These are not the wipe your mouth and toss variety of napkins. These have been carefully selected for decoupage.
I have spent years collecting the perfect napkins to adorn Christmas ornaments and Easter eggs.
They can also decorate gift boxes, candle votives, lamp shades, picture frames…
Since I am in ‘time out’ with my hip, I must keep busy while resting. I find decoupage fun and therapeutic without requiring much skill to create something beautiful.
Cheap napkins tend to bleed colors and have white backs. Invest in quality. Michel(with the elephant logo) is the best I have found that is widely available.
You can have themes such as sea shore items, flowers, birds, butterflies, party, even fairies.
Light backgrounds are easier to work with. Save dark backgrounds until you have practiced.
Prints with no orientation are easier for beginners.
I found this assortment pack with small print. Perfect for small objects.
These are my napkin selecting tips. I have included some links below on what to do next.
If you think loving a shovel is extreme, think of the last time you hated a shovel. I have broken quite a few. You have to be tough to survive here. I need tools I can count on.
My hip is painful right now, so every step is measured. I try to limit my ups and downs from the ground, also. I sit in my flower beds to work, usually on a disc sled or cardboard.
I took two diggers out and settled in for some serious weeding. The short handled trowel had a damaged handle, but getting another required a trip down the hill and back up the hill, so I made do with it. The long-handled trowel was purchased ‘on sale’ in the off season. I should have known it was a too-good-to be-true price. Long-handled trowels give the leverage to lift deep weeds out of the ground without damaging the plants nearby.
The blade BROKE OFF on the second dig. The price tag was not even dirty yet and the shovel was broken. Thanks but no thanks Kent and Stowe. I will take my $2.49 elsewhere! Ha.
I researched long-handled trowels and ordered two. One is made in Japan the other in America. Each costs about ten times the price of the piece of junk mentioned above.
My first digger arrived. It is made by Ishiguro Kinzoku Co., Ltd. Its handle was shorter than I expected. Its blade was a bit bigger than expected. I used it all day yesterday. I am brutal on myself and my tools in the garden.
This is now my favorite digger. Perfect for digging up ten thousand bunches of Star of Bethlehem. The wider blade is great. The shorter handle allowed me to push on the end with the palm of my hand. This gave me more power.
Yes folks. Flower is in love with a shovel.
No worries. I will use the blade-less handle to dig dandelions. We throw nothing away here.
I am a plant enthusiast, so I tend to focus on each individual plant.
I do notice when plant groupings and arrangements are done well.
Here are some scenes from the Biltmore Conservatory that I appreciated.
This mixture of cacti and succulents in pots across the brick floor gave a lovely view of the various plant shapes and textures.This is a bamboo bed with pillows accentuated with tiny bromeliads. This vintage mantle seemed to be in an abandoned manor in a jungle.Corners were softened with trees and tall orchids had a bright window background.There was a theme with a twist everywhere. Here the bright orchid blooms were separated with interesting foliage plants.Putting many tiny orchids together kept them from getting lost in a crowd.Adding other plants to this huge hanging Staghorn fern gives it a chandelier flavor.
I always delight in seeing new plants and ideas when I visit Biltmore Estate in Asheville.
floweralley 