Yesterday was our first fluffy snow fall, which I have to admit, made me happy. I can picture the soft white snow on the items I made for many holiday orders this year at people’s homes, such as Kissing Balls hanging outdoors, Patio Pots filled with holiday greenery, Garlands, Wreaths, and more. The snow is also a great way to add some moisture to the greens on the wreaths and such.
The past two weeks were extremely busy. As a one woman owned business, with a very helpful special Elf Helper, my hubby, we did it – installed and created holiday scenes for everyone. Today, I hope to make a nice big Boxwood Wreath. I show all my photos on my Instagram page under Container Crazy CT handle.
I want to take this morning to say THANK YOU to all the people who hired me to work on their holiday scenes and patio pots, and also to all who ordered a Wreath, Kissing Ball, or Garland this year. It puts me (and hopefully them) into the holiday spirit. I finally got to do some of my own outdoor decorating yesterday a little bit before the snow started to fall. But it is a real treat and a special thing for me to create Holiday Items for people – THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR SUPPORT – and pick-ups.
I also have to admit, I do stay inside a lot when people pick up their orders cause I’m so busy and can’t talk too long, plus I really really didn’t want to catch any colds or COVID during my work of holiday crunch time. But I find the “Pick-ups” are extremely useful and helpful to people when they are also doing their own rush holiday errands and they may pop by to get their handmade wreath with fresh greenery and other items quickly (Grab and Go!).
Next on the list is making some unique holiday pick-up gifts which are great for last minute shoppers, me included! I haven’t shopped at all yet for Christmas gifts on my own to-do lists. I never have the time in early December.
Hope you are enjoying this snow fall – it sure looks pretty from my office window – I can say that!
Sincerely,
Cathy Testa Container Garden Designer located in Broad Brook, CT 860-977-9473 containercathy@gmail.com
My holiday creations and wreaths are usually featured on my other blog site, WorkshopsCT.com, but I got in the mood to review some past creations and thinking about what will be the new creations for this upcoming holiday season.
Last year was the year of the half-wine bottles as an adorable, easy-care, and fun holiday gift. I made these with soil, a beautiful succulent, and holiday bling. So fun. They sold quickly and I was happy to create them.
Silver pine cones with Mr. Santa in white was the theme which developed. I called them “Grab-N-Go!” gifts last season.
Then was the year where I became obsessed with the Rockefeller owl, the little owl discovered in the tree put up in Rockefeller center in NYC. I thought so much about that little adorable owl, and it just hit me to create these larger globes and bubble bowls with the owl as my inspiration.
I purchased an ornament and coffee cup from the organization who saved and rehabilitated the owl and it just was some kind of thing with me where I couldn’t stop thinking about how cute that owl was, and the fact, the owl survived stuck in that wrapped huge tree heading to the city for display!
I ended up making quite of few of these as people ordered them. Each little owl was wrapped in a very soft material I acquired to match the photos of the real owl. I put decor, mini succulents, and some evergreen tips in each. So fun to make. Loved this so much. And it was just one of those “organic” ideas that popped into my head.
Several years ago, I made one of those holiday themed mannequin skirts with fresh greens during the holidays. It was a test, and I cannot claim credit for this idea. I started seeing them on Instagram feeds, and after I finished making custom wreaths for orders, I decided to give this a try!
It was a little tricky to make. I used chicken wire underneath to work with and loved how it came out but I thought you sure would need a nice location to display it and keep it fresh, and how would one transport this? – it would have to be made on-site, and it was time consuming as well. I loved it though. I almost purchased a bunch of those mannequin clothing display stands from a warehouse once, but then I stopped myself, because I didn’t think I’d really get many orders for these. So this was just a first trial test.
These moss holiday balls with mini tapered candles were from last season. Aren’t they just adorable. Could you see them lined up on a table for a holiday fancy dinner? Little things like this make perfect hostess gifts too and are nice used in groupings with other decor you may have on hand.
I’ve made other glass hanging votives with matching mini baubles wreaths shown below. The creative juices will start to flow at times. This one was so cute because the mouse was so cute with his little red Santa hat. How could anyone resist him?!
I called this one the “Ho-Ho-Ho” globe – what really made it was the perfect bow on the bottom. And the ribbon on the top. A friend ordered a set of these for her best girlfriends – which I think is super sweet.
Every year, a spontaneous gift related idea for the holidays pops into my head – those are the best, the ones that just arrive in your mind for whatever reason. It could be a unique little animal I saw somewhere, or whatever. Those are the fun, spontaneous, unique ones for me to make. I don’t know yet what will spur a new idea for this Holiday but I am planning to go look at some inspirations. Maybe something new will come to me – we will see.
And of course, there are my custom made wreaths. I like to make them full and fluffy – that is just my style, with a nice mix of greens. I will be taking custom orders again this year which are picked up from my home base location.
My kissing balls take a really long time to make and use up a lot of greens, but I’m always happy with the result. They are rather large too. Here I am holding one up which is good arm exercise. My husband is always so helpful with taking my photos for me so I can show others what the kissing balls look like – this was one before being decorated.
Here’s an example of a rather large and full and fluffy wreath I made. I love the white snowy background.
And another, made for a customer, with a bow with cute red, white, and silver colors.
And here he is, my willing hubby, always helping me to take photos and sometimes to install the larger wreaths at sights.
And here is what I called, or should say my customer called, a Winter Wonderland! It was freezing out the day we put this all together but somehow my love of holiday greens kept me working away until my fingers needed thawing.
A few wreaths laid out on a table before installing them. I’m so lucky we built a larger garage when we built it many moons ago because it comes in handy for setting up and laying out all my materials while I work.
Well, today is a beautiful, sunny autumn day, but I started to think about the holidays ahead and that got me into these photos. I’m looking forward to a weekend of autumn right now however, and I’m sure you are too!
Cathy Testa Container Gardener Plant Gift Creator Plant Enthusiast 860-977-9473 Located in Broad Brook, Connecticut containercathy@gmail.com
Early planning is part of the horticulture process. Plants must be ordered in the winter months for spring deliveries, and evergreens must be ordered in autumn for winter pickups.
And, as much as you try to plan ahead, there will always be things you don’t expect which may cause your plans to not go exactly according to plan, but you adjust, correct, and move on.
On my recently submitted evergreens order for the upcoming December class on making holiday creations with fresh evergreens, there is a disclaimer on the bottom of the confirmation form which reads:
“Prices are from current inventory and WILL change due to availability, season, and any other act of God.”
Can you imagine if this disclaimer was on your plant tag or pot when you buy a plant at a garden center? Imagine the response!
But I so get what this company is saying – and, they say it like it is.
Large Full Size Kissing Ball created by an Attendee at Cathy T’s Annual Winter Class
This post is to provide my blog followers with a heads-up that the class is on the calendar. If you wish to sign-up, which is recommended to do early for seats fill up quickly, see the menu bar above, Cathy T Classes.
When you click on the menu’s option, a drop down list appears with two options for this winter class. One is the “contact form” to sign up, the other provides more details about the class with photos of the items you can make.
As for now, this is all you need to know if you are interested in signing up today to save the date on your holiday calendar.
As soon as you are “in,” more information on the amazing variety of evergreens is provided along with complete details about this class scheduled on December 6th, 2014 – the first Saturday in December.
By the way, we have three “premium” evergreens added this year, which are new for this year’s class! As well as the usual mix of eleven other types of FRESH evergreens.
That is right – a total of 14 varieties of beautiful evergreens to use when you make your holiday creation as an attendee at this Cathy T Class.
You won’t find this elsewhere, I guarantee it – Unless, of course, there is an act of God.
Container Crazy CT 