Flowers and Crafts and Paula, oh my!

It’s become somewhat of a tradition for me and my pal, Paula, to attend the annual Spring Garden Festival at Kananapah Botanical Gardens. The main reason we go is to, obviously, ooh and aah over all the pretty plants and flowers. Paula has a huge green thumb! That girl can grow anything and has a beautifully landscaped back yard to prove it. I, on the other hand, am the Angel of Death to the plant world. The few unlucky plants that continue to persevere under my "care", sit around in their pots full of bone dry soil and count off the days by scratching little tick marks in the siding. All the while, the neighbor's potted plants mock them with their healthy green foliage and happy blooms.

Well apparently my plants have been talkin' trash on the streets 'cause the festival's plant vendors now refuse to deal with me. I'm forbidden from taking anymore plants home. One vendor even went so far as to protectively clench a potted ivy to her chest and glare menacingly as she shouted, "you should be ashamed of yourself!"

So lucky for me (and apparently plants everywhere), the festival also has tons of craft booths and garden art.


Check out the bottle trees! How fun are they?!


But you know me well enough to know that I have a giant magnet in my behind that will pull me towards anything with a retro flair. (Ummm... and just to clarify, this is also the same magnet that keeps me attached to the couch for hours at a time. I believe it must be the springs. It's a good theory... go with it.) Anyways, one of the craft vendors made all sorts of fun jewelry and frames using "found" vintage items. And the manner in which she presented everything was so clever! Like for her earrings and barrettes (which are crafted from vintage beaded necklaces), she displayed on retro playing cards.


But my favorite items in her booth were these:


Believe it or not, these are actually meant to be worn as pins. Eh... well, maybe. But as soon as I saw them, I started re-working them for scrapbooking purposes. I love, love, love the flowers made from old tape measures and zippers. And the tomato pin cushion?! Shut Up! Maybe use some Fancy Pants Simplicity paper or Graphic 45 paper to alter a small wooden box, top it off with the pin cushion posie and, hello, new button bin! Ooo... ooo... or maybe use actual pattern tissue paper to cover the box! Clearly I'm all excited over the tape measure/zipper posies. The excitement was almost enough to make me forget about this little beauty:


Almost. Paula was able to distract the plant's vendor while I made a run for it!

And no! I'm not ashamed of myself.