Inspiration, interiors, decorating, craft + diy, and thoughts on creativity and the sweet life

Happy Friday, my sweets! Today I have a special little treat for you — a free printable I made of flowers and their meanings. Did you know it was common in Victorian times to pay special attention to the meaning behind each type of flower? I loved reading about this, and had fun when I was choosing the flowers in my wedding bouquet to learn about the meaning behind each bloom. Since Valentine’s day is coming, I thought we could take a look at a few of my favorite ideas for arranging and styling flowers, whether for your sweetie or yourself…and I’ll show you a preview of the Language of Flowers printable below!

{Honey of a Thousand Flowers}

I recently discovered Honey of a Thousand Flowers on my friend Monica’s site Smart Creative Women, and was instantly smitten. This sort of wild-looking bouquet looks so dramatic, but is surprisingly easy to achieve…at least, that’s what I’m telling myself! I also love the idea of using a vintage urn as a container — it gives some gravitas to a wild arrangement like this.

You can download The Language of Flowers PDF printable here, as shown above (click on image to see it bigger) with a pink background. But if you have colored paper you would like to use, I also made a version with white trim — you won’t be able to see it in the PDF, but it will show up when you print! Download the version for colored paper here.

{A Creative Mint}

Leslie Shewring of A Creative Mint inspires me in so many ways, not the least of which is her way with flowers. Above are two of my favorite springtime arrangements from Leslie; both of them quite doable at home, I think. Using a gorgeous big mug is a great way to display frothy little fronds of spring branches, and divvying up a larger bouquet into tiny bud vases or jam jars is easy and a great budget-stretching tip.

Above you can see a closeup of my Language of Flowers chart…which is your favorite? I had Lily of the Valley in my wedding bouquet, and I love that it represents “sweetness and returning happiness”, don’t you? : ) Reading that yellow tulips mean hopeless love and daffodils mean chivalry made me smile.

{Design Sponge}

{Kate Sears Photography}

{Carolyne Roehm}

{Paula Kilpatrick on Design Sponge}

Dedicated vases are quite good to have around, but I also love digging through the kitchen cupboards to find things to repurpose. Often, it’s the unexpected that makes the most memorable arrangements. A few ideas to keep an eye out for: silver mint julep cups, teapots, soup tureens, sugar bowls, egg cups, crockery jars, pitchers, rinsed out jam jars, tea tins and imported cans with pretty labels.

{Frances Palmer Pottery}

Of course if I was going to splurge on a new vase, the top of my list goes to anything from Frances Palmer. My favorite piece from her newer work is shown above, but I’m also dying to get any of her Classical vases. It all costs a fortune, so I’ll just have to drool for now, but if I ever found myself with a windfall I would consider this a worthy splurge!

Once again, you can download The Language of Flowers (with pink background) here and download the version for colored paper here. I think it would be sweet to hang one on an inspiration board, or near your desk as a fun reference. We are bracing ourselves for a blizzard that is on its way here to the Northeast later today, so I will be cozying up indoors and hoping we keep our power! Happy Friday again my friends!

Common courtesy about the downloads: Please feel free to save and print my PDF downloads for your personal use, and share with your friends — just please remember to credit and link back to my blog, Lolalina, as the source. Thanks!

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