Monday, April 12, 2010

forsythia: golden crowns

Every year the Forsythia burst into bloom around the first of May. We often make golden crowns to celebrate. Not this year... what a wild early spring we're having! Everything is exploding, and our bush is filled with glowing yellow blossoms weeks ahead of schedule. So, we made our crowns over the weekend. It really doesn't get much simpler than this. Any blooming branch with long, supple stems will do. Perhaps a willow?  Snip a long "strand". If the sky is blue... hold it up and sigh. Ahhh.
 Wrap around the wearer's head for measurement. Pinch  the stems at the right length and tie with a strip of jute for an earthy look or rainbow ribbons for something a bit more fancy.
 You can also make one from a fuller branch, if you prefer. Just make sure it bends easily:
 These 2 minute crowns transform a child (or an adult) into nature's royalty... or at the very least a woodland sprite. My daughter and I have been playing in her Forest House every minute we can, and these crowns were the perfect accessory! I promise to share photos of her little home tucked underneath  the Arborvitae soon. We just have a little more spring cleaning to do! Between her house in the trees and our real house, I've been jumping from one home project to another.  I'm enjoying the new found energy that comes with our brighter days. February and March tend to be a bit dreary around here... Oh, April: I love you so!  What's blooming in your neck of the woods?

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24 comments:

  1. Azaleas! My goodness, the azaleas around here are insane this year! Everything else is still just sprouting, though. The flowers on our Japanese Magnolia came and went about a month ago already. Oh and the dogwood trees. We don't have any in our yard, but our neighbor's is full of gorgeous white flowers.

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  2. This is such a cute idea and they look adorable on your Daughter :) I'll be she's enjoying her little play house, too!
    Here in Iowa, we have Mini Iris's and daffodils blooming.

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  3. forsythia of course! and the lilacs are setting up here.
    love these forsythia crowns. we have a big wedding coming up this weekend. i think that the girls will be wearing them to the festivities. thank you!

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  4. Me at the moment! I've three months to go on pregnancy number two and the bump is getting bigger and kickier by the day! The forsythia pics were a blast from the past as we had a big bush of it in our back garden when I was little. Beautiful pics!

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  5. What a lovely idea! I wonder if I could do that with the honeysuckle that's just showing green in my garden? I bet I could! Whether or not my very grown up 12 year old will co-operate remains to be seen. I can always just wear it myself!Lots of love, Amanda xxx

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  6. oh beauty of a crown! Indead makes a princess. Very nice.

    Early spring; YES. we are suposed to have a liliac festival in may, I am afraid the lilacs will be at the end of their bloom by then.

    love your post, love your blog!

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  7. My favorite in the springtime! They are so beautiful!

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  8. it's forsythia here, too! my daughter has the chicken pox but doesn't want to be inside. we made her a special place under the forsythia bushes with her silks for her to hide out in the shade. i posted about it on my blog.

    happy spring!

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  9. Great idea..I love these crowns and so will my kids! Happy Spring!
    Suzy

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  10. this sudden arrival of spring certainly has caused things to bloom quite early here too!

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  11. hands-down my favorite thing to do on a summer day with my girls...daisy chain crowns in the park, beautiful post!!

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  12. Beautiful crowns! Our lemon, orange and pear trees are flowering which is a feast for the senses. The apple tree and mulberry tree are just budding leaves too. Pretty much everything is beautiful right now. I LOVE April too.

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  13. Guess there's lots of spring flowering posts going on! I posted about forsythias this morning too!
    Happy April!

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  14. I've never been that crazy for forsythia, but after reading your post, and seeing that pretty crown (and the jug), I see it differently! I might just have to plant one for next spring.

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  15. Ahhhhhhh,thank you - that made me smile! My mother used to have forsythia in her front garden and would always cut me some to take home before it came into bloom. I used to love going into my living room each morning to take a peek waiting for the morning when the bare branches had burst into bright yellow, sunshiney, chaotic bloom. Magical.

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  16. Love. Now I have to do this with my daughter. And I wonder if there is a way to do it that would make my son happy, too? Probably a forsythia sword. Sigh. A forest house he'd like, though. Let's see your bower.

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  17. I have never made one of those before. We had a lot of these kind of trees when I was younger, but never knew the name of them or made wreaths like the ones pictured. So cute.
    In Illinois it's still chilly even though we get some warm days here and there. My daffodils and hyacinths have bloomed and am looking forward to the tulips popping up.

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  18. we have a large forsythia bush here, i love it, hubby hates it once the flowers die. It has been blooming a few weeks now, so early!

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  19. Oh my look at that blue sky! That would be lovely for a wedding :)

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  20. thanks for your forsythia love. A wedding does sound wonderful!

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  21. Yes, it does! How about combining forsythia and that cheesecloth you were blogging about earlier? What a wedding-dress combination that would be!

    (I used to use cheesecloth for wedding veil dress-ups, when I was a girl. I still love it.)

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  22. what a lovely idea! here Spring is late this year, apart from the forsythia which has been in splendid bloom for a couple of weeks already.

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