Lisa Audit 10/29/21 Lisa Audit 10/29/21

Giving Thanks

For me, Thanksgiving is about spending time with the loved ones in your life and just being with them uninterrupted, listening, laughing, and enjoying each others company and we can not forget about the incredible dinners we get to share with friends and family. Of course, I love flowers and like to bring a harvest arrangement full of blooms like goldenrods, and sunflowers for the host.

Thanksgiving is a celebration of being thankful for what we have and for all the possibilities to come.

Creating your own Thanksgiving arrangement is easier than you may think. I’ve added some of my favorite simple and easy tips and inspiration for you below.

What Thanksgiving traditions do you have?

Here in Canada, we celebrated Thanksgiving in October but, with so many friends, customers and colleagues in the US, I always make a point of celebrating a second time. Can you blame me?

Like many of you, we toast to the past year gone by and the many things to be grateful and thankful for, even when it’s harder to see the good things. It’s important to gather and remember the many things, big and small, that make our lives beautiful. Often, after dinner, I convince my loved ones to come outside and go for a walk to breathe in the fresh air and enjoy those last moments of peace and quiet before the busy holiday season begins. And you all know how busy Christmas gets.

Create Your Own Thanksgiving or Harvest Arrangement

If you have never made your own Thanksgiving or harvest arrangement this year is the time to do it! I urge you to get creative and make your dining table pop with beautiful and colorful natural arrangements. It is more simple than you think!

Here are a few simple tips to create your harvest arrangement:

Have fun with the color, texture, and size of your base: it creates the foundation of your arrangement and can help make the style pop whether you are going for a more rustic or modern feel. You can be creative with it and use anything from a basket or a pail to a clay pot or even more of a platter or tray instead of a typical container.
Find seasonal gifts from Mother Nature: you can find fallen leaves, pine cones and twigs to add to your floral arrangement to create a more rustic and fall feel. Or, if available, pick some flowers or grass from a field to bring some nature inside, if not, use the colors and flowers you see on your walk as inspiration and pick up some flowers from a local florist, grocery store, or craft store. Stay local where you can.
Strive for balance not symmetry: most people strive to create symmetry in a floral arrangement, but balance can be just as pleasing to the eye and visually impactful. Create balance with equal distribution of weight (equal amount of large pieces and/or bundles of small elements) and color throughout the arrangement.
Use seasonal fruit and vegetables to create a fun and festive centrepiece! Apples, squashes, mini pumpkins, or even dried flowers instead of real flowers to incorporate your own style and uniqueness into your arrangement.

Do you love traditional centrepieces? Get inspired by a cornucopia; a hollow, horn-shaped wicker basket filled with various kinds of festive fruit and vegetables. Traditionally used by fruit pickers in antiquity times, it is now associated with Thanksgiving in North America and symbolizes prosperity, abundance, and nourishment. It is a gorgeous sight to behold. Whatever kind of Thanksgiving arrangement you make will be beautiful! I wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving!

Lisa

Guest User 10/21/21 Guest User 10/21/21

Sunflowers, Perfect for Fall and All Year Round

While we may think sunflowers are a summer flower with their bright yellow petals, they are actually more of a fall flower and can be enjoyed until late October in many parts of North America.

I have painted many sunflowers in my life, and yet, every time it is like the first and I can’t help but smile.

While we may think sunflowers are a summer flower with their bright yellow petals, they are actually more of a fall flower and can be enjoyed until late October in many parts of North America.

When I think of sunflowers and the fall my memory takes me back to pumpkin patches, corn mazes and hay bale rides. And, of course, getting lost in the maze while running around to keep my fingers and toes warm. And now, of the future enjoying the same activities with my grandson! Did you know the biggest corn maze in the world is in Quebec? It is called Le Grand Labyrinthe Servlinks and it is over 70 hectares and full of sunflowers. If you have a corn maze near you, I highly recommend visiting to enjoy all the fall activities, sunflower fields, and beautiful fall colors of yellow, orange, and red.

Vincent Van Gogh made sunflowers famous, and I often wonder what he would think of my sunflowers.

If you are looking to bring happiness, bright energy, gratitude, and joy into your home, sunflowers and other yellow décor are the way to go.

Sunflowers in the home

Whether you love fall or miss summer already, bringing sunflowers into the home is the perfect way to bring happiness and positive energy into your space. You have many options from my Sunflowers Forever Collection from inspiring quotes like “See good in all things” or “ Keep life simple” to simple and elegant loosely painted sunflowers on a white background. And, don’t forget about the ever-popular bouquet of sunflowers in a wicker basket on a bicycle, the perfect combination of summer and fall all in one.

The sunny, yellow color Illuminating, is one of Pantone’s colors of the Year in 2021 and it is still going strong to be one of the top trending colors for 2022. Bring yellow accents and sunflowers into your home for fall and be in style all year round! Big splashes of yellow work best in a space that a lot of people visit, such as the living room and kitchen. But, you can always add accents of yellow into the bedroom or bathroom to bring you joy when you wake up and in every space of your home. As always, have fun with your home décor and decorate with as much color as your heart desires.

Fun facts and a little history on sunflowers

The sunflower is a native plant of North America and no other plant has had such an impact or be as significant as a sunflower. From its inception, sunflowers have been used to cultivated food, as medicinal use, and used to make dyes for face paint, cloths, and baskets. Today, there are two types of commercial uses for sunflowers, one to produce oil and one to produce edible seeds. When we think of sunflowers, many of us envision a bright, big yellow petals surrounding a brown head which can produce delicious seeds, but with over 70 varieties sunflowers can bloom into varying shades of red, orange, and yellow.

Here are some fun facts about sunflowers

The tallest sunflower was grown in Germany at just over 30 feet, while the biggest sunflower head was grown in Canada at 32.5 inches across
Sunflowers are notable for turning to face the sun, a behaviour known as heliotropism
The sunflower is the national flower of Russia and the state flower of Kansas, USA

Did you know the Aztecs worshiped sunflowers and placed sunflower images made of gold in their temples and crowned their princesses in the bright yellow flowers? If that doesn’t show the importance of the sunflowers, I don’t know what does. So, I think we all deserve some sunflowers and joy in our life.