Recycle your Bra!

( This originated in Australia as a fundraising venture to find a cure for breast cancer.)

Thursday Thoughts

 

Friendship......It doesn't matter what color you are.

4th of July Flowers

I am having a little get together today for the 4th of July. It is last minute so I’m now scrambling to find some easy decorating ideas. And I thought I would share them with you.


First, the centerpiece:

This is the easiest thing I can think of as I have tons of craft balls in different sizes. I’m going to use a 3 inch diameter Styrofoam ball. They you just push in carnations all the way around until it is full. You can also do the same with a square if that is what you have handy.


 
I have a white tablecloth for our picnic table, so I’m going to go to the dollar store and get some red plates with blue napkins. I will also be adding candles. I have some clear round votive candle holders that I will wrap red, white and blue ribbon around.


I have asked everyone to bring a dish and I will provide the desserts. There is no time for baking so I’m off to Publix and the dollar store!

Have a safe and happy 4th of July!

Dandelion Honey

I love honey! I use it for so many things; teas, toast and pancakes. Today I found a great recipe I would like to share with you.

You will need:


• 4 cups dandelion petals
• 4 cups water
• 3 (1/4-inch) thick slices lemon
• 1/2 vanilla bean, split in half
• 2-1/8 cups granulated white sugar

Preparation:

Pick dandelion flowers during the daylight while in full bloom, remove petals, then measure petals only.

Place petals in a heavy saucepan along with the water, lemon slices, and vanilla bean. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and let steep for 6 hours.

Strain dandelion tea through cheesecloth and discard solids. Place in a heavy saucepan and bring to a low boil. Gradually add sugar while stirring until sugar is dissolved. Lower heat and let simmer to desired syrupy thickness (may take up to 4 hours).

Dandelion Honey is great on toast, muffins, pancakes, and biscuits.

Yield: about 1 cup

Flower Arranging 101

Flowers are popping up all over my yard....now what do I do? I want to enjoy them indoors as well as out and Im sure you do too. So here are some great websites to help you with your flower arranging!

Basics

Look like a Proffesional

How to make a Fresh Floral Bouquet

Martha's Flower-Arranging Secrets


Enjoy your flowers longer and bring some love indoors.

We have a Winner

We went to Random.org and entered 28 entries, and # 15 came up as the Winner!
Congrats to @spiritofgiving2 !
Please contact us within 24 hours to claim your prize so we may ship it out!

Flower Giveaway!

Win a pair of Beautiful Magnolias for Mothers Day!

Magnolias ~ Symbolizes splendid beauty, dignity, love of nature and nobility.

Our soap flowers are only made with a rich creamy, vegetable based soap that will leave your skin soft and moisturized.


See below for directions on entering and Good Luck! 

Must Enter By:


We would like you to join our blog, but not nessassary to win and then comment in this post which soap flowers that we make are your favorite.
Visit our site by clicking here: The Soap Florist.

Extra Entries:

1. Follow me on Twitter @SoapFlorist (unless you already are) and comment here that you did so or you are.

2. Tweet about this giveaway and include “@soapflorist” in the tweet. Make sure you comment here including your twitter user name that you did so. (Please don’t spam your followers)

3. Comment on any post here at The Soap Florist Blog and comment here the link of where you commented. (this is a daily option)

Giveaway Info:

Open to US residents’ only (shipping purposes). This giveaway will end Tuesday, May 4, 2010 at 4:00 PM EST. The winners will be picked by Random.org and will be announced the same night via this blog and Twitter. The winner will need to claim their prize within 24 hrs to enable us to ship out in time for Mother’s Day. If winner doesn’t claim prize within this time period, we will pick a new winner but can not guarantee that it will arrive before Mother’s day.

Enjoy and thank you for participating!

Deforestation Concerns

April Flowers

April is a good time to start planning your landscape and the design of your yard. You can select from many different types of flowers to plant in April. Use scented and colorful flowers for entrance ways or flowerbeds. Border flowers are ideal to add to any flower bed or along a fence. Use ground cover flowers for bare areas of your yard.

Pansies

Pansies come in a many varieties for shapes and colors. They're a short plant that is excellent for borders on flower beds. Plant pansies in April, after frost warnings have passed for your particular planting zone. Great for container gardening.

Sweet Williams

Attract butterflies or hummingbirds to your yard by planting Sweet Williams or Wee Willies in full sun during April. They come in shades of reds, pinks and white. Very light scent.

Pulmonaria

Pumonaria, also known as Blue Ensign is perfect to plant in April in bare spots under trees, along fences or the base of mailboxes. Perfect shade plant and spreads quickly.



Check with your local nurseries for flowers that grow well in your area or soil.

Then enjoy your garden of scents and colors!