Amy’s note: Welcome to Sara Vahle, HNWN’s first guest blogger! Sara is an awesome graphic designer, and will be popping by at least once a month to share some crafty goodness from her life.
But before I hand her the mic, I have to tell you a few things I love about Sara:
- She likes dresses. The day I saw Sara’s closet was a happy day. Until I saw Sara’s closet, I thought I had to stock mine with plenty of slacks. Because, well, because people wear pants. But I like dresses! And skirts! So why can’t a girl mostly wear dresses? She can.
- She gives Thanks. Quite literally. Instead of just saying it, Sara will give you something to show her gratitude. At least, she did once for me and I thought it was awesome. (She made one of these crocheted plant cozies for me when I put in a good word for her on a job.)
- She’s zesty. As in, zest for life. As in, plays volleyball on Saturday mornings, rides her 80’s bike around town, moved to Afghanistan for two years to teach kids art, and has probably 150 good friends (which is apparently the max).
Now, without further adieu, a beautiful creation by Sara.
How to Create an Eco-Friendly Centerpiece
My task: Create a table decoration for an eco-friendly baby shower for my good friend, Stacy. It turns out decorating in an environmentally conscious way can save some major cashola and it can be tres cuter than cheesy crepe paper and balloons! I found a great post on Design*Sponge that inspired me to create a cluster of little vases using mostly the foliage from my garden. Mine took on a little different form, but I was really pleased with the results.
Here’s the method to my madness:
- I grabbed all of the mason and jelly jars from our kitchen (that normally serve as water glasses).
- I then washed out a few juice jars and an olive oil container. As long as it was glass, I saved it! I wiped a little goo-gone on the label glue to make it extra clear as well.
- I spent about 6 bucks at Central Market on flowers (one bouquet of small mums and one stem of green berries). I made about 7 arrangements with the flowers, berries and vines from my yard.
- I added a few tealight candles and greenery to the bottom of jelly jars and placed them amongst the vases to create a subtle glow.
… And viola! an earth-friendly, very green, and eye-catching table arrangement!
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I'm Amy Hadley. On HNWN! I give ideas and inspiration for organizing, decorating and homemaking. It's your home. You should love it. 
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9 Comments
Love it! It feels casual and fresh out of the garden!
I know! It has me all distracted on hikes now, eyeing the foliage for what would look good in jars.
And I’m a total jar hoarder now, too! Jelly and mason jars are so much more interesting for vases and drinking glasses!
tres cute. i bet one eco-friendly stacy loved this. great discription of sara too Amy – i will now follow your blog and re-commit to cute-ifying my african home – jars are not very common here but i’m already thinking of a certain new jar of jelly that could be moved into a tupperware for the sake of home decor! hooray!
I totally put roses from our courtyard in Kabul in spaghetti/mason jars in my room (we could get those in Kabul, not sure if you can get those in Kampala). It just made things feel homey when the outside world felt everything but. I’m pretty sure I have a pic, I’ll have to find it an upload it!
Eco-friendly Stacy DID love it!
Way to go, Sari! Turns out there’s more to you than a pretty face and out-of-sight dance moves!
awesome sara! always such the creative one…now all i have to do is find me some mason jars…hmmm, what did the NORTHEAST do with all their mason jars?
Its all about the spaghetti jars! Surely Bean Town has those somewhere! I like the Bertolli jars because they’re a bit tapered at the bottom and they kinda look like a real vase.
What a great idea! They came out beautiful and for a fraction of what you would have paid for something store bought. You are so creative!