Love ‘ n Fresh Flowers is offering a fresh new series of workshops in 2012, including Wine & Design Wednesdays and Flowers at Home. Online registration for all workshops is available by clicking here. All workshops feature only locally and organically grown flowers harvested from our fields in northwest Philly.
Wine & Design Wednesdays
The floral enthusiast’s equivalent of a “stitch and bitch circle”, these ongoing workshops are created to be very relaxed and jovial with bottles of local wines and fresh seasonal snacks to accompany a stunning selection of Love ‘n Fresh’s organically grown flowers. Each person will choose one container from our stash to use that is theirs to keep. Creativity is encouraged, and there will be no demo design to copy. Instead, Jennie will be on hand to individually teach and help tweak as needed. Each workshop will be focused on whatever beautiful blooms and foliage are coming from the field that week.
These workshops are held at the adorable Love ‘n Fresh design studio in Chestnut Hill and are scheduled for every third Wednesday of the month from May through October. Additional sessions may be added in July and August. Wine and Design sessions last about an hour and a half and are limited to 6 people. Online registration will be available soon.
** Wine & Design sessions can also be scheduled upon request for a fun girls night out or bachelorette party. All 6 spots must be paid for in advance when scheduling a private session.
Flowers at Home
A new series beginning in 2012, the Flower at Home workshops will be held in a stunningly restored Victorian home in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia. Situated either on the gracious front porch under the shade of a towering old tree or inside the sunlit and airy parlor and dining rooms, these workshops will delight all of your senses and offer ideas for how to decorate your own home with fresh floral displays and plants.
This workshop series focuses on floral design techniques that effortlessly showcase locally and sustainably grown elements, including those snipped right out of your home garden. Students are encouraged to explore their own style of design within the framework of guidelines demonstrated in these typically 2-3 hour hands-on workshops and to ask questions about planting a flower garden of their own.
Simple seasonal refreshments will be provided. Students take home their designs. Consider adding a Love ‘n Fresh Flowers apron and professional floral snips when you sign up online; use them again and again at home and other workshops as you bring the beauty of nature into your home throughout the seasons.
Terrarium Treats
Craft a living piece of art for your home. Students will choose from a selection of unique containers, some vintage in style, to use for their design. Plants will include succulents, air plants, ferns and moss so both arid and woodland displays are possible. Jennie will
instruct students on proper placement and planting in the terrarium. All materials are provided, including a handout of care instructions for keeping your creation happy for a long time. Each student will take home one terrarium.
Date: still TBD – either Sunday, May 20 or Saturday, May 26th
Time: 2:00-4:00 pm
Location: Wissahickon Ave & W. Price St.
Exquisite European Hand-tied Designs
The European hand-tied bouquet is the epitome of classic beauty ready to be presented to a hostess or anyone celebrating a milestone. The technique used to create these bouquets of perfection also happens to be used to create today’s modern bridal bouquets. As such, this workshop is also great for DIY brides. Students will watch a detailed demonstration of the technique and then practice making their own using all locally and organically grown flowers from our fields. Vivid blooms such as lisianthus, dianthus,
snapdragons, zinnias, and much more will be used along with lush and fragrant foliages for a stunningly textural finished design. Ribbon and paper for wrapping will be provided for easy transport and gift giving. No container is used in this workshop.
Date: Saturday, July 21
Time: 2:00-4:00 pm
Location: Wissahickon Ave & W. Price St.
Lasting Thanksgiving Centerpieces
Join Love ‘n Fresh Flowers’ Jennie Love in creating a truly unique and long-lasting autumn centerpiece of locally grown materials to adorn your holiday table. The focus of this class will be learning to combine living plants such as succulents; preserved plant material such as leaves, moss and seed pods; an autumn harvest of local gourds, pumpkins, pears and apples; and fresh cut flowers and foliage. This textural and unexpected combination will stay fresh for weeks (yes, weeks!) to adorn your Thanksgiving table and beyond.
Date: Sunday, November 18
Time: 2:00-4:00 pm
Location: Wissahickon Ave & W. Price St.
Evergreen Boughs Bounty
Kick off the holidays by crafting your own evergreen decorations for your home. Demos for wreaths, swags, and rustic door decorations made of evergreens and other lasting materials will be given before students have the opportunity to select two of the project to create themselves. All materials, including a wire wreath form, are included. Mulled cider and sugar cookies also included.
Date: Saturday, December 8
Time: 1:00-4:00 pm
Location: Wissahickon Ave & W. Price St.
ONLINE SIGN-UP
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PAST WORKSHOP TOPICS
Bloom Bounty
This workshop celebrates the incredible variety and abundance of locally grown flowers available in late summer. Zinnias, sunflowers, hydrangeas, celosica, veronica, pin cushions, flowering herbs, lisianthus, sweet williams, tansy, euphorbia, grasses, yarrow, snapdragons and so much more are bursting with color in late summer. Students will have the opportunity to make at least two designs and will learn how to design in vases using support materials that are more sustainable than floral foam.
Backyard Bouquets
Join Love ‘n Fresh Flowers for an afternoon of fun flower talk to plan a productive and easy cutting garden for your home. Jennie Love , owner of Love ‘n Fresh Flowers and a professional horticulturist by training, will impart her secrets to success and give students a list of the best flowers to grow in our area and where to get them. Students will learn where to site their cutting garden, how to prepare the soil, when to plant, and how to care for the flowers as they grow. Even if you just have a deck and a few large pots, you have enough room to grow some beautiful flowers for making your own backyard bouquets.
Springtime Hand-Tied
This hands-on workshop will teach students the basic technique of creating a bouquet in their hand (versus a vase). The “hand-tied” is a great foundation for any design as relaxed as a hostess gift or as formal as a bridal bouquet. The flowers featured in this session will include the stunning stars of spring, including tulips, alliums, and ranunculus. Ribbon for wrapping the stems is provided. Participants take home their own creation.
Waylaying Wedding Woes
Wedding in your near or distant future? Wishing your budget would stretch further? Invest a little now by taking this workshop and save big on your florals and decor! Jennie, owner and head designer for Love ‘n Fresh Flowers, will walk students through all the basic pieces of wedding flowers, including the bouquets, boutonnières, corsages, a big focal piece, the cake, and centerpieces. She’ll share a general time line that will help you figure out how to pace yourself when designing your own wedding flowers. Tips for keeping the flowers fresh and lovely will also be discussed.
Living Centerpieces
Join Love ‘n Fresh Flowers’ Jennie Love in creating a truly unique and long-lasting autumn centerpiece of locally grown materials to adorn your holiday table. The focus of this class will be learning to combine living plants such as succulents; preserved plant material such as leaves, moss and seed pods; an autumn harvest of gourds, pumpkins, and apples; and fresh cut flowers and foliage. This textural and unexpected combination will stay fresh for weeks (yes, weeks!) to adorn your Thanksgiving table and beyond.
Learning to Craft Herbal Tea
If you are a tea drink with a little space for growing your own herbs, you must attend this workshop. We’ll start with an informative lecture that outlines the best herbs, how to grow them, how to dry them, and what their possible medicinal properties may be. Different blends and their properties will also be discussed. Then we’ll spend some time talking about the process of developing your own special herbal tea blend while students help make a batch of tea for everyone to share with homemade cookies and other tea time treats. Each student will go home with a hand-stitched re-usable natural fabric tea bag.
