HOW TO MAKE A BEAUTIFUL FLORAL PARTY DECORATION

FLOWERS IN THE JAR

Phew, this week has been so busy with 4 photoshooting days. We used flowers with all those  cookies, desserts, chocolate. I decided to make a blog post about one flower decoration we used. Actually this idea was born a bit before Christmas with my sister Kristiina at their beautiful Ryti-talo. There were Christmas handmade market and I needed decoration for my table and then she brought a very big class jar. I had been making flower frogs during the autumn and we got an idea to use them in the glass jar and I really have to say that way you can make magic with flowers and glass jar. 

It's very simple. You need a big glass jar. Mine were at least 20cm high but still I think that was too small. The other one - you can see above - is 30cm high. That was ok but I love to use bigger one! It's a lot of easier to put your arrangement in the jar if you have a bigger one or very small hands. I bet we all have a lot of glass jars and I'm quite sure that some might be quite big like those very old ones you've got from your mom, grandma, bought from antique shop or flea market. 

You need a flower frog. There are many kind of flower frogs but for example I have made mine from ceramics. You don't have to make, you can buy one. I have some vintage flower frogs too but this time I used my own design. You can find frogs from Etsy, vintage shops, flower shop or you can also use metal ikebana flower frog if you don't mind the look. Then you need flowers and water of course. My flower frog is open underneath so the flowers get the water.

This flower frog is my raku ceramics. The holes are too big for one thin waxflower  (it's one of my favorites!) but you can put several different kind of flowers in one hole. If you like my design, please don't hesitate to ask me if you want have a unique handmade ceramic frog. Usually I make normal ceramic - not raku. But this one I made last autumn in raku course. 

It's all about imagination. You might have plenty of ideas but you can also go through Pinterest and look for arrangements that inspires you or you can go and see beautiful floral feeds in Instagram like The_Greengallery, Joflowers, Hattieflower, Stilzitat, Flowerona, li.sense.a and many more. I had a lot of pink ranunculus so my arrangements are very romantic and a bit slavic this time.

When you get your arrangement ready you can put it carefully into the jar. But remember to put enough water. Or if you want them as wilted and enjoy of dried flowers  - forget the water.

These flowers are a promise of a spring. Hooray! Light you are so welcome! If you make a flower arrangement in the jar, love to see it! You will find me in Instagram @kreettakreetta just tag me and I'll come to see  your flower jar :)

Have a lovely Sunday!

xo

Kreetta 

ps. Happy Interior blog by Igor Josif made wonderful post about my ceramic flower frogs. 

Go and see his blog :)

EASY CHRISTMAS DECORATION DIY - SIMPLE WHITE ORNAMENTS

HO HO HO BAKING SODA DOUGH!

I saw this DIY in Facebook by Kodin Kuvalehti. It is really simple and easy. I don't know if you are a bit like me...I have always a bit hurry before Christmas when I start to get these crazy ideas what I like to do before and for the Christmas...this time I got plenty of time to make these because they are so easy. That is a very very good thing, I think. Photographing them today was the hardest part. We have sooo low light at the moment but luckily I have a tripod.

First you make the baking soda dough. This recipe is from Kodin Kuvalehti.

INGREDIENTS

1dl corn starch

2dl baking soda

1,25dl pure water

Combine ingredients in the pot. Boil over medium heat until the mixture starts to thicken into the smooth texture. Remove from the heat. Put the damp cloth over it. Let it cool for awhile. The important thing is to have enough moisture in dough. It's hard to make pretty ones when the dough is too dry. So keep your dough moistured. I kept mine in damp cloth and in a plastic bag waiting for baking. But this dough is the easiest ever to bake. Thickness of the dough should be about 5 mm and use spatula in lifting your pretty ornaments on to the baking sheet.

MAKE YOUR ORNAMENTS WITH

rolling pin

cookie cutters

plastic or wooden board (you can use plastic wrap around the wooden board like I did)

stick to make holes

spatula

baking paper

texture from different kind of things (this part is my favorite!) like I used dried poppy seed pod and pearl necklace. Never ever use the most obvious - that is my motto, I admit.

There have to be also a reason why to make a DIY. I need these ornaments for the Christmas present tags. We have made some homemade preserved ginger pears. Some of you are going to get them - some not. This is our first year with these so either other way you might be lucky.

After you have baked your ornaments, they go to oven or you can also let them dry over night in a room temperature. But as I said I'm always a bit hurry (and impatient) to wait for the result so I baked them in oven in temperature 75 C degrees about one hour. Depends on how thick they are. I guess that's about it. Of course you can play with colors from spices or water colors or proper food coloring but I liked pure white. Simple.

So off you go and have fun with your family and friends! Make many beautiful ornaments. 

It's time to Wish You A Merry Christmas!

xoxo

Kreetta

ps. You will find me in Instagram @kreettakreetta

 

STYLING YOUR HOME WITH A FROZEN TREE

ART ON THE WALL

Autumn has arrived. When the weather turns a bit colder we stay more inside at our homes. We light up candels and spend cosy evenings in our living rooms. Then we look at our home with a bit different eye too. Maybe we want to change things, buy new things or change the order of furnitures. 

I use to have a very minimalistic decoration at my home but after I spent few months in Copenhagen my style changed. I fell in love with Danish style. Cosy and eclectic. You could see a person's history at his or her home and I think that was very interesting and I was very drawn to it. I'm sure if you are very minimalistic and you visit my home - you'd be overwhelmed, haha.

But this photo isn't from our home. It's from our friend's home. They moved to a new house and they have been decorating it very stylishly. As you can see they also like vintage style but modern too. I was very happy when I was asked to make a photo for them. This photo on the wall is taken few years ago during the very cold winter in Helsinki. It was a weird weather on that day. Actually the weather lasted few days. It was cold, crispy and thick frost on everywhere. Like a macig winterworld. How lucky I was because during that time I had a photoshoooting with meteorologist. Funny coincidence. We were photographing near the sea in one park. There I saw these beautiful trees. They were so perfect and simple. They bring to my mind a bit of Japanese wood drawing. I think after that winter we have had the same kind of weather only once or twice so this pic is quite special. Like my friends too.

xoxo

Kreetta

FLOWER CHANDELIER DIY

MAKE A BEAUTIFUL PARTY DECORATION

New summer is here. There are flowers everywhere. I truly have waited for this. Let's make something very beautiful! But before that I tell you a bit how I got this DIY idea. For sometime now I've been following in instagram one talented lady Juliane who makes #onebouquetperday - Fröken Skicklig. 

Once again she makes her sweet and delicate bouquets. Everyday there is a new one and so many different kind of flowers. She made a challenge in IG to join her and I decided to take the challenge and begun my #oneflowerchandelierperday for one week. But I thought I want to make also a blog post for you to enjoy. So here comes my flower chandelier DIY.

You need:

unadorned lampshade, size is up to you like amount of them
flowers
string/thread/thin iron wire
scissors
clear floral plastic water tubes for flowers/floral foam if you choose to use them

SPRING SPIRIT

BEGINNING

Fresh green.Who can resist it? I am so in love with this spring color. I had to cut a branch from our plum tree and make a photo of it because those cute and delicate flowers doesn''t last long. Today I'm going back to forest and continue the project that I started on this week's Thursday. I found so charming creatures from the forest that I have to photograph them again and this time with real camera. I took iPhone photo of them and you'll find it in my Instagram feed. I think pic of these creatures would be very nice on the wall. What do you think?

Yesterday I was testing also new paints. I painted a cut board. Beautiful paint and what a matt texture! I have a feeling that I will use these painting colors in our workspace kitchen.

Have a happy Sunday!

xo,

Kreetta

COOL DIY - MARBLING

PAPER AND RIBBON WITH NAIL POLISH

If you have old nail polishes hanging around in your beauty box or in a fridge like I have - now you can get rid of them :) Many years ago someone told me that it is good to keep your nail polishes in fridge. They last longer. So I did. I think oldest nail polishes I have are from the beginning of the 2000's. 

This is fun. Marbling. You need:

water 

plastic or glass pin (at least size of your paper) 

nail polish (few colors)

paper ( I used aquarelle) 

cotton ribbon

some kind of stick (like those you get from chinese takeaway)

plastic gloves 

nail polish remover (for cleaning up) 
GOOD VENTILATION - expecially the older nail polishes smells strongly

...and then you should cover the table with newspapers or something else because there will be a bit of mess and nail polish isn't water soluble.

How to do it?

Pick your favorite X-mas DIY by Anu Harkki

Today I will take you to the home of Anu Harkki. She is full of ideas and talent so you will find out few good ecological gift ideas and wrapping tips. I also photographed her animal family. She has horses, sheeps, dogs, cats, chickens, rooster and of course so adorable mini pig Bruno. Well, I don't know how mini he really is...haha. I photographed this story to Finnish ecological lifestyle magazine Huili but here you can see something that you didn't see in the magazine, so come along!

To me the best thing in X-mas is the time befre it. Why? I love the feeling of excited waiting. I use to buy a lot of things and planned my presents well but nowadays I don't do it so much any more. I think we have already too much things at our homes. When I buy something it have to be something that can be used or enjoyed or something that the person have hoped for and I prefere handmade and design by talented people. I try to avoid random somethings for X-mas present. That is not my thing anymore. Ok, two thing is what I can't resist. Vintage and handmade. 

Let's get back to DIYs. I will show you first candle present by Anu.

She has used the original box of candles - without package plastic - and made it pretty with washitape. Then she used thin natural colored silk paper and some cotton string, brown cardboard and old key with crystal. Voilá. Looks quite nice, doesn't it! And everybody use candles. 

Christmas Day Inspiration

It's Christmas Day. Our Traditional Finnish joulupöytä.

For decoration I made paper flowers. You can find DIY tutorial for them here. I also made flower decoration and now I'm waiting very eagerly that amaryllis will bloom. Soon I hope. 

Have a lovely Christmas Day!

xo
Kreetta

DIY Banana Chandelier - African Party Decoration

It is beautiful Sunday evening and for that reason I'm going to show you today DIY banana chandelier. You read right. 

Truly very easy DIY. You can also eat - well almost all - your chandelier and you can always build it again. You can try different fruits. Reason why I used bananas was because we had African Party and bananas don't get spoiled when you hang them to be a decoration. No waste - I tried to think. Here it is! What do you think?
 

I think you can see quite clearly how I have done it. 

You only need: 
An old lamp shade, cut a way the old fabric or paper that is on it. String - enough strong. Fruits, decide how many. Strong metal wire to hang it up. I used green garden metal wire. You can decorate it more or you can make it with selection of fruits. You can always add more threads, ribbons, paint the lamp shade or other decoration. There are so many ways to do it. I wanted to do very simple and funny one.

Things to remember. Fruits are quite heavy when there are lot of them. Remember also do the balancing right with your chandelier. I bought quite same sized bananas. People was quite amazed with this little creature. Great wow party thing! 

 

In a good party there have to be a treasure hunt for children and of course adults could also take a part. Do you know Finnish board game called African Star, The Star of Africa or Diamond Hunt? It has many names in English but in Finland it is only called Afrikan Tähti. It is a huge classic in our country and I hope you have seen it or maybe even played it. I have always liked Afrikan Tähti so it was wonderful I could make outdoor game of it. 

First I made a map. Here comes another DIY! I just used old wooden board that I have painted with chalk board paint. Then I drew a map of Africa. I also had plastic fruits as a decoration as I used those also in my head piece.

I also painted paper bags that had pictures like Afrikan Tähti tokens that you can find from the cities when you are trying to find African Star. There are horseshoes, robber, gemstones and of course African star - first bag from the upper left. A lot of glitter! ...and some nice surprises in the bags.

These we hid on the yard. It was so fun when kids started to hunt treasures and couple of adults also. The little boy who found the Afrikan Tähti had been so full of joy and excitement. I didn't see him but I can imagine.

Following pics tells a little bit more about our party. We were lucky to have a warm and beautiful summer evening.

We made fried bananans and meat with jollof rice. Delicious.

We had also a band playing in our party. Sounds so cool. The band is us. The people who lives in our house. 4 families - how cool is that?! Not too serious. Main point of the band is that everybody is having fun!

xo

Kreetta

Top 6 - No ordinary flowerpot - kukkamaan koristeet

I'm a huge fan of vintage. I want my garden to look a little bit sweet, old-fashined and slightly different.  A little bit like an old candy box if you know what I mean. At the same time I want to be also ecological. My summer holiday just started and I finally got time to make my garden more bohemian and more beautiful. I used old kitchenware, carpet rags, burlap etc. With them I used quite ordinary old clay pots and got nice contrast and interesting combinations. I had a wonderful afternoon. I like to play with the general idea of Top 5, Top10 Top whatever - I do it with wrong numbers...so here you are: Top 6 garden decorations.  

Tänään minulla oli aikaa puuhailla puutarhassa. Rakastan vanhoja esineita ja jos vain voin haluan tehdä asioita ekologisesti. Niinpä käytin ruukuiksi vanhoja astioita, juuttikangasta, joululahjakukka-asetelmien rottinkikoreja ja koristelemiseen matonkuteita. Haluan tietenkin asioiden näyttävän kauniilta, joten mikä tahansa ei kelpaa ja aikaa vierähti tovi jos toinenkin. Vanhoja savisia kukkaruukkujakin tuli pari tänään käytettyä ja yhdistelemällä tavallista ja epätavallista saa aikaan kivoja kontrasteja ja mielenkiintoisia yhdistelmiä. Tässä Top 6 eikä viisi taikka kymmenen.

Pääsiäiskoriste - Easter decoration

go and see!

Kerrankin olen ajoissa. Laitoin rairuohon kasvamaan jo reilu viikko sitten, jotta sain tehtyä seuraavan videopläjäyksen.
Tässä inspiraatioksi sinulle!

It is time to start to grow Easter Spring Grass. I made a inspiration video for you. Have fun!

Oletko jo ajatellut pääsiäiskortteja? Tykkään kovasti näistä vintage pääsiäiskorteista. Löysin muutaman nipun niitä viime kesänä Etelä-Ruotsista antiikkihallista. Siellä on paljon antiikkikauppoja, kirpputoreja – ihmiset pitävät jopa kotonaan kirpputoria tai kauppaa, jossa he myyvät sekä uutta että vanhaa. Yksi sellainen löytyi pienestä paikasta nimeltä Tingsryd. Se on Annalunda Vintage Countrylinving.Ne olivat huiman kivoja paikkoja! Kirjoittelen keväämmällä aiheesta lisää, nyt keskityn pääsiäiseen. Eli vielä yksi ajatus pääsiäiskoristelusta. Pajunoksat voi koristella erilaisilla itse tehdyillä nauhoilla. Tein Gudrun Sjödenin värikkäästä katalogista kuviolävistäjällä perhosia ja ompelin ne ompelukoneella yhteen. Yllättävän helppo ja mahtava koriste. Nyt vain etsimään kaapeista ja nurkista materiaaleja sillä näihin askarteluihin voi käyttää melkeinpä mitä vaan. Taivas on vain rajana jos sekään.

And have you sent your Easter cards yet? I haven’t. I love these vintage cards. They are so pretty and they feel nice in your hands. Last summer I found them when we were driving around in Southern Sweden. There were a lot of antique shops and flea markets. People even has flea markets or shops where they sell old and new at their homes. One of these I found from Tingsryd. Lovely place called Annalunda Vintage Countryliving. I’ll write later this spring more about those places and now I’ll tell you one more Easter decoration idea. You can decorate willow branch etc. with small garlands. I made mine from Gudrun Sjöden’s katalog – all her katalogs are colourful! I used butterfly shape bunch. After that I sew them together. Pretty easy and lovely.

And finally I say that you don’t need exactly same materials what I used. Find materials from your home and let your mind do the rest!

Oops. I almost forgot.

Here are three lovely Easter links:

Dietlind Wolf

Poppytalk

Martha Stewart