Hello everyone,

I know that it is still so nice and warm out and it seems like Christmas is FAR away, but…

winter-comingand with it, Christmas Party Season! We know lots of Christmas activity starts up in November with decorating and celebrations. Today we wanted to share some of our 2015 Christmas options for those of you doing the party planning.

 

GRINCH TREES

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What’s not to love about these little grinch trees!? They are super festive, very versatile, and (most importantly) incredibly adorable! These can be done in many different colours and styles to suit your preferences and are available in two different size options. Our smaller option is in a 3.5″ container and sits about a foot tall for $20, and the bigger option is in 5″ base and sits approximately 20″ tall for $45.

 

 

 

WREATH CENTERPIECE

wreath centerpieceThis centerpiece is an 18″ wreath made with a mixture of beautiful Christmas greens jazzed up with items of your choice (twigs, Christmas balls, pine cones, etc) in your colour scheme with a pillar candle in the center. These are great for giving away or raffling off at the end of evening as the guests get their choice of using it as a wreath on their door OR as a centerpiece on their table at home – $50 each.

 

 

 

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TRADITIONAL CENTERPIECE

This is a great, flexible option. A great mix of winter greens, with or without candles depending on your preferences, fresh flowers to compliment your colours/style and Christmas accents (bows, berries etc). Available at several price points to match your budget – $25, $40, $60 or $100.

 

 

MODERN CENTERPIECE

cranberriesSuper simple and sweet, three cylinder vases at varying heights filled with cranberries and topped off with a floating candle for a little light and sparkle. $20

 

 

 

 

MANZANITA CENTERPIECES

imageThis is a really beautiful rental option for a look that is both glamorous and affordable.  Three feet tall manzanita branches in either natural (pictured) or sandblasted (beige) strung with jewels and accented with orchids. Available with floral base or mixed winter greens depending on price point. Can be rented for $30, $45 or $60.

 

 

 

 

 

 

LARGE MANZANITA URNS

These natural manzanita trees are 8ft tall and are a great rental option to dress up the decor of the room! They look absolutely magical done up with lights, jewels and a decorated base. We have six available to rent out for $75 each, $20 to added hanging jewels, $40 for winter green base. Other decorating options are available, please inquire for customized pricing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HOME DECOR

In addition to providing centerpieces and decor items for Christmas parties we have also kept busy the last few years providing winter decor items for your homes. Winter is one of the BEST times you can have your home decorated with florals because the greens just freeze and last all season! We offer wreaths, garlands, and outdoor pots that we can design in a range of colours and styles.

  • WREATHS $50 or $75
  • GARLANDS $10/foot
  • URNS start at $120 each, not including the pot OR $175 each including the pot

Last, but not least we are of course doing our wreath classes again this winter! We have had so much fun with them in the past and this year we are making them a little extra special. But! We will save that for another day, stay tuned to catch all the info on this years wreath classes which we will share in the next couple days. Until then!

Katrina

Hello, all! I hope you have been enjoying the spring weather as much as I have been. I am sure that we probably have another snowfall or two in our future, BUT things are starting to turn green – and in my books that means spring is officially here! Believe it or not, Mother’s Day is fast approaching, only two weeks away. This year we thought we would do something fun and since we had so much fun with our wreath making classes, we have decided to do some Mother’s Day classes. This way not only does Mom get something beautiful to take home, they also get to spend quality time with their kids AND get to learn a new skill. What’s not to love? We have three different class options to accommodate different age range of kids, though for the most part the age ranges are just recommendations so there is some flexibility.

 

FAIRY GARDENS FOR TOTS – ages 5-10

Fairies are enchanted little creatures, known to be protectors of nature and anyone who encounters one will be blessed with good luck. Fairy gardens are becoming more and more popular, and why not, they are adorable! Whether you believe in fairies or not, fairy gardening is all about inviting a little magic into our lives with a lot of fun and creativity. There are endless options of what you can do with your fairy garden, and once you have designed it you can continue to tweek it over time – or just make more! We will have some accessories for the fairy gardens, along with materials to make some, but feel free to bring any items you have from home that you think would be a good fit! With this class mom + tot will work together to design one fairy garden to take home with them.

$60 for mom + tot together
In the event you are bringing multiple kids, or are bringing an older child and you would like to make an additional garden, it would be an extra $60 for each garden made.

TERRARIUMS FOR TEENS – ages 10-15
Terrariums are such an awesome way to keep plants in the house! They don’t make a mess (no leaking water/dirt from the bottom of a pot), they create a humid little environment that the plants love, they are easy to care for and they look great! With this class mom + teen will learn how to best care for their terrarium and because it is a relatively easy project they will each get to make their own terrarium to take home.

$50 each

TWO FOR ONE ADULT CLASS – minimum age 15
This class is really fun, full of learning! Both mom and offspring will get a bundle of flowers that they will learn how to design TWO ways. First they will learn how to design a traditional hand tied bouquet, then we will take apart the bouquet and everyone will learn how to make a centerpiece! This is great because so many people love flowers, but just don’t know what to do with them when they get home. Everyone will get a vase, and will bring home centrepiece! Because this class has a higher difficulty level we will stay firm with our minimum age.

$60 each

The classes will all take place on Saturday, May 10th. Classes will be held at Lacombe Outreach School (5346 50th Ave in Lacombe, AB). We will start off the day at 10am with the adult class, followed by the fairy garden tot class at 1pm and last but not least our teen terrarium class at 3pm. Because we will be bringing in fresh product which needs to be ordered in advance, we will require you to pay for your class to secure your spot to prevent wasting product. Cut off for registration will be Sunday, May 4th at 7pm, though we only have room for about 14 people per class so don’t wait too long! If you would like to book in your spot you can click HERE, or if you have any additional questions please email Travis at travis@calyxfloraldesign.ca or leave us a message on the Facebook page.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and we look forward to designing with you!

Katrina

For those of you who weren’t able to make it to our classes, I wanted to share how they went. Before the day started I was feeling kind of nervous, almost like it was the first day of school! It didn’t take too long before my jitters disappeared and I got lost in the glitter and festive excitement. Travis started off each of the classes demonstrating making a wreath from start to finish so all the students could get a better idea how to select items that would all compliment each other and also to see how those individual items all come together to create a gorgeous wreath. After the demonstration all the students selected their ribbon and together we went through how to make a bow as well as some loops and tails to be tucked throughout the wreath. From there they selected their decorations to match the ribbon, Travis brought a TON for everyone to chose from. Then everyone pretty much just went to town! As they worked away Travis and I were right there to help answer questions. Everyone had really paid great attention to Travis, so there was only a little assistance needed really, a little help picking out final items to finish off their wreaths or figure out good placement but overall everyone did such a great job!!

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One of my favourite parts was getting to see what everyone chose to go with in colour and style. We had some earthy, natural wreaths with burlap, cones and twigs and other wreaths completely covered in bold, beautiful colours and bling. Some women even surprised themselves with what they chose, originally planning to use traditional red, greens and gold and walking away with a stunning wreath in fuchsia and silver!

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All in all it was a really fantastic day, it was great to see so many people come out to play with us and at the end I was 100% feeling the Christmas spirit! Just to remind people if they were sad that they weren’t able to make it out, if you get a group of 5 or more people we can host another class for you! You can just send us a message on the Facebook page or you can email Travis at travis@calyxfloraldesign.ca to find out more info. Or, if you aren’t the crafty type and you just want to simple buy a wreath already decorated in your colour scheme, we can do that for you too! We have quite a few that are already done up and ready to go or we can custom make something just for you, they are selling fast for just $45!! Some of our students left the class with not only the wreath they made, but also 2 or 3 more to take home for friends and family.

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We were both so pleased with how the classes went and consider our first try a success!! We are hoping to host more classes in the future – perhaps some more holiday classes, some simple classes on how to pick out healthy plants/flowers OR some super fun classes to help DIY brides to learn how to properly assemble the basics (bouquets, corsages, boutonnieres). We are going to spend some time in the near future mapping out some class plans, and your opinions are important to us! If there is something that you have always wanted to learn, we would love to hear from you. Until next time, check out some more wreaths from this weekend!

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Katrina

Well friends, I think it is safe to say that winter is here!! The snow, the cold, but best of all – the Christmas spirit! The malls have Christmas carols going, people are decorating and I have started my Christmas baking. You know what else is an awesome way to get in the festive mood… wreath making classes this Saturday! As you may know, Travis and I will be teaching some classes and we do still have some spaces available for this of you who are open on Saturday and game to have some holiday fun.

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We have a mother/daughter class at 10 am for $120 (each get to take a wreath home) that only has room for a couple more pairs, and then 3 other classes throughout the day for $80. I think this class is such a fun idea and wanted to share with everyone just a bit more information about it.

Everyone will get a pre-greened wreath base, and I want to clarify these won’t be the flat, limply lifeless ones you sometimes see at the grocery stores. No, these will be nice, full wreaths with an assortment of beautiful, healthy Christmas greens. One of my favourite things about fresh Christmas wreaths are the SMELL! Anyway, along with the wreath base we will have tools for everyone, and full assortment of goodies. Ribbons, pine cones, Christmas balls, twigs, artificial sprays all in a range of different colours so that everyone can mix and match to personalize their wreath to their own personal style.

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Along with the items listed above, you will be getting the instruction from Travis on how to properly assemble the wreaths. She will show you how to wire all the items securely onto your wreath with proper mechanics so that you wreath will hold up well, and at the end of winter, you could even clip off the items to reuse for the next season. I will be there as well to offer assistance and while everyone is working Travis and I will work our way around the room to lend help where needed and answer any questions. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard from people “I have always wanted to be a florist, it looks like so much fun!”, and while it is definitely a lot of hard work at times it really is a very fun and rewarding job. I am really excited for this opportunity to help people learn a new (and fun!) skill and give a mini peak into the life of a florist.

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This class is perfect for the holidays, you can give the wreath as a gift or keep it for yourself, come on your own (we are really quite friendly!) or bring one of your girlfriends for a great time. We will have some warm apple cider to share along with some treats. We know this is a busy time of year and we have received some comments from you guys that while you are interested, you are busy this Saturday. Have no fear! We do have a ton of wreaths so if you have a few friends that would like to take a mini class with us, email Travis at travis@calyxfloraldesign.ca and we can look at setting that up for you. If you haven’t already registered click HERE to do so! Hope to see you there!

Katrina