Flights of fancy

When I did my cover photoshoot with Michael J. Lee for the Holiday Style issue of my magazine, Michael took some additional detail shots of the decorated dining room. One one my favorite things was this birdsnest centerpiece that I created using live plan material and a gorgeous Oiva Toikka hand blown glass bird that I borrowed from the River Street Studio in Sandwich, MA.

I made the nest using a wire cake stand to give it height and included these gorgeous purple/blue ruffly thistles, red berries and a green/red striped stalks (I forget the name) and another plant (with another forgotten name) that looks a lot like soft pine. I wired these elements to the stand and then added some straw and gold painted mini-pine cones. The beautiful glass bird was such a statement! I love the combination of rough and precious, high vs. low. I also made a display of clove spiked oranges on a bed of evergreens (an old concept that's been around since the middle ages at least). What a beautiful aroma that carried throughout the house! The bird theme was carried to the napkin rings which I made with mini-grape vine wreaths and tiny glittery birds. I also added some of the birds nest material to the candle bases on the chandelier, just for fun.

The Boston Globe ran a story yesterday on creating centerpieces using natural materials. Originally, the above photos were going to be run in the story, along with an interview on how I made use of natural materials in a formal setting. Unfortunately, most of my part of the piece, including the photos, were cut at the last minute. Sad. But, what are you going to do? Nice to have a blog to post my own stories to!

Here's the final shot of the day. Notice on the bottom left the tiny silver pot with the evergreen. I love that little detail! You can also see them on the wide shot of the room.

The silver pots are cordial cups that I found in the back of my mother's buffet cabinet (apparently a gift for my parents 25th wedding anniversary from my brothers and I. (I have no memory of this, but I was a still a teenager at that point.) I found the little spiky evergreen trees in the back yard - no idea what they are, but spiky doesn't begin to cover how sharp those quills are! I filled the pots with sand and added water, topped with moss and a mini gold pine cone. Cute, no? And nearly a month later they look just as good!

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