6 Stylish Ideas for Green Plants as Wedding Centerpieces + The House Gardener Giveaway!

Green plants offer a stylish and refreshing alternative to florals for wedding centerpieces. Today, I’m delighted to share with you some inspiring and gorgeous images from Isabelle Palmer’s latest book, The House Gardener. Whether you have a green thumb, limited space, or little knowledge of growing plants, this informative book will give you all the tools you need to incorporate a variety of beautiful plants into your wedding celebrations, as well as your home. As part of the blog tour for this lovely book, I’m thrilled to offer one of our readers a chance to win a copy of this book for your own! Simply leave a comment on this post before midnight CST on Thursday, April 17th, 2014 to be entered into the giveaway. In the meantime, here are 6 stylish and inspiring ideas from The House Gardener for using green plants as wedding centerpieces:

For a bit of desert beauty, glossy green cacti in terra cotta pots look amazing in a variety of glass lanterns. Vintage medicine bottles add a splash of color and gravel provides a monochromatic base for the plants.

Tall wine glasses create elegant terrariums when filled with brown bark, mossy green plants, purple passionflowers, and yellow bachelor buttons for a spark of color. Rustic terra-cotta pots and bottles with clean, simple shapes, make this arrangement versatile enough for a variety of wedding styles from classic to modern.

I love the splash of neon orange paint around the brim of these zinc planters! The bright green succulents inside add a the perfect counterpoint and turn a simple arrangement into a fun and trendy centerpiece.

Old light bulbs repurposed as vases are perfect centerpieces for a modern wedding with retro or industrial flair! The light bulbs have a plumbing ring glued on the bottom for a base to make them more stable. Cuttings from the garden like these white lilac stems and white roses add some romance to the utilitarian feel of the bulbs.

Even humble air plants look beautiful when paired with a bright pink frame! Air plants require very little water or care, and would be an easy-to-tend addition to wedding decor.

Sprays of pastel wildflowers in vintage jars look so charming in a old wooden crate! The perfect centerpiece for a romantic summer wedding!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this glimpse into The House Gardener by Isabelle Palmer! These images are just a few of the stunning ideas showcased in the book. Don’t forget to leave your comment on this post for your chance to win a copy!

The House Gardener by Isabelle Palmer is published by CICO Books and is available from rylandpeters.com

Getting ready for back to school makes me think about pencil crafts, so let’s take a look at some pencil themed knitting patterns!

I recently made a pencil on a circular knitting machine, and it was a fun, quick, easy project that uses little bits of leftover yarn (and if you don’t have yellow you can make it a colored pencil using whatever color’s your favorite). And if you want to make a bigger version check out this pattern from Orange Olive Road on Etsy.

If you want to knit a pencil pillow by hand, check out Sketchy, available on Ravelry from Shana S. Cohen. This one uses worsted weight yarn and has two size options and the choice to make a pencil with an eraser or a colored pencil.

Pencil scarves seem to be the most popular kind of pencil knitting pattern, and there are lot of cute ones. This one from Cosy Craft UK mostly uses garter stitch, with some welts to add texture and what looks like an I-cord edging. It calls for DK weight yarn.

If you want to go all garter stitch try this version from Emsley Co Creations, which uses five colors of DK weight yarn and just a little shaping to make the point of the pencil.

There’s also this fun, mostly stockinette so it looks like it curls a bit, pencil pattern that looks like it’s worked in chunky yarn from Little Knits Studio. This one uses just a little garter stitch and easy shaping for the point.

If you don’t want a pencil scarf, how about some pencil socks? The No. 2 Pencil Socks from The Yarn Enabler are available from Ravelry and use five colors of sock yarn. They feature wide ribs to mimic the texture of a pencil and have options to be worked from the top down or the toe up.

Needs Sharpening by Alexander Walker is a free pattern on Ravelry that uses five colors of sock yarn to make a sort of shortie sock. The little bit of black at the tips of the toes inspired the name. These, too, can be worked in either direction and are available in three sizes.

Have you read?