the New Year's Eve category. An Asian splendor! Below is a detail of their table top.

"If I Could Turn Back Time", also in the New Year's Eve section.

I am not sure what the title of this one is, but it was also for New Year's Eve.

This is the top photo of an entry titled "H2O", in the "Water" category. It won best in the category and it may have won the best of the show - I couldn't hear well over all the commotion.

Most notable here, I think, is the decor on the floor under the glass-topped table.

The food was very, very good. There was a Moroccan buffet, featuring cous cous, minted oranges, wonderful mint tea, eggplant, hummus, pita points and some other stuff, with chicken on skewers that was excellent. Another buffet consisted of equally tasty foods, but more American in style. Small quiches, and other hors d' oeuvres, and some phyllo dough, rolled into a cylinder with cheese inside. Yummy! I had a new beer, at least one that was new to me - called Blue Moon. I liked it.

Mr. kenju comes home for good tomorrow, and it is not a minute too soon for him. His new bedroom is almost ready and lacks only a few personal effects, but that will be remedied tomorrow. I was told to arrive at the hospital promptly at 9:15 am - and I mostly do as I am told.....LOL

Are These for Real? Naaaah, Can't Be! Can They?

Edited below!!

Someone sent these to me via email. They are supposedly giant crystals found in a cave in Mexico. I smell a hoax, folks!

I checked Snopes.com and they don't have anything about it yet. The cave was in Manzanilla, I think. Click to enlarge! Don't you think they look like they've been faked?
CHECK IT OUT!! Thanks to a nice person (also named Judy) we see the crystal cave IS real!

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/04/070409-crystal-cave.html