Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Green Thumb: Flower Arranging With Laurel

Today's flower arrangement: Calla Lilies in Glass Bowl, by my 9-year-old.

Instructions:

* While your mom is catnapping on the couch, expertly navigate the on-demand cable offerings -- the ones your parents can't figure out at all -- to call up a Martha Stewart flower-arranging special. (Trust me, though you may be only 9, you live for this stuff.) Watch the special with laser-like focus, taking notes as you go.

* Your mom is still snoring on the couch, so go out in the yard and gather up some calla lily blossoms, plus a bunch of muddy gravel and some rocks. Bundle them all up in your mom's favorite white linen tea towel and bring them inside.

* Use the kitchen strainer (you know, the one your parents drain the dinner pasta in) to rinse the mud off of the rocks and gravel. Don't worry about the extra mud and gravel all over the counter.

* Find a circular, clear-glass bowl in the kitchen cupboard. Be sure to leave the other ten bowls on the floor, in the exact spot they were when you pulled them all out in your quest to find the most perfect one.

* Put the gravel in the bowl, and fill it with water. Decide that the gravel wasn't rinsed enough, and that the water is too muddy as a result. Dump the whole thing out and start over again.

* Once you're satisfied that the water in the bowl is crystal clear, arrange the rocks in the gravel just so.

* Take a calla lily stem, bend it into a circle, and place it in the bowl so that the bloom rests above the surface of the water. Repeat with the other lilies until they form a blooming ring.

* Carry the bowl into the living room, being careful to only slosh a little bit of water out onto the floor, and find the perfect spot for it on the coffee table.

* Gently nudge your snoozing mom awake, and present her with your masterpiece.

* Make your mom cry. And not because of the mess in the kitchen.

Next time: Inspired by her other idol and culinary muse, Sandra Lee, Laurel bakes up a storm with canned pie fillings, colored sugar, and melted candy bars.

9 comments:

Cardboard said...

Awwww...

So pretty. Laurel's a natural.

Anonymous said...

oh, how beautiful and not just the flower arrangment.

Claire said...

9 years old! That's amazing!

JanelleGrace said...

That's so amazing and sweet. What a dedicated and inspired 9 year old.

Unknown said...

Isn't it a great moment when you see that you and your child share a similar passion. You can't teach that it only comes naturally. She sounds like she's gonna keep you busy - in a good way! Enjoy every minute of it. My beautiful daughter is heading of to design school in San Francisco next year. I'm going to be lost without her.

Anonymous said...

You've gotta love Sandra Lee, although I find she's easier to handle with a glass of vodka in hand!

Cheers!

Anonymous said...

Aww, how cute!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this lovely, poetic story ! Since I have a vivid eidetic imagination I was "seeing" everything you describe Laurel doing and enjoyed it tremendously, smiling wildly.
Thank you
Lucia

Anonymous said...

What a talent your daughter has! Before I read your posting I thought the arrangement in the first photo was created by you or another "grownup". It's wonderful when children find unique ways to express their unique talents! Dirty towels, kitchens, etc. are not so bad when the results are such as this.

 

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