thrifty thursday: blooms

There's just something about having flowers in the home that washes me over with an easy wave of contentment and calm.  It's like a burst of colorful joy every time you walk in, reminding you of all the beauty in life's simplest things.

Problem is: having a steady stream of fresh-cut stems can be taxing not only on your time (cutting, arranging, maintaining, discarding, then doing it all over again with a fresh bouquet), but also on your pocket book.

That's why I love succulents - they're pretty and fresh and simple, but cheap (relatively speaking) and last FOREVER.  Even for someone with absolutely zero ounce of a green thumb (that would be me!), these babies are hard to kill.  Therefore, instead of freshly cut flowers for our wedding, we opted for freshly planted succulent gardens in long wooden boxes that garnished our long wooden tables.

burlap runners hand-made by my mother!

photo by cooper carras

We sent as many boxes as we could home with friends and family (many of whom tell us that theirs are still thriving months later!), but we obviously ended up with a good allotment ourselves.  (Oh, what a pity.)  

Our six boxes had been thriving for quite some time, but as you might expect after three months of no care besides the occasional cupful of water when I remember (I know!  I'm horrible!), some of them started to struggle.  This weekend I carted them all into our kitchen and rolled up my sleeves - pruning them, replanting them, and watering them to their hearts' content.  They've been very happy (and pretty) every since.  Good as new!

  
But if you're not a succulent person - don't fret.  There are other super easy, affordable ways to bring plant life into your home. 

While I was at the farmer's market this past weekend, I spotted a beautiful basket of freshly dried lavender bunches.  At $6 a pop, I couldn't help but buy two.

One now guards our stove...

...while the other beautifies our bathroom.
(Not to mention - keep any not-so-friendly scents at bay.  Pretty and practical - that's my kind of bloom.)

 

Do you like keeping fresh flowers at home?  Which do you choose?

 

xoxo

KK