{ Vintage Glasses (similar) | Noritake Cher Blanc Platter }
Reason Number 2,457,244 why Trader Joe’s is the best thing that has ever happened to life, ever: they have beautiful fresh flower arrangements that are actually affordable, and also seem to be preternaturally long-lasting. Which is wonderful, because spending twenty bucks on a grocery-store bouquet that falls to pieces within 24 hours is both the worst and something I tend to not do (because it literally feels like ripping up a twenty-dollar bill and throwing it out of my car window). And while the idea of being one of those people who trots off to the florist for some lovely fresh blooms has its appeal…I mean, lol.
But I do a lot of entertaining, and also take a lot of photographs of said entertaining, and I’ve discovered that having a few fresh flowers laying around is kind of huge in terms of making your table (and home, generally) feel lovely and fresh and inviting. And they’re really useful for adding texture and color to images, if you too are a table-photographer (see this post for evidence).
Recent discovery: a solution for the want-flowers-but-do-not-want-to-spend-a-fortune-on-them-only-to-have-them-die conundrum. You know those bouquets of green stuff (that’s a technical term) that you can buy in pretty much any supermarket, and are like four bucks because they’re clearly intended to be used as filler? Buy one, snip off the ends so that the branches are about 6-8 inches each, and put them and a little water in a row of narrow, highball-style glasses (I found the vintage ones you see here at Goodwill for twenty-five cents apiece). Set the glasses on a long platter, toss a few more green bits around, and you’re done.
Oh, so cheap. Oh, so easy. And – best part – oh, so pretty. (Totally lying. The best part is the cheap and easy part. But it’s nice that it’s pretty, too.)
