Flowers in a Las Vegas mall (source: Wikipedia).

Everyone, this new year I’ve resolved to blog more often on this blog. Today is the first day of 2012 and most of the country is freezing cold and the skies are overcast. This is the perfect time to buy flowers. Having fresh flowers in your house livens the mood. You don’t have to buy a lot or make it fancy, just pick whatever speaks to you or looks especially pretty.

Have you ever been to Las Vegas? We celebrated the holidays there this year. I just love the landscaping there, even inside the malls. They do incredible designs. There are fresh flowers everywhere at the nicest hotels, that’s one thing that sets apart a cheap hotel from a fancy one – fresh flowers. The Bellagio gardens are just one example.

While walking around the strip, I bought a single white rose from a street vendor and put it in our room. It made me happy and brought some originality to the room. I hope you’ll take time to add flowers to your life this year too.

Here’s what you can expect from Florist-Review this year:

Tutorial Tuesdays – this is where I post a tutorial that I love. It may or may not be floral related, but hopefully it will inspire you.

Wedding Flower Wednesdays – this day I will post my favorite wedding flowers and bouquets.

Fresh Flower Fridays – I’ll feature fresh flowers and unique ways to use them in decorating or whatever flower arrangements caught my eye that week. Some of these will be pictures I actually took myself – especially while on vacation. I love flower shops and it will give me an extra reason to visit them. I may even do an occasional review.

If you want to participate, please comment with links to your favorite tutorials or links to your favorite flower pictures. I might feature it on the blog.

Happy New Year everyone – may it be full of joy!

Sponsor:

White roses present many emotions. As a full bloom, when given to a bride, it signifies happy love. As a rosebud it is really symbolic of girlhood. As a full bloom, given other than to a bride, it means purity, silence, secrecy, humility, innocence, reverence, youthfulness, being heavenly and to state “I am worthy of you”.

White roses are a beautiful symbol of honor and they are used to express remembrance as well. White roses can look pretty mixed with pink roses.

Here are some of my favorite white rose bouquets:

One Halloween I decided to give my boyfriend black roses. I was surprised by the dramatic effect they have. As far as I know there are no such things as black roses. They are simply spray painted. Done right they look amazing.

Since it’s just two days until Halloween, I thought I’d answer this question: what do black roses mean?

Here’s what black roses can mean: a black rose signifies death and farewell. It is like a silent goodbye. A black rose can be symbolic of the end of a life or the end of a relationship.

So the next time you want to break up with someone or going to a funeral that is particularly sad to you, you might want to order a bouquet of black roses.

Here are some Halloween flowers (click to see):

Or, take any flower bouquet and add a spider, ghosts or other details to make it Halloweenish.

Related articles

• The Meaning of Flowers: What Does That Bouquet Say? (luxist.com)

Here’s my experience from Valentine’s Day. When I got home from church there was a box on the table. I wondered who sent flowers. Surely it couldn’t be from my husband. He never orders anything from the Internet! But I called him and he admitted to it. He’d found the way to my heart! He ordered flowers online – from ProFlowers.

I opened the box and assembled a gorgeous vase of roses – pink, orange, red and white roses. I know how much of a challenge it is to care for roses. They must be kept in water. They can’t get to hot or too cold. They bruise. They fall apart. They wilt. I admit that I’m picky too. I like the blooms to be closed and hard.

8 Things I love about ProFlowers – I got a dozen roses with a vase and box of chocolates:

1. The stems came wrapped in plastic and green foam to keep them wet. This means the roses arrived in good condition rather than wilted or dripping wet. It was securely fastened to the stems and I just had to remove and rinse them off.

2. Packaging that protects. My dozen roses came with a vase and the box was sectioned so everything was in its place. There was a space for everything. It was so organized. Nothing broken, not even a stem. Plus it looked great with the Proflowers branding throughout.

3. Care Instructions. In addition to flower food there was an instruction card in the box. There was also a tag on the stem of a rose that said to remove the outer petals before arranging the roses. All of the instructions were well-presented, easy to understand and helpful.

4. Quality. The roses were in great shape – even the white ones that are more delicate. I think they are shipped from the growers. Every last rose was the best quality – better than you can get at the florist most of the time but esp. on Valentine’s Day.

5. Wrapping. The roses were staggered and rolled up in plastic. It was easy to unpack them and they were in perfect condition to travel.

6. Creativity. I loved that they had an ad on one of the stems – telling you where to go online to learn more about their flowers. I wondered why more people didn’t include ads with their roses.

7. Chocolates. I got a small box of gourmet chocolates with my roses. They were so pretty and tasted so good.

8. Reasonable Price. We got a vase, a box of chocolates and a dozen high quality roses delivered to our door for about $50. Can’t beat that!

There were only 2 drawbacks to ordering roses from Proflowers that I could think of.

1. No filler – no babies breath or any other type of filler – only roses. That may have been because my husband didn’t choose to add them. I thought the arrangement should’ve come with some though.

2. Self Serve – you must arrange the flowers yourself. I like the presentation of a pre-arranged vase of roses. In this case I had to arrange them myself. I wish I had floral tape. However, it was worth it to avoid the lines and prices at the local florist. Plus they fit in the vase tightly so I didn’t have much problem getting them all to stand up and look good.

It isn’t easy to package and arrange flowers so they keep and travel well – whether they come in the mail or your local delivery truck. In this case, the packaging and presentation was great. What stands out the most though is the high quality.

Next time I need to send someone flowers, I have to admit that I’m going to go with Proflowers. In fact, I think I’ll schedule everything ahead of time and they’ll be shipped out just in time for birthdays, Valentine’s Day or other special time.

My only caveat is to watch the flower delivery fees – they can be tricky. My husband said it was difficult to figure the final price until the end.

Top Selling Product: 24 Assorted Roses

Love someone and they are always in your heart. Hate someone and they are always in your mind.

Valentines Day is almost here!

6 Creative Valentines Day Gift Ideas

1. Relax those feet – whether it’s a massage from you or some extra cuddle time many couples don’t have enough touch. Even a simple hand massage or foot massage can communicate love, be low cost and enjoyable for both of you. Prepare everything in advance – first wash her feet or hands, dry them, then apply lotion or oils. Search the internet to brush up on your technique.
2. Hide love notes in the breakfast cereal – hide 20 notes around the house & on each write a short reason you love your beloved. Introduce her to the 20 ways you love her. She’ll not only find them on Valentine’s Day but inevitably there will be some harder ones they’ll discover later. You can do the same with text messages – sending 1 an hour throughout the day. One could be where to meet you for lunch (or dinner).
3. Wake up to music – load up a playlist on iTunes & play it as you wake up in the morning. If you’re especially romantic, ask her to dance when it gets to your favorite slow song. It may be funny at first, but it could get romantic.
4. Make your own room service. Cook or take out – make dinner, breakfast or lunch but make it creative. Serve it at a playground, in bed or find a secluded spot. Set up a table in the bedroom and serve her in bed. My favorite (before they had such tight security) was getting takeout and heading to the airport watching the planes take off while we ate. Then we had a slide show projected onto the wall with pictures of our life together.  Once my boyfriend took me to the playground in our pjs and served breakfast on the jungle gym. I never forgot. You can involve the entire family.
5. Show movies or pictures in bed. That night pop some popcorn and fire up the laptop and watch family movies or assemble a slide show of pictures. Maybe it’s your wedding video. Or, you still have time to hire someone to make a professional DVD with pictures and music.
6. Hide and Go Seek Flowers. Red roses are the classic here but you should know your Valentine and what she likes. Have them delivered to her while at work so you look good in front of her coworkers. Or, hide the vase and give her clues so she has to find it. Or give them to her 1 rose at a time, with a note on each rose, placed in spots around the house (on the night stand, in the bathroom drawer, with breakfast, etc). You can go classic but be creative in the presentation, by adding something unexpected or adding the element of surprise. That makes it more romantic.

Bonus Ideas: *Fill her office or car with heart-shaped balloons. *Write on the windows of her car. *Have a remote controlled helicopter deliver a piece of jewelry (ring or necklace) to her. *Sweep her off her feet (literally) spin her around and kiss her. Say that you’d marry her again today. *Buy simple things that represent memories you love with her and put them in a box. Have her unwrap each gift and tell her what each thing represents. *Update her Facebook Wall with something you love about her. *Darken the bedroom, put on some music and light a few dozen tea lights in the bedroom. Line them along the top of the door, around the windows & dresser to set the mood. There are battery-operated lights that give the same effect without the fire hazard.

Romantic Articles to further inspire you:

Why We Kiss: The Science of Sex
50 Ways to Be Romantic on the Cheap
The 12 Most Romantic Restaurants in the World

or, if you are not feeling so romantic:

How To Break-Up With Someone on Facebook

Ok, so these aren’t truly fresh flowers like the name implies. But today’s selection is more art than decor.  It’s flower face painting. This design was featured on Trendsetter.com, a fun place to browse if you need a creative kickstart. This was part of a section on fashion.

The cool part of this is how she has painted flowers which then turn into real (or not real) flowers that are woven into her hair. I can picture doing something like this for a girl’s fairy themed birthday party.

Call your inner hippie forward with this face painting – all you need is some artistic ability (or hire someone with it!) and you’ll channel all the flower power you need.

This just in from 1-800-Flowers.com: It’s time to celebrate Grandparents Day on Sunday, September 13.

Here are some quick facts from the press release:

• There are over 56 million grandparents in the United States, but sixty-six percent of grandparents have never celebrated the holiday entirely devoted to them: Grandparents Day.
• 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, INC. (FLWS), the world’s leading florist and gift shop, is encouraging everyone to honor their grandparents this year.
• 1-800-FLOWERS.COM has a Grandparents Day collection (food baskets, flowers, etc)
• Celebrated every year on the Sunday after Labor Day, Grandparents Day was
  founded by Marian McQuade, a housewife from Fayette County, West Virginia,
  with the hope that grandchildren would tap into the wisdom and heritage
  possessed by grandparents.

Preview of gifts for Grandparent’s Day

– Hydrangea in Green Lace Planter — With fossils showing that
hydrangeas grew in North America 40-70 million years ago, this blooming,
beautiful white flower is truly a timeless gift for Grandparents Day!

– Summer Garden Pitcher — Whether they are garden gurus or crazy for
cooking, this bouquet of fresh roses, Gerberas and snapdragons comes
with a Bisque ceramic pitcher, perfect for doubling as a watering can
or holding all of grandma and grandpa’s wooden spoons and kitchen
utensils.

– Abundant Fruit and Gourmet Basket — Indulge grandparents with this
beautiful basket, complete with premium orchard-fresh fruit treats,
and turn your celebration into a gourmet feast!

Do you plan to celebrate? What have your grandparents taught you?

Check out 1-800-FLOWERS for Grandparents Day presents!

Need to order Funeral Flowers? With all of the recent celebrity deaths of recent weeks (Michael Jackson, et. all) funerals are on my mind.

When I worked at a flower shop funeral flowers were among my favorite. Why? Because they are so big and grandiose. They are calming to those mourning and they quietly honor someone who has died.

If you’re coming from out of town you can order the flowers online and have a local florist make and deliver the flowers to the funeral home.

My top picks for funeral flowers? A casket spray or a spray like this one on an easel for display. I prefer to keep the flowers elegant and simple – and this white monochrome is perfect.

Know anyone who is sick or needs to be cheered up right now? I love these
from online florist Internet Florist. These bright flowers are mood boosters. I like Internet Florist’s selection of these updated bouquets.

This arrangement is a “pop art mix of yellow lilies, set against hot pink gerber daisies and poms, orange roses and orange lilies. Then it has green accent flowers and presented in a modern glass cube vase! This vivid bouquet will bring warm-hearted fun and love to someone’s day.

These flowers are just cheerful. Plus the flowers are long-lasting and sturdy (they don’t fall apart easily). I like the modern vase too – I love reusing my square glass vase with roses from my garden. Just cut the stems the same height and shorter for a simple display.

I ran across a site that helps you plan fabulous parties. It’s called PartyBluPrints.com and they are experts at helping you plan and execute a party. What I like best are the checklists that help you plan ahead so you don’t forget anything. They talk about the necessity of having music (and suggest tunes) and flowers (to set the mood).

Here’s a great free guide to planning a 4th of July party right down to the red, white and blue flowers lining your porch. There’s also a link to amazing popsicle molds so you can make your own. I think they should make the party guides free but get sponsors for them. Then they’d be passed around.

Today at Walmart I noticed a lot of party favors and decorations. They had flags and other patriotic party favors and hats for a good price. To me, flowers make a party special, whether it’s for the hostess gift or on the table or porch. Right now is a beautiful time for flowers.

I recommend: Sweet Liberty from Internet Florist (picture at right).