Showing posts with label Floral. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Floral. Show all posts

March 11, 2016

DIY FRIDAY: HOW TO CREATE A BEAUTIFUL BOUQUET FROM GROCERY STORE FLOWERS


Flowers are definitely one of my love languages. I love filling my house with them because they make my house feel like a home, and just make me plain happy.

Sometimes a simple bouquet of one kind of flower is all I want, but other times it's fun to make a bouquet that's a little more complicated and unique, especially if you have a special occasion like a baby or bridal shower. And it's actually really easy with flowers from the grocery store!

Try these step by step instructions to make a perfect and beautiful bouquet from store-bought flowers!


1. Choose the right flowers. You'll want a hero flower (mine were these beautiful blush roses), a secondary flower (I chose white hydrangeas), and some greenery. The goal is to have a variety of sizes, shapes and heights. 

TIP: One of the keys to making a really stunning bouquet is keep it to one or two colors. I love a monochromatic bouquet, like the one I made here, but you could also choose a colorful hero flower and then keep the rest neutral and green. The pre-made bouquets at the grocery store often have a lot of colors going on, which makes them look less luxe and show-stopping.


Step 2. Prep your vase and add flower food (which usually comes with grocery store flowers) to the water in the vase. Now cut all the ends off your flower stems and remove any low hanging leaves -- leaves in the water equal bacteria, so get rid of anything that might touch the water.




Step 3. Once all of your flowers are prepped, it's time to assemble. First, place your hero flowers in the vase. They should all be roughly the same height, but the once in the center should be the tallest by a centimeter or two.




Step 4. Next, add your secondary flower. This should fill your vase up quite a bit. Use the same height rules for these flowers -- they should be slightly lower than the hero flower around the edges of the bouquet.




Step 5. Now it's time to add some dimension and depth with your greenery. I found a bouquet at the store that came with several different greens, so I bought that instead of purchasing several greens individually. The tall green leaves add some height, the little wax flowers are great for a good size contrast, and the green flowers add some neutral color and fullness to the bouquet.






Once all of your flowers are in the vase, arrange as needed to make it nice and full, and again make sure no leaves are touching the water.

To keep your flowers alive as long as possible, trim the ends of the stems about 1 cm every 3 days, and change out the water every 2-3 days (adding more flower food if you have extra).


February 5, 2016

DIY FRIDAY: EASY FLORAL CROWN TUTORIAL







WHITE DRESS (under $50!)  ||  INITIAL NECKLACE  ||  WATCH

photos by rad and happy

Two years ago for Valentine's Day, my sister in law and her family came to visit. We had a fun V-Day dinner all together, and as part of it we each made floral crowns. I think they're such a pretty, feminine accessory and are fun to wear this time of year to a Valentine's (or Galentine's) party, or really whenever you feel like adding a pretty, floral touch to your outfit. And of course my little nieces were obsessed with them and wore them all night long.

This one is super easy to make, and although I just used baby's breath and some little green leaves, you can use this tutorial and add as many other kinds of flowers as you'd like. Just have fun with it!


Click READ MORE to find the full step by step tutorial!

February 10, 2015

STATEMENT SNEAKERS









OUTFIT DETAILS: bucketfeet shoes "blue east," c/o || j.crew eyelet top (sold out, similar here and here) || chicwish jacket (sold out, very similar here for 40% off!) || dittos jeans (on sale!) || sassy steals bag, similar here || karen walker sunglasses || michael kors watch


PHOTOGRAPHY BY JANA LAURENE

Last Fall, I was introduced to BucketFeet, an artist-designed footwear brand. Being an artist myself, I have a huge appreciation for art, especially creative and accessible art, so I love what BucketFeet has created. And art you can wear?? Even better. They manufactured the most amazing art-covered sneakers designed by more than 10,000 painters, graffiti artists, writers, illustrators, tattooists, and other original creators from around the world. You can learn more about their brand right here.

I love a good pair of statement shoes, and typically I gravitate toward statement heels, but sneakers are so much more practical for my lifestyle and are so trendy right now. They even have men's and kid's shoes, in addition to women's! I couldn't pass up on this feminine floral pair of statement sneaks -- they go with pretty much everything in my closet, and I'm having a hard time not wearing them every single day.

Sneakers are perfect for summer, and they have tons of super cute options including aztec prints, ikat, geometric, polka dots, and even pineapples! 

Check out all their cute styles right here, and the first 20 readers to order will get 25% off your BucketFeet purchase when you use the code MERRICK25 at checkout!


this post was created in partnership with BucketFeet

January 28, 2015

FLORAL POP










PHOTOGRAPHY BY JANA LAURENE

Sometimes all a Little Black Dress needs is a splash of floral. Happy Wednesday!

January 8, 2015

5 TIPS FOR THROWING A VALENTINE'S DAY PARTY + A FLORAL MIDI SKIRT TUTORIAL

It's hard to believe, but Valentine's Day is right around the corner! And you know what that means, it's time for a party! I teamed with Glade today to share 5 tips for throwing a Valentine's Day party, and a fun tutorial for my festive skirt at the end!









OUTFIT DETAILS: donna morgan dress worn as a top, c/o || skirt made by me (tutorial below, similar skirt here) || shoemint heels || accessory concierge bracelet, c/o 

1. Make your house smell good. 
There is nothing more inviting than a good smelling home, am I right? Glade sent me one of their brand new candle scents, Blooming Peony and Cherry (available next month!), and, you guys, this scent is amazing. It's fruity, flowery, subtle, rich, and delicious all in one. It's just a fun and flirty scent. It will have all your guests feeling happy and welcome, guaranteed!

2. Prep the night before. 
Whenever I leave things to the last minute, I'm stressed and then I don't enjoy my party. Whenever I throw a party I always arrange all the decor the night before, and get as much of the food prepped and ready as possible. It's also always a good idea to do pot luck -- I guarantee your friends will offer to help, so let them! It takes a huge load off of you and then you can enjoy your party stress-free.

3. Simple decor goes a long way.
Sometimes (okay, always) I overthink things, and when decor is overdone it be stressful, time consuming, and often look overdone. I kept it super simple with a few heart garlands (cut out a bunch of felt hearts and sew them with your sewing machine in a long strand), a cut of ikea striped fabric on the table as a runner, some paper heart confetti, and beautiful fresh flowers. If you only have time for one decoration, choose the pink roses and call it a day. They're always a show stopper. Glade's Pinterest page is also filled with pretty inspiration to get the ideas flowing!

4. Turn on some music!
The perfect way to set the tone of the party is with music. It's always helpful in avoiding awkward silences, and it keeps everyone calm. I usually pick a low-key pandora station.

5. Wear something pretty!
Even as the hostess, as you're running around crazy, you should feel beautiful and flirty during your Valentine's Day party! Don't worry -- I've got you covered. Click through and find the super easy tutorial for my floral skirt!


December 2, 2014

BETTER THAN BASICS











free people swing top (limited quantity, so hurry! similar here and here)
caged ankle boots (exact and similar)
similar jeans here and here

As much as I love simple basics, I've found myself gravitating in the last year or so toward statement tops and dresses that have a little personality. There are plenty of places to buy good basics, but statement pieces are a little harder to come by -- so when I'm looking for something fun and interesting, Nordstrom is always high on my list of stores to scour. And a few weeks ago when I was doing just that, it didn't disappoint when I spotted this floral number from Free People.  Free People always has the most unique and interesting statement pieces, and this one stopped me dead in my tracks. The unique detailing at the neck and on the sleeves makes it so different than anything I own, and the floral print on that dark teal is just so good. 

The loose, flowiness was just begging to be paired with skinny jeans, and I helped elongate my legs with some light tan ankle boots, then completed the look with a hat -- because I'm obsessed with them this season. I could wear this outfit every single day...and I just might. And I think I need more swing tops in my life.

Free People has tons of good pieces right now, including several more good swing tops click the images in the widget below to see them!





this post was brought to you by Nordstrom Free People

November 3, 2014

PRINT MIX MONDAY








h&m tee (old) - similar here and here
asos skirt (on sale!)

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JANA LAURENE

The more I mix prints, the braver I get. When I first started doing it a few years ago, I wore a tiny, almost unnoticeable print, mixed with another only slightly larger print. But now, the bolder the better, I say. If you're going to do it, just go for it. And this Asos floral skirt is just asking to be mixed up with some other big bold print, don't you think? It's one of my new favorites (and it's on sale here)!

Stripes are always my go-to when I print mix, since they go with absolutely everything, but polka dots and plaid are also two super easy patterns that are easy to throw in to any mix (in fact, I'm working on some plaid projects for the holidays, so you can bet there will be lots of plaid print mixing up in here). 

Over the weekend, we celebrated Halloween with my parents in town. We went trick or treating, swam at their hotel pool, visited the Discovery Cube science museum in Santa Ana, and I hosted our traditional frightening feast (all the leftover decor from our spooktacular soiree definitely came in useful!).  It was the funnest weekend, and the 30 degree temperature drop and torrential downpour of rain was the cherry on top. Hope you had a Happy Halloween weekend too!

p.s. I'll be sharing some holiday gift guides very soon, but if you're starting on your holiday shopping already, you can get 25% off at Old Navy with code SAVE through Wednesday, and Gap has 30% off regular priced items through today with code JOY! Go snag some Christmas jammies, or a few sweaters! 

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