Monday, 16 May 2011

A festive floral fireplace



If you are lucky enought to have a garden, are thinking of a way to make a decoration floral  and are growing some climbers, like clematis, or Wisteria ,  why not enjoy nature indoors and make a lovely and festive , summery fireplace garland ?
Surely, a festive fireplace is not only for Christmas! Let's have some festiveness in the summer as well !!! You can use the following idea for floral decorations in general, or for flowers on a table or when you are stuck  and wondering how to create flower arrangements.
If you don't have a Clematis Montana at the moment , you can use the idea also with other climbers  -  ivy    combine with big bunches of cow-parsley ( all for free along the side of the road- ) for a lovely rustic summery effect- or climbing roses.
By the by, can I recommend to plant a Clematis Montana  ? You will soon have  long trails of tendrils and flowers to spare for any decoration you would like to put your hand to in the near future. 

Here you see how big Clematis Montana can become- you really won't miss a few tendrils !
Just cut some long lenghts of festoons of flowers- wrap the ends to keep them fresh in
wet tissue paper, then in aluminium foil like below- and your strings of flowers are ready to be used.
                                                 
 And you can start with the decorating ! I used both Clematis Montana AND Wisteria, as the pink and the mauve of these two climbers were both echoed in the painting above the fireplace..so look for what colours you have in your painting or mirror and fireplace you want to decorate, and try to find a climber that will compliment it colour-wise.
                                                    
 Here you can see a detail of the fireplace-mantel- on which I had also draped some Wisteria tendrils which were kept fresh in some £1,- " Souvenir from Margate" Victorian kitsch-y vases I picked up from a charity shop.( The inscriptions I turned to the wall and the back of the vase is quite refreshingly white and super- sweet .)
And here is a side- detail with the clematis tendrils. Just manoeuvre the end of the tendrils behind the picture or mirror around which you wrap the flower garland.
You can use some of the tendrils of Clematis Montana to decorate some moss topiary pots to tie it all together and get more height in the display, together with some candelabras.....
 How you make these topiary moss- pots, you can read in this post by the way .
         ( I will do a later post about how to make the clematis- moss- pots).
Here you can see the wildness and rusticity of the display a bit better- although sadly, there is a bit of flash .
                                                                                                                              
Give it a go- it's great fun- and it will cheer you up to end to look at something so festive- and all for practically nothing!!
                                                              Happy ( floral ) decorating !!
                             I hope I have given you some ideas how to create flower arrangements!

                             

16 comments:

Mariette VandenMunckhof-Vedder said...

Dearest Bea,

What a lovely painting you are decorating here! Would love to have a Clematis Montana, we lost one but we ought to replace it somehow.
You are mighty talented for creating a lovely, romantic atmosphere and almost for 'free'.
Thanks.

Lots of love,

Mariette

Modern Country Lady said...

Hi Mariette,thanks for the compliment !- the painting is a copy of " Lady Agnew" by John Singer Sargent, and I painted this myself sometime ago.

Olive said...

I love flowers in the house and why not on the mantle? Beautiful.

Marty@A Stroll Thru Life said...

The painting is simply stunning and I love your floral arrangements. Beautiful display. Thanks so much for joining TTT. Hugs, Marty

Pat said...

What a beautiful mantle. Your painting is wonderful, I love all Sargent work. Have you read "Sargent's Daughters" the biography of a painting? I bet you would like it.

Pat

FABBY'S LIVING said...

The painting is so gorgeous and romantic! I love flowers, so why not in the mantle, I've had them before! Have a great week.
Hugs
FABBY

Unknown said...

Ohhhhh! what a fabulous piece of art! so gracefully adorned with clematis. I have huge plants growing, but hadn't thought of this ... awesome share. Thank you.

Have a beautiful eve
TTFN ~
Hugs,
Marydon

Susan said...

Gorgeous! What a great idea - thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

I love the look of your mantel. Lovely picture and accessories, but the florals really do soften the look.

Sweetladyelaine said...

I love your mantel..never thought to decorate it with flowers. I have the usual mirror and candlesticks for summer. I may have to dress it up a little with some flowers! Thanks for the idea. Nice to visit your blog! Blessings My Friend,

Miss Merry said...

What a great idea - I do have a clemetis, but I do not have your lovely fireplace. It looks wonderful!

Noble Vintage said...

oh how pretty!! I miss clematis. I really need to plant some more at our new place. I've never thought of cutting it to use in a floral display. Great idea! thanks for sharing this at Transformations and Treasures!

Entertaining Women said...

I'm now inspired to find this lovely Clematis. Thank you for sharing your lovely design. Cherry Kay

Courtney ~ French Country Cottage said...

How lovely!! Your mossy pots with the pretty flowers are wonderful and your entire mantle is gorgeous! Thank you for sharing at FNF this week! Have a great weekend! :)

Tricia said...

Clematis is so pretty, isn't it? Thanks so much for sharing your post at Photo Feature Friday :)

~tricia

Eileen said...

Lovely post, beautiful pics and such a clever idea. I love it