section: studio choo 
With Thanksgiving and holiday decorating right around the corner we thought it would be fun to create a centerpiece made entirely from easy to find items from your local supermarket. A clustered arrangement like this can be just a few components, made in minutes, and is festive without being too fussy- and you could also class it up with one of your nicer vases. We celebrated this fine fall day with pre-Thanksgiving bites and brown ale!
Our local chain supermarket was our starting point where we spotted a pretty oatmeal can on a holiday endcap. We decided to carry the can’s neutral palette into our flowers as well. We wandered the produce and flower section choosing a variety of items in brown, green, white, and a touch of rusty red. After tossing around ideas using wheat, radishes, kalanchoes, and chestnuts we narrowed our final selection to mushrooms and seckel pears, eucalyptus, fall leaves, cream mini-carnations, white alstroemeria, and paperwhites.
CLICK HERE for the full arrangement how-to after the jump! read more … November 19th, 2009 - 01:00pm 
This week we’ll continue with the theme of hanging containers and share a simple flower girl’s basket we created for an upcoming event. Birch bark tubes are a popular way to add a little rustic beauty to a DIY wedding reception, so we thought it would be fun to show you how to incorporate them into your ceremony flowers too. This ribbon-handle basket could be used to hold petals or fall leaves for the little gal to toss at an autumn ceremony or a sweet posy for her to hold as she walks down the aisle.
CLICK HERE for the full post after the jump! 
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November 12th, 2009 - 01:00pm 
After posting pics a few weeks ago from Lauren’s garden, we had a feeling that readers would be interested in the hanging plants she had on display in her backyard. Turns out Lauren crocheted the clever containers herself, and she’s given us an easy to follow pattern so readers can create their own hanging gardens.
She made a bunch of the crocheted plant cozies, all of varying size and color, and let us borrow a big handful to play with. We filled them with flowers (naturally), but the possibilities are endless. Pick a little posy and hang it on a friend’s front door- they’ll get a pleasant surprise when they arrive home from work. Put a cluster on a hook in the kitchen and they’d be a pretty way to store and display fresh herbs from the farmer’s market.
These little knits would make great wintertime decorations, and possibly even stocking alternatives. Imagine a candy-colored row filled with goodies hanging from your mantle. So get out your crochet hooks and get cracking. (If you’re not so deft with your hooks, Lauren’s got some you can buy at her Etsy shop, too.) CLICK HERE for the full post after the jump! read more … November 5th, 2009 - 01:00pm 
When we realized that we’d be doing a post so close to Halloween we decided to look for inspiration beyond a cleverly carved squash. We wanted to assemble an arrangement that embraced the darker, more macabre side of the holiday. Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the terror-ium!
Right up the road from San Francisco, California Carnivores looks to be merely a little greenhouse off the main drag. Upon closer inspection we found the equivalent to a botanical bestiary: hundreds of little meat eaters all under one glassed roof. The grounds of this carnivorous plant farm are more like a B-movie set than greenhouse, decked out with plastic creepy-crawlies and vivisected vegetation. But don’t let the campy decor fool: proprietor Peter D’Amato is a serious guy. He’s a walking, talking encyclopedia of carnivorous knowledge, having written several voluminous books on the subject. He guided us through the selection of our plants and gave us all the information we needed to successfully raise our little ankle-biters for years to come.
CLICK HERE for the rest of Studio Choo’s Terror-ium post after the jump! read more … October 29th, 2009 - 01:00pm 
One of the best things about writing this column is now we have an excuse to get to know some of our favorite artists better. Patty Benson of Papaver Vert is a great example: Jill first stumbled upon Patty’s felted wool bowls a few years ago and instantly fell for the amazing quality and beautiful texture of her work. These vessels and bowls are a perfect display when cold weather rolls around, lending an instant cozy feel to whatever is placed inside them. And with Halloween and Thanksgiving fast approaching, we thought Patty’s newest round vessel (she’s been a bit obsessed with pods and seeds lately) would make a playful substitute for a pumpkin with the addition of some pretty vines!
On a little island across from San Francisco we were lucky enough to meet up with Patty at her Alameda home/workshop. Up until a few years ago Patty was paying her bills the old-fashioned way: a nine-to-five job that left her feeling less than fulfilled. Although she has a background in fashion and has worked creatively at both Old Navy and Crate & Barrel, the corporate life was not agreeing with her. It was only when a friend taught her how to crochet that things clicked in to place and she found herself wondering if there wasn’t a better way to make a living. A few experiments with wool felting were inspirational, and she took the plunge.
CLICK HERE for the rest of the papaver vert post after the jump! read more … October 22nd, 2009 - 01:00pm 
All it takes is one big rainstorm to make everything feel like fall all of a sudden. Luckily we made it out to San Francisco’s Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market last Saturday, one step ahead of the cold front, and found some inspiring autumnal treasures to build this week’s Market to Table arrangement.
We knew we wanted to use warm, fall colors, but we arrived at the market without anything specific in mind and just let our imaginations take charge. With tons of vendors selling everything from rustic honeycombs and pungent cheeses, to geranium plants and coffee brewed by the cup (yum), this market hosts farmers who bring their best produce and freshest flowers straight from the field to your table.
And it’s a great place to test your produce knowledge. For example, did you know that carrots don’t have to be long and lean? Apparently they also come as thick and stout as russet potatoes (and our favorite shape- a pair of small pants). When we saw these crazy carrots we flipped for them and knew we had to use them in this week’s arrangement, hence the carrot vase was born! CLICK HERE for the full arrangement how-to (and 8 more pictures) after the jump! read more … October 15th, 2009 - 01:00pm 
We knew we were going to be busy with events, weddings, consultations, and walkthroughs last week so we decided to keep it simple for our new post and just bring you along.
Fall was unavoidable at the market…arrangements for the week included bittersweet, oak leaves with tiny acorns, roses, dahlias, ranunculus, and amaryllis. 
We cleaned and organized our acquisitions from a recent Reno thrifting vacation. The theme for the trip seemed to be white, silver, and our favorite of all- gold. When we go hunting we try to narrow our focus to just a few kinds of things (color/shape/size) to avoid being completely overwhelmed.
CLICK HERE for the rest of the post (and 12 more images) after the jump! read more …  October 8th, 2009 - 01:00pm | 
