Pretty Peonies

Do-It-Yourself Decorating

Picture-Perfect Peony Posy

In fact, we are done! Tell me what you think of it! I love the combination of pink and white, vines and upright flowers, dark greenery and bright blossoms. It looked even more beautiful in my bedroom, sitting in front of my mirror on a wood table. I hope that now you understand how to go step by step, from foam to filler flowers, to create your own basket bouquet with your favorite flowers for a special place in your home. And have fun doing it.

Adding Filler Flowers

Do-It-Yourself Decorating

Here Come the Small Ones

Now it’s time to stick the filler flowers in around the peonies. They were a little tricky because of the way they sort of drape down, especially compared to the upright peonies. But the instructor said to go ahead, stick them in, and so I did. I also added a few more leaves left over from the flower stems. Well, I’d say we’re almost done; time to step back and see if the arrangement is nicely balanced, pleasing from all angles, and filled with flowers (but not overdone!).

Splicing Flowers

Do-It-Yourself Decorating

Stem, Stick, and Wire

Well, white it is—some beautiful lilies of the valley. I loved these delicate little flowers! There were lots of blossoms attached to each stem, but I was able to cut them apart like the peonies. The only issue was, their stems were then much too short to stick in the basket. So, I took these green wooden sticks and attached them to the flower stems with a little wire.

Stem, Stick, and Tape

After that, I wound green florists’ tape around the stick and wire to strengthen it and cover up the wire. I repeated the process with each bunch of flowers, and it worked out great. This is the technique to lengthen, or even strengthen, any flower stem that needs it. Again, you can find the wire sticks and tape in the flower section at a craft store (or even Wal-Mart).

Trimming Stems

Do-It-Yourself Decorating

Cutting a Stem

I haven’t told you yet, but all my peonies were actually on the same stem when I bought them. To cut them apart, I used special florist’s wire cutters (found near silk flowers in the store). These stems proved very hard to cut, but most flowers are easier! Stems also need to be trimmed if they’re too long to stand at the height you want. Measure them in front of the basket first, cut them, and then stick them in. Try not to remove and reposition them too many times, as it chews up and softens the foam (we’re talking about cheap styrofoam here!).

Secondary Flowers

Now I’ve filled out the basket with several smaller peonies, placed at a shorter height than the first ones. Next the arrangement is going to need some filler flowers—small, nondescript, neutral blossoms—which I did not have. So I was very happy to be doing this bouquet at my flower arranging class, since the instructor offered a whole bag of old flowers for us to choose from! What color do you think the filler flowers should be—yellow, tan, white, light blue, lavendar, or . . . ?

Focal Flowers

Do-It-Yourself Decorating

Peony Triangle

My main flowers included a range of pink, peach, and primrose silk peonies. I chose these three similar blossoms, the largest of the flowers, to be the focal points. Because the basket will be viewed from all sides, I stuck them in a triangular arrangement, at sort of the corners of the bouquet. The tall handle was a bit in the way, but it came out alright. I simply loved the color of these peonies, and they also matched the curtains and table covers in my sister’s and my bedroom. We couldn’t wait to see the bouquet finished!

Foam and Moss

Do-It-Yourself Decorating

Ready for Flowers

Next I put in some moss to cover up the foam. Besides concealing the foam from view, the moss also gives a nice backdrop for the flowers. A bag can be purchased for only a few dollars at craft stores, and a little goes a long way. Cut and tease it apart til you have the look you want. Oh, but before that I put two smaller pieces of foam in the sides to fill out the basket and give more support for the flowers. (See below) In fact, we’re ready for the flowers now!

Extra Pieces of Foam

Beginning a Bouquet

Do-It-Yourself Decorating

Basket and Foam

Now, are you ready to help me arrange another flower bouquet? I had my bedroom in mind when I picked out some silk flowers to fill this basket. I wanted a bright, cheerful spring look, but delicate and graceful too. So let’s get started! The gold-streaked basket I chose (at the Dollar Store for $1) was about 6” or 8” across, with a tall handle. Inside I placed a piece of florist’s foam, held in place by a thin wire woven across into the sides of the basket.

Chicken Peephole

Backyard Poultry

Peeking out of Tarp

And here are those spoiled chickens looking so pitifully out the end of the run after the storm. They’d run back and forth like that trying to get out of the wire runs. And I never let them out. For some reason, I thought they’d fly away or run out on the road and get hit or something! Not so—chickens can hardly fly and prefer to stay around their home anyway. Though they can run, they’ll come back to you even faster for scratch. One time they all got out of the run when I left a door off. According to my mom, my reaction was along the lines of panicking!!

Tarps Storm Style

Backyard Poultry

Side Runs

Okay, if you still don’t believe it, here’s another pre-hurricane picture. These are the runs along the side of the shed/chicken house barricaded with still more skids and rocks. Honestly, I don’t know how the runs stood up to all that weight on top! Though we’d never get hurricanes here in Ohio, do you think they would withstand a tornado? By the way, I have heard of tornadoes that stripped chickens clean of all their feathers!

Run Tarps

Backyard Poultry

Set Up for a Storm (Hurricane?)

Here is a demo of the tarp in full use. This is one of the lighter runs (3x8) that we used beside the henhouse, with a second 3x6 run, whenever the chickens weren’t out on grass. And yes, you are correct if you thought those were skids on top. This was set up for a predicted high-wind thunderstorm when we thought the runs might blow away. I think that was a possibility, with those tarps acting like kites. Ever thought to shut the chickens in the house during a storm?!? Well, live and learn. The chicken house was a bit small for a still-growing rooster and eight spoiled hens, I guess.

Fall Garden Day

Backyard Poultry

Chicken Runs with Garlic

I’ve always like this picture of home-grown garlic, in the seedbed ready to plant, with happy free-range hens in the background. Really, there’s nothing like working in the garden with your own chickens nearby! Click on the picture to make it bigger—you can see Puzzle and the hens eating from the troughs, and that’s Acorn in the right-hand run beside the nest box. The doors are put up at the end to shade the nest box a bit. (What was all that talk about using tarps??)

Garden Runs

Backyard Poultry

Chicken Runs in the Fall Garden

Um...well...maybe this is still not a picturesque scene, but it’s better than rocks and styrofoam! Also a lot less work, though more improvement will come. Here you can see the chickens in the garden beds. We put them on finished beds to scratch up the soil, and they found plenty of beetles and worms too, I’m sure. This is the idea of a “chicken tractor,” where you keep the hens concentrated over a patch of soil to turn it over naturally. It didn’t work fantastically for us in the end though—they mostly just dug dust holes, and left the rest alone. I think the soil has to already be pretty loose to work very well.

Runs & Tarps

Backyard Poultry

Poultry Runs

Just like our chicken house, the poultry runs kept changing (improving?) as well. A while back, we built a third lightweight run—yes, to pasture still just nine chickens. At first we used boards, styrofoam insulation, and rocks to shield the runs from wind and sun, but our setup began to look a bit like a shanty town. So, we designed a complicated system of tarps to replace it. One run had the tarp permanently fastened to one end of the top; it could unfold to cover the whole run if needed. The run above is similar; the tarp is actually on a frame so it folds up for access into the pen. The switch from scrapwood to tarps was one very important improvement!

Darby Creek Bridge

Artist's Gallery

Darby Creek Bridge at Prairie Oaks

Well, I must tell you, from the beginning I planned to donate this painting to the fundraising silent auction at our local arts guild. It kept me motivated anyway—in the end I was painting several hours a day to try and get it done in time. We searched our local craft store for a suitable frame, and settled on this simple black one. I think it compliments the painting well. As it turned out, my wonderful sister bought the picture at the auction, and it now hangs in our living room!

New! You can now purchase this painting as a greeting card here at my Countrygirl Art shop on Etsy.com!

Darby Creek 4

Artist's Gallery

Almost Done

Now it is time for the finishing detail on the painting. Small brushstrokes give the trees, branches, and shoreline their final shape. A white glaze over the Darby Creek’s surface gave it a really watery feeling. The wood grain on the bridge rail was kind of tricky but I love how it came out. During this final stage it feels like the picture is coming into focus, shapes getting sharper and colors brighter.

The finishing highlights really pulled the picture together. I started with the bright white sky, spilling over the rail and trees, into fluorescent greens and blues in the treetops. For the sun’s reflections off the horizontal bridge railings, I realized that the colors underneath would darken and muddy the highlights. I had to first put on a layer of pure white paint (see the close-up of my painting below); then the highlight colors came out very bright and sharp.

White Paint Under Highlights

Darby Creek 3

Artist's Gallery

Adding the Bridge

After doing some more work on trees, I carefully pulled all that tape off the bridge. Then I brushed on a base coat of rusty red—almost brown—and light brown on the wood. It was easy to get it straight, as long as I stayed in the lines! This picture’s composition is proving to be quite attention-getting. This is because the focal point (where the creek disappears on the horizon) is a “sweet spot” in the picture. (The sweet spots in any picture are where the lines cross when you divide it in thirds both ways. These are the most pleasing places for focal points.) The trees along the bank and the triangular rail both lead the eye to the focal point as well.