This is the first of many articles that will be on entertaining, decorating, weddings, tea parties, drying flowers, opening your own shop, and many other tips. I will be offering some of my favorite ideas and items that I have gleaned from being a wedding planner, florist, shop owner, and a national wholesaler of a permanent botanical & dried flower gift line.

The first and best tip is to transform your home for each holiday or season! Sounds expensive, but doesn’t have to be.

One of the easiest way to change the look of your home is to change pillows. No you don’t have to buy all new pillows and storing them after each season. Just go buy a yard of fabric (or less depending on size of pillow)in seasonal tones & appropriate to your furniture. Place pillow on fabric, fold like an envelope secure with an old broach or pin a large fun button. Voila! You have a new pillow that can be disassembled for the next season.

Autumn is a wonderful time of the year full of warmth & good friends. Entertaining will be moved inside and wreaths are not just for the front door or Christmas. A manzanita or grapevine wreath is instant fall stuffed with dried cuttings from your summer garden, walks or purchases from specialty shops that carry dried botanicals. Bring out containers in rust and copper. Fall does not have to mean a sea of orange, but a little in the right hues can go a long way.

Start collecting for your seasons, notice how empty & dull our homes become after the Holiday Season and decorations are put away. Start your collections of things that bring joy to your heart, and revive your home.

Wishing you lots of flowers in your garden!

Rae Claybourne