This weekend was an awesome weekend for treasure hunting! I found an entire box of fall floral items for $2. I wasn't even sure what all was in the box, but at that price I snatched it up!
The fall floral 'haul'. It has been three days and all of these are still sitting on my dining room table. I have to plan how they will be used before I know what to cut apart and what to leave as is. It's going to be fun when I get out the fall decorations this year!
First things first, everything got a nice bath. I don't have any problems recycling used goods, but they must meet my sanitation standards! For that reason every treasure I find gets a through cleaning as soon as it gets home. If it can't be cleaned I won't buy it!
Artificial florals can easily be cleaned by hand. I fill up one side of my sink with warm soapy water and swish the flowers around before rinsing them in the other side. However, most artificials are not colorfast. This means that some of the coloring is going to come off once they get wet, and can potentially stain any fabrics or surfaces near by. If my white sink gets a little stained I just use a Magic Eraser to clean it right up. (keep this in mind if using faux flowers for an outdoor wedding. If it should start to rain then pretty white dresses could easily become quite colorful!)
Washing faux flowers also causes them to loose their stiffness. I like this because I like to work with softer materials that more easily shape to my designs, but some might wish to retain a sturdier flower. If so it is best to avoid submerging the flowers and clean with a damp cloth instead.
Artificial florals can easily be cleaned by hand. I fill up one side of my sink with warm soapy water and swish the flowers around before rinsing them in the other side. However, most artificials are not colorfast. This means that some of the coloring is going to come off once they get wet, and can potentially stain any fabrics or surfaces near by. If my white sink gets a little stained I just use a Magic Eraser to clean it right up. (keep this in mind if using faux flowers for an outdoor wedding. If it should start to rain then pretty white dresses could easily become quite colorful!)
Washing faux flowers also causes them to loose their stiffness. I like this because I like to work with softer materials that more easily shape to my designs, but some might wish to retain a sturdier flower. If so it is best to avoid submerging the flowers and clean with a damp cloth instead.
A selection of leaves in mostly greens and browns. I love how realistic the color variation and veining is.
A nice amount of reds and oranges too. Some are higher end quality, some are more simple.
A whole lot of berries and miniature gourds.
I love these chrysanthemums, so full and realistic!
A few odds and ends: some candle wreaths that I think I will cut apart, a couple bolts of fall ribbon and two beaded pumpkins. I love pumpkins! They remind me of my fall wedding oh so long ago, and Cinderella of course!
I also scored this ceramic cake stand for $4. Baby Girl is only four and she asked, "Mommy, is that Milk Glass?" Ahhhh, proud moments in parenting ;)
I like the clean look of the open notches as they are, but they can also be used to weave ribbon through.
You can see here what weaving ribbon through the notches looks like. This was the ribbon on the cake stand when I purchased it. The stand was icky and dirty and the ribbon even had icing stuck to it in places. Off to the trash it went!
I also scored this ceramic cake stand for $4. Baby Girl is only four and she asked, "Mommy, is that Milk Glass?" Ahhhh, proud moments in parenting ;)
I like the clean look of the open notches as they are, but they can also be used to weave ribbon through.
Lastly, I found these two frames for $1.25 total. A large part of my decorating centers around framed seasonal photographs of our family. Each holiday or season I change out the framed photos along with the other decorations. For this reason I like to stock up on nice frames when I come across them. It's much easier to pack away the photograph in it's frame from season to season, as opposed to opening up frames and changing out the photos inside.
I love decorating with personal photos as they bring back so many wonderful memories. I also like changing them out frequently because when the same photo stays on display it tends to eventually blend in with the background of the decor. By changing out our photos I notice that we spend more time really looking at them and talking about our memories. "Remember when we......." :D
Are you keeping track? That's a total of $7.25, not too bad for one weekend! I have a personal goal where I challenge myself to a budget of $5 per weekend for home decor. This wasn't too much over so I think I'll be able to sleep tonight ;)
I hope you enjoyed the treasure, thanks for stopping by!
© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2014
-Jennifer
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