We are in full holiday swing now!
The majority of the winter planters have been done for clients, the holiday workshops are underway (with 5 wreath classes this week!), the sap is stuck in our fingernails until January and we are all excited for our holiday party this Saturday! Sheesh, the team doesn’t know what I have planned for them!
The holiday season really kicks off for us with Homes for the Holidays in mid-November.
Homes For The Holidays is a fundraiser in support of Hospice Care Ottawa that includes a tour of some of the most beautiful homes and embassies in the city. For many, it is a holiday tradition that kicks off the season. And after 17 years, it is an event that the team of Flowers Talk Tivoli looks forward to all year long.
I personally love this event for so many reasons. Hospice Care is something that so many of us will rely on for family or friends and Ottawa is so lucky to have this service of care and programs. I also love how much our team truly loves this event.
We start planning for Homes for the Holidays starting in June with a home tour followed by brainstorming and more brainstorming. Then I bring the team back in October for another tour followed by countless cups of coffee and brainstorming.
I love how all the ladies see something different in the home and have different ideas of what to create, and for some reason, every year it comes together in a beautiful cohesive dance. The flow from room to room with each design plays out so perfectly without being over the top or in your face. I love how our team works with, instead of competing with, the decor of the home.
There is not a day of Homes For The Holidays week that I don’t say, “Damn! These ladies are amazing!” Every day we are making beautiful “things” that we put out into the world and sometimes, you hear back from someone that sent or received something with some kind words and thankful comments. But I love that every year we send different members of the team to be at the house, answer questions about the designs, and they get to soak up the comments and compliments.
So if you missed the tour this year or if you are like me and felt that after the tour day of all the homes kind of blended together, then please let me refresh your memory.
Elena’s front hall arrangement of protea, thistle, red Ashima orchids, leucadendron, Brazilia balls, juniper, cedar and magnolia. Elena hoped and prayed for weeks that the protea would come in just as she dreamed and these beauties did not disappoint.
Chelsey created this table centrepiece that I nicknamed “The Beast”. I loved seeing the looks on everyone’s face as they came around the corner and saw this beauty. Yes, we know it’s not practical and not the average centrepiece that you would put on your table, but events like this allow us to stretch out of the norm and really go over the top. So, enjoy this masterpiece filled with Juliet garden roses, pincushion protea, red leucadendron, red ashima orchids, blue thistle red amaryllis, cedar, magnolia and dark burgundy scabiosa. Chelsey had a vision and it was wonderful to see how well it all came together and how well it was received by the tour-goers.
Look at this installation that Jennifer created! These containers were already at the home, empty and screaming for a creation. Jennifer used a mix red ilex berries, faux berries, rose hips and magnolia. So simple but with such stunning impact.
Welcome to the kitchen! This fruit bounty was created by the famous Pat! Pat has incorporated fruit into every arrangement in the last 5 years that she has created for the kitchens at all the Homes For The Holidays. If you look closely, you will see pomegranates, citrus, walnuts, paperwhite bulbs, all complimented by orange ilex berries, red skimmia, pine cones, pine, seeded eucalyptus and magnolia.
When I saw this fireplace, I knew that we needed to create a garland for it, but I wanted something different. When I found this preserved boxwood garland, I knew it was just the piece to compliment this mirror and fireplace. Psst, don’t tell the homeowner that I had to stand on the 4-inch mantle to hang the garland. We added some white cyclamen in silver containers at different heights, a wooden deer, and we were good to go!
How beautiful is this centrepiece that Tammy created for the living room, using the same florals from the front hall adding in the red protea? I love the height and texture that Tammy was able to get in the footed metal container that we carry at the shop. She pulled the metal together beautifully with the copper pots that we used to display the Norfolk pine in the corner.
Tammy also created these sweet little vignettes to compliment her living room table centrepiece and the other arrangements in the home.
This huge corner was calling for a Christmas tree! We filled this tree with a mix of red berries, grapevine balls, pine cones and laid a bed of magnolia around the base.