Bring the cottage feel to your dinner table with a winter centerpiece.  I imagine this look for a romantic dinner this Valentine if you plan a weekend near ski cottage.

To reproduce this look, cut all the branches the same height. Then, plant the cut branches on floral foam bricks for fresh flowers.  You can place the floral foam inside aluminum pans, if your decorative container is not waterproof. The every day aluminum pans work well since you can adjust them to fit inside your container. Plus, they are easy to cut if you need to reduce their height. Do you worry about the inside look since the branches will hide any imperfections.

Make sure to use a tall votive candle holder for safety. I captured these at the Interior Design Show this weekend. Sadly, I can not recall at which booth.

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Julie Mulligan reinterpreted with those wreaths an ancient tradition that links a family status or profession to the floral arrangement at their front door. Julie created wreaths that reflect a person’s profession or hobby. With many people wanted to hang something else that a wreath on their front door, I think this is a wonderful concept.

Another way to differentiate your front door from the neighbors is to group vertically 3 wreaths. Make sure to select wreaths that are proportional to the height and width of your door.

The Green Pear and Berry Wreaths mix well with Martha Stewart Charming Holiday Bouquet.  The bouquet will not interfere with the conversations. Count 1 bouquet per 4 guests. You can alternate the bouquet and a candle pillar.  If you can start with a pillar candle, will save money in requiring say 3 candles and 2 bouquets.

SOURCING:
+ Julie Mulligan’s blog at 1-800-Flowers
+  Green Pear and Berry Wreath on sale at $19.95,  set of 3 on sale at $54.99 USD
+  Martha Stewart Charming Holiday Bouquet $39.95 USD

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Now that I told you about the food at my husband’s birthday, another element that played a big part on the dessert table were the flowers. I was lucky to work with an upcoming star, a small floral studio called O.xide Design founded by Geneviève Lamarre and Stéphanie Bélisle.
I chatted with Geneviève this weekend as she came to my house to get back their vases. We had a good conversation about their design philosophy. One difficulty in designing an event is that you work with several vendors, who may or may not know each others. This is why O.xide takes extra step to make sure their floral creations will complement and enhance your event design. They rely on a quick and easy way to do that: drawing a croquis of the flowers as they will look at the venue.

Working with them was easy. I briefed Stéphanie about my theme, my color palette and that I aim for a masculine look. I sent her all the dimensions (table, shelf height, ceiling) with two pictures: one of my table and one showing where it will stand in the room during the event. Stéphanie came back with a croquis. As you can see, she integrated the details including the curvy legs of my dining table. Attached to the croquis were  pictures of the flowers and the leaves that they plan to use. I showed it to my husband to see if it pleased him. It did!

The 5 floral arrangements they created for the party were fabulous. They captured the masculine elegant mood I was aiming for. Plus, they played with heights and volume in a way that suited the architecture of the room and the needs of my dessert table.

If you live in the Montreal area, O.xide Design can help you whether you are looking for two small centerpieces for a casual dinner party up to a wedding or a corporate event. I know I will call them for my next dinner party.

MORE:
+  O.xide Design

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If you are looking for eye catching ideas to dress up your Halloween tabletop or buffet table, you must check these 3 craft projects realized by Eddie Ross. The guy is impressive when it comes to styling. The experience he acquired working for Martha Stewart serves him well. His craft project explanations are simple and easy to follow.

I browsed all the posts Eddie Ross for Halloween. These are the cream of the cream as far as I am concerned.

1. Sinister Centerpiece

The sinister centerpiece is the focal point of this elegant Halloween table. Attention to details adds to the theatrical feel. I love it. Besides the skull centerpiece, the rest of tabletop should take no time to assemble. All you need is spiders from the toys store and to secure a ribbon border on solid grey table runners or tête à tête.

2. Spider Web Doilies

The spider web doilies fit as well in a kids party or an event for grown ups. Make them in several sizes to fit the container that you will put on top. Get the instructions on how to make your own glittered spider web doilies on Eddie Ross.

3. Batkin Rings

The simple Batkin Rings are hand cut with black felt. We seen it before with Martha Stewart Halloween scenes, but I never get tired of small branches used as sticks for caramel apples. The glass black platter is one of several black glass tableware pieces that you can find at Eddie’s etsy shop.

MORE:
+ Sinister centerpiece craft project
+ Spider web doilies craft project
+ Batkin Rings craft project
+ Halloween party
+ Glass black platter $45 USD on etsy
+ photos via Eddie Ross

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I am responding to my interior designer friend Jennifer Mitchell of Design Hole who spotlighted these French-made tabletop accessories having me in mind. She was looking for an excuse to throw a party.

This concept was developed by L’Atelier Modele. Every product from Lajolitable series would add a festive touch to your table on any occasions this summer. The hand made items are made of polypropylene, which means that they could be reused. After usage, you simply need to carefully clean them with a damp cloth. You select the color you want from 16 colors.

If you are into birds, here are some items you may enjoy:

+ Lejolinom, a cute birdy place card holder  €1.20
+ Ballotin de chocolat, a party favor box with a ribbon flower that can hold 5 chocolates – starts at €4.50
+ Placemat €6.00
+ Birds Coaster, to match with the placemat (bottom right) €3.00
+ Brindille, a flat flower used as a decorative element on a table or hanging from a branch €0.50
+ Oiseau, a decorative element for a glass or a plate. Remove when you are ready to serve. €0.80

MORE:
+ Via Design Hole

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When my friend Eden Spodek of istudio asked me if I would like to host a party at home for tasting True North’s eco-certified farm salmon, I immediately said yes. We cooked more often fresh salmon fillets on the BBQ than we prepared burgers. Plus, it was a great way to launch my outdoor entertaining season.

I invited a good of foodies within my friends. I kept it small so we can all sit down comfortably at my outdoor dining room. The theme was eco-chic BBQ. The food and the fact that I did the party on the World Environment Day led to that concept.

It was a casual event. Not going overboard and using what I already known seemed more appropriate with the party theme. I invited my friends using a private event on Facebook.

I did not use placemats and we ate on my wooden table. I felt more natural. I put on my table my real china, glassware and flatware. No need to get an outdoor dinnerware set. You save money and space.

My florist designed two centerpieces that were elegant but carried a wild-flower vibe. We went with Hyacinths (jacinthes d’Hollande) that look amazing and smell wonderful. I usually stayed away from flowers with a noticeable perfume when I am indoors but outside, it does not matter.

My Menu

I originally thought of a first course that I could serve with wooden plate. My husband was craving for the seared scallops and crispy prosciutto with roasted tomatoes and smashed white beans by Jamie Oliver. The recipe is on The Naked Chef Takes Off cookbook. Therefore, I made it.

This is a tasty and unique recipe that everyone adores. You never tasted something like that. Beware that although the technique is pretty simple, they are many steps to make this recipe. I recommend that you familiarize yourself with the recipe before a party, unless you are an experienced cook.

We served the grilled salmon with an assortment of grilled vegetables. We do not marinated the vegetables; we simply put a light coat of olive oil and grill them on each side for 4 minutes. Put more olive oil on the asparagus and the zucchini slices. We prepared a typical French dijon vinaigrette to go on top of the cooked vegetables. It is a classic side dish at our barbecue party.

A guest brought an Opera cake (it was the birthday of his wife) that we savored with a sparkling wine. We served white tea to finish the night. The party was a success. Everyone loves the food and the company.

In part 2, I will talk about the eco-label and the goodies I received from True North Salmon for making this party a reality.

CREDITS:
+ Shown of the pictures are people active on Twitter : @JoseeStAmand of lilyecolo.com, @simonrivard, Nathalie Rivard (@indigonat), Laurent Maissonave (@zelaurent) and @ihoule
+ You can see the body of my husband @jeromeparadis. Follow me on Twitter @kimvallee

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There is still plenty of time to create this lovely Easter tablescape designed by Heather Cameron for HGTV.ca. The table looks fresh and fun. The best thing is that it is inexpensive to reproduce. Daffodils are blooming. The other materials are widely available anywhere.

More Options for the Flowers

For the individual bouquets in a glass, I might use instead yellow or white tulips. You could also opt for buying a bunch of orange tulips and a bunch of yellow tulips. This way, you could alternate the color of individual bouquets.

I bought the standard orange tulips yesterday and mines have a nice mauve accents on the side.  If you opt for similar orange tulips, go for a lilac napkin to bring everything together.

I added the citrus pompoms because you could get inspired by the color palette.

SOURCING:
+ Citrus Crush 7 Piece Pom Kit by PomLove $30 USD
+ Via Crafty Easter Table on HGTV.ca
+ Via Something Old, Something New

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One year ago, I introduced these superb Egg candle holders by Michelle Mason, a UK product designer. Her rabbit felt coasters/napkin holders are cute and refined. Available in black and cream 100% wool felt, they could be used for any brunch party.

To complement this setting, I discovered the beautiful hand crafted Bud vase with woven knotless net of Michael McDowell. Michael follows me on Twitter; this is how his work caught my eyes. You could replace the flower with big yellow Chrysanthemum or Super Yellow Disbud Spider.

SOURCING:
+ Egg Candle Holders by Michelle Mason £68.26 per pair
+ Black felt rabbit coaster / napkin holder £12.00 Cream felt rabbit coaster / napkin holder by Michelle Mason
+ Bud vase with woven knotless net $36 USD on etsy

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I selected four simple centerpieces that you can easily do at home. They each carry a sense of Spring.

1. Calla Lillies

Insert two or more calla lilies in a floral frog (pin frog). You will need florist clay to affix the floral frog to the bowl or cups. This look is very elegant. Cover the top with candies, marbles or artificial green moss to hide the pin frog.

2. Tulips and Daffodils in a Nest

You can either learn how to make a branch nest or buy one at a store. Florists, art and crafts stores or even home décor stores carry them at this time of the year. You can reproduce this look with cut flowers or flowers in pots.

Your tulips and daffodils in a nest arrangement will feel more modern if you cluster tulips beside a handful of daffodils.

I would be curious what it looks like if you cut the flowers all at the same height. You could try to keep together with rows of strings. If you make the arrangement a day or two in advance, remember that cut tulips continue to grow a little bit.

3. Spring Flowers

Delicately highlight pink lilies of the valley, species tulips, grape hyacinths, narcissus, violets, pansies, bleeding-heart leaves, and other small wonders in eggcups and similar shape vases on a teacup saucer. The Spring Flowers come from Martha Stewart Living April 2009

4. Wheat Grass Centerpiece

Here is something to catch the attention of kids. The Wheat Grass Centerpiece could act as a table runner if you plant the wheat seeds in a trough. Or you may use a rectangular dish as a container the wheat grass. If you use a cookie sheet, affix a ribbon around the sides.

As you will insert the cut flowers in water picks make sure the depth of your container is at least 3 inches, maybe more depending on the water picks you will use. Decorate with Easter eggs and animals.

SOURCING:
+ Pin frog, Floral frog $2.99 USD for the 1 1/4-inch
+ Floral clay $2.39 for 15 oz
+ Panacea Water Picks (3½”) 24 for $1.88
+ Bag of Green Moss $5.69 for 6 to 7 ounces

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These refined floral arrangements for a Gentleman’s birthday are creative and unique. In fact, I am not familiar with several flowers they used for those.

The brides and grooms of Beautiful Blooms are not afraid to select bold colors floral arrangements for their weddings. At least Elisa and Jesse weren’t. I like their choice of flowers: the shape and the color palette. For good reasons, Beautiful Blooms was a pick of the Best of Weddings 2008 by The Knot.

+ Beautiful Blooms – get directions p 215.925.9300
1011 N Hancock St, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, 19123

MORE:
+ A Gentleman’s birthday: photography by Marie Labbancz
+ Elisa and Jesse wedding: photography by Michael Branscom 
+ Via Style Me Pretty

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Valentine’s Day is an ideal time to relax with your lover. Some people opt for a getaway trip; others book a table at a nice restaurant.

Another way is to prepare a good meal together. This year, we are lucky that Valentine’s Day falls a Saturday, which give you time to cook a little during the day.

Creating a mood with candles and flowers

For an ideal evening, design your table with groupings of two. For diversity, use an even number of candles. Mixing two pairs of glass candleholders adds elegance. Another romantic option is a 4-arm or 6-arm candelabrum. You do not have to go traditional. The Umbra Chorus Candelabra designed by Karim Rashid would be as charming.

Flowers are important on Valentine’s Day. Order or do it yourself two centerpieces.

Learn how to do this spiral red Amaryllis bouquet from the Holland Flower Council. Add a modern twist by using a red acrylic cube as a vase.

If you are looking for more affordable, go for the Pushing Daisies centerpiece that I shown earlier. Even the orange and roses centerpieces that I saw at the IDS09 can be your inspiration.

For dinner, prepare a meal that delicious but that will not keep you all night in the kitchen. Why not cook the main dish and the first course together? Make in advance a playlist filled with romantic or lounge style music so you do not have to take care of the music all night.

SOURCING:
+ Juliette Candleholders $19.95 – $29.95 USD
+ Anya Candleholders $24.95 – $34.95 USD
+ Umbra Chorus Candelabra $145 CAD
+ spiral red Amaryllis bouquet from the Holland Flower Council

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+ Many of you are a fan of Canadian House and Home magazine. Linda Reeves started two housewares lines a few years ago. House & Home Style for Living brand products sold at The Bay, Home Outfitters and NEST brand products sold at Zellers. Their booth features a classic tablescape theme for this spring.

+ I felt transformed in the Jetson’s years when I look at the Retrofit Bowls by Brad Turner. It feels like a bowl inside a footed bowl. I like their shape and color of these glass bowls. The Retrofit bowls are prototype.

+ It is simple to recreate this centerpiece. Simply gather 4 glass plates or tray filled with oranges and red roses. The key is symmetry. Group 2 by 2 or 3 by 3 identical square plates and trays. This centerpiece arrangement is ideal when placed on a long buffet table to split the food areas. These were displayed in the Grand Marnier Lounge. Lucid Interior Design created this lounge space.

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