The Flags that I Love. . .

Hello my friends,

hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend!

 

Did you know that when I hear the word flags that not only do I think of our beloved red, white, and blue American flag,

 

 

 

 but I also think of a beloved flower often used to decorate the graves of loved ones on Memorial Day.

 

 

My sweet mother often referred to her Iris as flags.  I never really knew why, but just assumed it was because she used them to decorate for Memorial Day.

 

 

Wrong!

So why do some people refer to Iris as flags?

 

 Best Answer:  Only German Iris are referred to as "Flag Iris." It's because they have four petals up and four down. The French Fleur de lei is based on them.
Dutch Iris are called "Dutch" and Japanese Iris are called "Japanese" and so on.

 

I found that to be very interesting.  I wonder if my dear Mother even knew this about her beloved Iris?

 

 So when Memorial Day approaches, whether you are talking about this flag,

or
this flag,

Either way, she's a grand ol' flag.

 I love them both!

 

 

And I bet you can guess what flowers I decorated my family graves with.  Yup, flags!

 

hugs,

Jann

            

 

 

Cloche Encounters of the Chicken Wire Kind. . .

Hello my friends, last week I mentioned that I would be sharing how to make chicken wire cloches.

 

 

They really aren't difficult.  Just take a little time and patience Fun to use in the garden and I love them for styling vignettes.

 

Supplies needed:

Chicken wire

Wire cutters

needle nose pliers

gloves

extra wire (opt.)

 

I have my cute craft day ladies to help me demonstrate.

 

Margo is showing that you just curl the chicken wire around to see about how big you want your cloche.  One garden book showed that you could form it around a plastic pot, but I don't find it necessary.  This works just great!

 

 

Next, using wire cutters cut clear up the chicken wire.  Leaving an excess of 1-2 octagons for overlapping.

 

 

Cut close to one of the octagons, not in the middle.  That way you will have plenty to wrap with.

 

This photo is totally blurry, but I was too lazy to take another one.  :)  I think you can see what I mean.

 

 

 

Kimi is showing her piece all cut.

 

(ignore the messy deck)

 

 

That nice preformed edge will be the bottom of your cloche.

 

overlap and line up the octagons.  Wearing gloves and using needle nose pliers, weave that little wire piece in and around until you get a nice tight circumference.  You can work with the shape more later. I can wrap it better with just my hands, but some people are masters with the needle nose pliers.

 

Now this is where the fun begins.  Decide if you want your cloche smaller.  If so, you can cut some off the top.  Just be careful to not cut too much. Also now is when you decide if you want to add something to the top or finish with just the wire.

 

 

The top one I just kept working with the wire until I formed a round knob on top.

 

This one I kind of flaired it out.

 

Or you can cut around your top.  About every other one and add something cute to it.  This is where you will use the extra wire.

She will continue working this in towards the center until she gets a small hole.  You will wrap the ends in and out just like you did to form the circumference.

Here are three that doorknobs were added to the top.  I made this one a few years ago.  The pearls are a napkin ring.  Use wire to attach your knob and then put a washer underneath the screw inside to hold it in place.  Hubby cut the screw off for me.

Karen's-she will doll it up at home and
screw will be cut off

Paula's knob had fabulous aqua patina on the bottom.

 

The possibilities are endless.  Joanne used a darling thrift find salt shaker on the top of hers.  Love her ribbons too!

 

 

I love this knob that looks like a faucet and cute tag Cathy used!

 

 

She also made this sweet little one.  Embellishing them

 is so much fun!

 

 

Paula turned one of hers into a southern belle.

 

 

Shirley is one of our circus theme lovers.  How cute is this?

She made hers kind of oval shaped.  Clever!

 

 

Are you wondering why I have Margo and Kimi demonstrating, but then don't show their cloches?  Silly me!  We did this twice.  I forgot to take instruction photos the first time and forgot to take finished cloche photos the second.  Ha, ha!  How funny is that?

 

In my post My Fair Ladies the cloches became wire skirts.  Like I said, the possibilities are endless! 

 

Hope you will share your chicken wire cloches if you decide to give this a try!

hugs,

Jann

 

I will be sharing with these lovely parties:

Thoughts of Home

Share Your Cup Thursday #199

Hello and welcome to Share Your Cup, (SYC for short).

 

The party where you share the things that make you happy.

 

It's what your hosts call, "filling your cup".

 

It's my (Jann's) week to pick features.

 

But before I do I want to remind you that the Garden Party Carol and I have joined with the gals from Thoughts of Home is still going on.  Please hop over and link up your garden themed posts!

 

 

Let's take a look at what your hosts have been up to this week.

 

Jo shared a great tutorial on how to make her darling

Crinkly Joey Flowers

 

 

 She also shared that she is going to be helping to decorate her two adorable granddaughters bedroom in Sweet Dreams.

 

 

 Carol's Garden Party post Cruisin the Neighborhood is a delightful tour!

 

 

 She also shared that although she loves color, she is moving towards  A Lighter Look in her darling cottage.

 

 

I have been adding a garden theme to my home with Baskets and Bees and made a bee banner to hang from the mantle.

 

 

For the Garden Party I shared the flowers in my May Garden.

 

 

Now for the features from SYC #198:

*Please remember to pin from their site and not ours.

 

Carol from The Red Painted Cottage took us along on a fabulous vintage flea market!

 

 

Heidi from My Sweet Cottage shared her makeover of an old chair for her garden.

 

 

Olivia's Creative Quest gave her hutch a new look by adding some vintage find lace.

 

 

Rita from Panoply shared the profusion of blooms in her beautiful garden.

 

 

Debbie Dabble shared her fabulous score of fiestaware at an

 estate sale.

 

 

Thel's Kitchen shared the recipe for these delicious Madeleines.

 

 

Thanks so much for sharing and please grab our button

if you were featured.

 

 

 

May in the Garden and Garden Party. . .

Hello my friends,

hard to believe that spring is whizzing by and summer will be here before we know it.

 

There's no better place to be than in the garden.

and

no better thing than to stroll (virtually) through one another's.

 

Once again Carol and I are joining the ladies from Thoughts of Home for our 2nd Garden Party.

The first one was so fun and I am looking forward to what you share this month!

 

 

Here in Utah, May has been a very rainy month.  We've only turned our sprinklers on 2 or 3 times.

The garden is loving it and things are popping up all over.

 

One of the things I look forward to most in May are the Lilacs!

I planted this Sensation variety a couple years ago.  Isn't it sweet how each petal is lined with white?

 

 

 I have three dwarf Korean lilacs planted behind my pergola.  It's like sniffing a bit of heaven every time I walk outside!

 

Bleeding hearts are planted in between.  I adore the pairing of pink and purple!

 



 

Sweet Rocket and Jupiters Beard.  Pink Peonies are right next to them and ready to open any day.

 

 

Sweet Rocket varies in shades of white, lavender, and purple. I started with a couple of gifted plants and now have them sprinkled throughout my garden.

 

 

I bought a new Peony already in bud.  It's name is Mr. Ed.   I found that to be a bit comical.  I always thought Mr. Ed was a horse.  :) It started out very pale pink and opened to be almost totally white.

 

 

 

The early spring trailing plants on the rock wall have started to fade and new ones are taking over.

 

 I love the little steppables and moss planted amongst the flagstone just inside our gate.

 

 

One of my Clematis shared it's first bloom.

 

Mtn. Bluet (perennial bachelor button)

Chives

 

 

The Golden Chain tree is always beautiful and Iris are really putting on a show!

 

I shared this collage of my Iris varieties on Instagram.  I love them because they were one of my dear mother's favorites.

 

 

 

I adore beautiful whites here and there throughout the garden!

 

Columbine

 

Meadow Rue

Anemone (these have bloomed for an entire month.  catching the tail end of them here)



 

 Snowball bush

 

Solomon Seal

 

Hubby got our pondless waterfall running and the sound is

pure delight!

 

 

 

I'm still adding pops of coral shades for the upcoming June wedding of our grandson.

 

 

 

Yes, thanks to the rain things are growing very lush.  I plant heavily as it is and there is hardly a bare space on top of my rock wall.

 

But of all the things popping up, this has to be my favorite.

 

 

Yes friends, we've got walls!

The garden shed is beginning to take shape.

Boy was I ever doing a happy dance when the rain finally stopped on Saturday and this happened!!

 

Now I can't wait to see what you have to share!
Link up your gardens or anything garden related.

And be sure to visit the other hosts:
Art and Sand
At Home With Jemma
Poofing the Pillows
White Spray Paint
Decor to Adore

 

An InLinkz Link-up