fun happy things

May 25, 2012

Forest greens arrangement :)

Hello everybody!

So I have a bit of a obsession with picking up greens, flowers, sticks and stones from the forest when I go for walks now! So you will probably see a lot of posts on arrangements coming up soon ;) I need to practice!

I love love love the messy floral look these days so I try and make it as messy as possible! To get this look you need to incorporate a wispy stem, face flower and foliage like I said on my Monday post about arrangements. I grabbed some dried hydrangea, ferns ( young and old), vines, huckleberry branches, branches with greens and white flowers…and a whole lot more that I unfortunately cannot name!

Before you buy flowers why don’t you take a walk outside and see what you can find? It’s spring so there are a lot of wild flowers out there…pick away…but don’t pick your neighbors flowers…they don’t like that. ahha

get some vases and fill them with fresh cold water! You don’t have to use a typical vase…why not use a watering can??

I started layering the stems starting with foliage at the back of the can.

I then added face flowers which were hydrangeas and then filled it up from there!

For the second arrangement I chose to showcase the white flower blooms from the branches I plucked!

I ended up with a really wild arrangement! It was so fun to make! If you attempt one put some music on and have a coffee while you enjoy putting one together because you can take as much time as you want…it’s a piece of art you’re making ;)

Hope you enjoyed this!!!

Would you like to see more arrangements? Let me know because I’ll keep posting more and more if everyone is liking them!

Have a wonderful/great/fantastic day!!

xoxo Nat

May 23, 2012

What I’ve been up to lately…

Setting up our patio for BBQ’s this summer….

unpacking….

taking forest walks with Jason and Luna….

Driving lots…….

Putting up painted sticks over the bathroom window…..

and more unpacking……

All these photos are from my instagram….I don’t know about you but I’m absolutely obsessed with it…you can follow me @nataliebjordal. I will be back with some decor shots of our new place next week so stay tuned!

Have a great Tuesday ;) I hope something wonderful happens!

xox Nat

http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/gardening/flowers/flower-arrangements-00100000061704/page3.html

May 22, 2012

Messy Floral Arrangement!

Hello everyone!!

I’ve been busy unpacking this weekend but I find myself taking breaks quite frequently to craft or go for walks…I think I have a little case of ADD. We now live right by Grouse Mountain so there are beautiful trails everywhere and our golden retriever Luna just loves it here! When I went on a walk the other day I picked up some wild poppies, clovers, wispy weeds and some unknown cute purple flowers ;) I’m so happy to say that I FINALLY FIGURED OUT HOW TO MAKE A MESSY FLORAL ARRANGEMENT!!! I’ve been pinning all these messy bouquets on pinterest lately ( like the one above) and I’ve been wanting to make some messy natural looking arrangements myself but it is truly an art and I wasn’t quite sure how to do it….until I read this….

Once I read the mix & match chart and the tips & tricks of floral arrangements….every bouquet or arrangement I make is sooo much better! Now the one I’m showing you is definitely not like the one above but the idea and elements mimic it ;) You need some face flowers, foliage and wispy stems to make one of these arrangements.

For the face flower I used poppies because that is the only big faced flower I could find outside. I used clover and the purple flower vine for foliage, weeds and long vines for the wispy stems! I first added the foliage to the vase and then the poppies, now just fill the rest of the vase up with the stems you have and play around with height!

Make the wispy stems longer so they fly out of the arrangement. I love how the poppies stems bend in every which way…it kind of gives it a whimsical look!

Why don’t you go for a walk today and see what you can find outside to make a whimsy arrangement?? I would love to see what people come up with so send some pics to me ;)

Let me know what you think about this one!!! I’m still learning so I would love to get your feedback!

Hope you have a wonderful week!!

xox Nat

May 21, 2012

We just moved all our stuff from our apartment downtown to our new house in North Vancouver yesterday! Yay! I can’t tell you enough how awesome it is to get movers and use frog boxes!! Jason and I usually have a few spats during moving day/week but this time was very different because everything went smoothly! I highly recommend using both the next time you move…and drinking palm bays and beers!!

We are so so happy in our new place! Jason and I both grew up in Deep Cove in North Van and we missed it so much! Excited for hiking, picnics, biking, crafting, swimming, BBQ’s and parties this summer!!

Hope everyone has a great long weekend!! I’ll be very busy making our home a comfy place so the posts will be a bit scattered next week!

Xoxo Nat

May 20, 2012

Fixing up our house!

I told you earlier this week I would post some photos of us fixing up the house…. well feast your eyes on these babies….

BEFORE….

AFTER….

I like to paint things white….it’s a nice blank canvas to work off and white always makes a dark space lighter!!! When in doubt paint it white!!

I also planted some succulents I had bought earlier last week and made a little succulent garden in the front!

BEFORE……

AFTER…..

Stay tuned for more pictures!!! We are officially moving in this weekend so the posts will be a bit sparse next week so I apologize in advance!!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!

xoxo Nat

May 18, 2012

FLORALS!

A bride asked me to do the florals on her wedding day and I’m so thrilled to help! I immediately went to my flower wholesaler and bought a bunch of flowers that fit into the rustic theme and made practice bouquets/bouts!

What do you think?????? This is my first crack at making a bouquet…..

These again were just practice so don’t judge..ahha! Let me know your thoughts on them! I love to hear feedback ;)

xoxo Nat

May 17, 2012

DIY Chalkboard conversation bubbles!!!

Need a new idea for photo booth props at your wedding?? Why not make some chalkboard conversation bubbles???!!! Scrap the moustaches, hats and glasses and opt for the bubbles instead! Guest can write anything that they want on them and it’s a fun activity for the photo booth!

I made these bubbles for a good friend that asked me to come up with an idea for a photo booth for her cousins wedding!

What you need:

* exacto knife

* Chalkboard sticker paper

* black foam core

* chalk

First- peel the backing of the chalkboard sticker paper and start applying it to the foam core board. Make sure you do this slowly and smooth out bubbles as you apply!

Second- draw out your bubbles with your chalk

third- cut out the bubbles carefully with the exacto knife following the lines the you drew with chalk.

Now you have awesome chalk board conversation bubbles!!!

I also added some fabric to the back for a handle…just glue a strip on with a hot glue gun!

I packaged Kerry’s props up all nice in a crafted tote bag I made her and added my cards to it to give out that night!!

If anyone needs some inspiration or ideas for their next event please contact me!!!

xoxo Nat

May 16, 2012

Wedding Madness!!

I worked on a wedding last weekend in Pitt meadows! It was a extreme DIY wedding filled with lovely crafty details (my fav)! It was a long 16 hour day that Saturday but it was worth it to see the bride and grooms face when they saw the reception and ceremony site! Here are some pics of all the details…..

Assorted succulents that I made for the table settings that were planted in cute mason jars!

Succulents packed up and ready to be delivered on the wedding day bright and early at 7:00am!

We first attacked the big project of covering the ugly artwork on the wall in the Pitt Meadows community centre hall with thousands of streamers…..this literally took us 4 hours to complete! I had to climb up a 15 foot ladder to attach the streamers to the top…I was peeing my pants in fear of falling down the ladder! I was remembering the scene from Christmas Vacation when Clarke Griswald slid down the ladder and thinking that would definitely happen to me! But we managed to do it with lots of help from the groomsmen and the lovely ladies from the Filosophi team!!

The bride couldn’t afford to buy a cake so Erin of course was so nice and surprised the bide with this beauty!!!

It was such a nice day was and they got married in front of the beautiful river right under the crepe paper alter I made :) So many great details involved!!!

I’ll be posting lots of weddings soon! I have many coming up quick!!!

xoxo Nat

May 15, 2012

Our New House!!

We are moving to a new house this week…a small cozy 3 bedroom & den rancher in North Vancouver ;) We are so terribly sad to leave our wonderful apartment on Granville St. downtown but we are soooo sooo missing outdoor space, hiking trails, family and friends so we decided to make the big move back to the North Shore!! Here’s a little preview of our little rancher…

It’s not looking so fresh right now but I’m going to clean it up and give it a little Natalie Bjordal touch ;) It’s got a wood burning fireplace and hard wood throughout!!

The best thing about our landlord is that he’s letting us paint anything we want, change the floors, hardware etc….it’s awesome! It almost feels like we’re moving into our own home!! First things first….going to paint the door RED!

Super excited to have a hydrangea hedge right outside again! I love my ranunculus but my other favourite flower is definitely a hydrangea!

Nice big backyard for me to build more furniture, paint, have BBQ’s and play with our dog Luna!!

The best thing about this house is the location….the pictures below are from the Cleveland dam…it’s 2 minutes away from our house….literally! EPIC!

Stay tuned for before and afters of our new place!!

Have a great week everybody!! Hope everyone had a great mothers day on Sunday!

xoxo Nat