Petal and Thorn Giveaway!

Inspired by This is giving away 100.00 to Petal and Thorn!!!

100.00!! Just for example, that could get you 7 of these hydrangea bobbies...

One of our handcrafted bow veils... 

 A masquerade mask for the ball... 

 A fascinator with golden details... 

BOTH of these feathery combs (one for the ceremony, one for the reception??)...

Or 3 of these mesmerizing peony flowers...

If you are wise, you will enter the giveaway now!!! 

*All photos by the incredible Juneberry Photo, except the last, from Rue Magazine.

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Rue Magazine wedding shoot

I was overjoyed to take part in Rue Magazine's first ever weddings and entertainment issue.  Four of our ombre peony hair flowers were used to make a perfect little crown for the bride.  I can't take credit for anything else in the shoot- that was all the genius of the vendors listed below!  But I can and will say our little hair flowers were the cherry on the sundae, for sure :)

The ombre peony hair flowers can be clustered on the head (the more the merrier) or used to accent long wavy tresses.  I loved how they switched up the bride's hair halfway through, giving a totally different look for the reception.

What a gorgeous shoot.  I'm still on a travel high from our trip to the destination wedding spot, Sayulita Mexico.  The vibrant, subtly tropical flowers and decor in this shoot would have been perfect for a Mexico bride.  Read the full scoop on Inspired by This!

Production: Be Inspired PR
Venue: Hotel Shangri-La
Photography: Caroline Tran
Concept/Event Design/Styling & Coordination: Gather Events
Floral Design: The Vine’s Leaf
Catering: Contemporary Catering
Wine: One Hope Weddings
Rentals: Found Vintage Rentals
Rugs & Pillows: Lulu & Georgia
Paper Goods: Wiley Valentine
Hair: Kacee Geoffroy
Makeup: Artistry by Danika
Wedding Dress: Kirstie Kelly
Bridesmaid Dress: Jenny Yoo
Hair Accessories: Petal and Thorn
Vintage Engagement Ring: Trumpet & Horn

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Upcountry Hawaii Photoshoot

From afar, I was delighted to participate in a photoshoot by the talented photographer Rebecca Arthurs and coordinated by Vintage and Lace. The vibe was "island bohemian" and took place in the lush grassy plains of Hawaii.  I created several headpieces for the shoot to complement the gorgeous dresses by upoppy, said "bon voyage" and shipped them off across the Pacific.  Wish I could have hand-delivered them :)  So happy there are still places on earth that look like this! 

Huge thanks to Utterly Engaged for including this shoot in their latest issue, Wanderlust.  See all the delectable details from the shoot here!

All I can say is this model is FIERCE.  So strikingly gorgeous with those green eyes.

My friend Aime made that lovely bridal bracelet for the shoot!

This is one of my favorites!  Soft and ethereal with draping tulle and ribbons. 

Well Hello, gorgeous white stallion! 

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Featured: The Knot Magazine

I retired from The Treasured Petal a few years ago, but it's still fun to see my floral work featured, especially in national print!

Photos of Kim and Mike's floral arrangements, captured by the wonderful Orange Turtle Photography, were recently featured in The Knot Magazine!  Although the article made no mention of me (florists always get the shaft) I am pretty sure they liked the flowers, considering it was an article all about florists.  :)

What an honor!  Kim is a dear friend of mine, and also happens to be a creative genius. Her wedding was one of my last, and my only destination wedding. I was also newly pregnant, and in a state of giddy shock the entire time. I'll always remember it!

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Proud Mama Moment: Siena Featured!

I posted this video a little while back.  Besides being sooo cute, what important lessons can we learn from Siena's break-dancing? Check out this post on Janet Lansbury's blog, Elevating Childcare, to find out!

I've linked to this blog before (when I talked about sharing here, and when I talked about play pens here) because it offered insights about nurturing babies' independence.  I could very well have been a hover mom, micromanaging Sisi's playtime, thinking that made me an involved parent.  I certainly started out that way.  But the RIE parenting approach that Janet advocates on her blog have helped bring joy and confidence to me as a mom, and helped Siena explore the world on her own and come up with the coolest ways of entertaining herself, like breakdancing (which she did right in the middle of Barnes and Noble today ;)  

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Project Nursery: fabric wall decal

My friend Trista was coming over in a few days to take my maternity pics, and we wanted some shots in the nursery.  Problem is, there was no nursery to be found. We hadn't even painted the walls yet!  If there's one thing the wedding floral business taught me, it's how to accomplish major creative feats, quickstyle. Here is Siena's nursery, a cheery, fresh, and colorful sanctuary from the rest of our dark, moody, oriental style home. 

Not only did we have to pull it together quickly, we needed to do it cheaply.  Now that I'm a stay-at-home-mom-to-be, money is tighter. I decided I would get all the furniture gently used off craigslist, and DIY mostly everything else.  We ended up decorating the entire nursery for about 350.00, including all the furniture, linens, knick knacks, etc.

The  fabric decal banner is one of the easiest ways to spruce up a blank wall.  I love banners, but don't love the idea of a kiddo pulling them off the walls.  I also think fabric is a bit sturdier than paper.  So I created a banner that would be flush against the wall, hard for a toddler to peel off, but easy for an adult to peel off if necessary.  This little project would be PERFECT for wedding backdrops, parties, or decorating apartments where you're not allowed to do anything permanent to the walls.

step 1:  make a triangle template for the flags.
step 2:  spray front of contact paper (the non-sticky side) with spray adhesive.  Spray it evenly without missing any spots.  Do this part outside- it gets hecka messy! 
step 3:  apply various fabric scraps onto the glue-y contact paper, making sure to smooth out any air bubbles
step 4:  trace your template onto the different scraps (I did this on the paper backing of the contact paper) and simply cut out your flags.
step 5:  remove the backing and apply to clean walls.  If you mess up, no worries!  You can stick and unstick these decals as often as you need to.
step 6:  I stuck little contrasting hearts on the flags to spice them up a little, and pinned two draping bows to the sides of the banner.

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Big Belly Pics- 28 weeks!

Welcome to the brand spankin' new Petal and Thorn blog!  If you found me through my now retired Treasured Petal blog, you probably know that I'm saying au revoir to the wedding flower business so that I can focus fully on Baby Brancaleone.  Here she is, in my belly, captured with love by my talented friend Trista Lerit...

I'm still managing to fit into non-maternity tops (not for long, I'm sure!).  This one is from Ann Taylor Loft.

In the background, notice our wedding pics, also taken by Trista!

Can you spot Basil?  She's enjoying her last moments as the family princess.

I don't usually do the crop top thing, but I'm pretty proud of my belly and wanted to show it off :)  My "inny" is almost an "outie" at this point.

I did my hair (thank goodness for hot roller!) and my sweet neighbor Chie did my makeup.  She actually gave me some eyebrows for once! 

I got this dress at Anthropologie for 21.99 on clearance.  Hopefully something I'll be able to wear after the birth!

Isn't Joe adorable?

Thank you Trista!  I will forever treasure these!  

I plan on updating this blog as often as life allows with fun Petal and Thorn news, family updates, DIY craft projects (including some of the projects I've been working on for the nursery!) and general housewifey stuff. Be sure to add me to your RSS feeds- you KNOW you are curious about how my home birth goes and want to read all the juicy details.  Maybe juicy and birth are two words that shouldn't be used in the same sentence ;)

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