Afternoon Tea Party A Lost Tradition

    Flying Flowers for Your Next Party

    By: Heidi Gaines

    Looking forward to showing off your hard-earned garden with your friends? Here’s how to throw an unforgettable garden party. Fear the weather? Bring the garden inside. With flowers flying overhead, plants walking into other gardens and ice cube berries, you can make this indoor-from-the-outdoor garden party the most-praised party ever.

    Decorations
    Fly your flowers overhead and delight your friends with this lovely and light-hearted show of your garden’s pride.

    Here’s all you need:

    • Pushpins
    • Fishing line (your darling’s fishing hobby comes in handy after all!)
    • Paper clips (try the colored ones to coordinate with your table cloth and napkins)
    • Paper towels cut into 1" x 4" strips
    • Several of your choice flowers from your garden cut with 1" stems
    1. Fold the paper towel strips into a W form, place the flower stem in the center of the bottom of the W, then secure in place with a paper clip.
    2. Tie a length of fishing line below the paper clip on the stem of the flower and ease the rest of the line under one of the sides of the paperclip (this holds the flower straight).

    Garden share
    Most gardeners have plants ready to divide and share with friends. Making this plant swap a part of your party is a snap. All you need is some squares of paper and a hole punch.

    1. Write on each set of squares, matching numbers in chronological order. For example, if you have seven guests bringing plants to share, you have two sets of numbered squares marked 1 to 7.
    2. Punch holes in one set of squares on one of the corners.
    3. For every plant that walks into your house, use the ribbon to loosely tie one of the numbered squares on, it then fold the matching numbered square and place it in the empty flower pot.
    4. When its time to make the exchange, shake the flower pot to make sure the folded squares are mixed up. Have one guest at a time (don’t forget about you) draw a number from the pot and find the corresponding number on their new plant. If someone happens to get the same number of the plant they brought, simply have them draw a different number, then return the first drawn number to the pot.
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