We're so glad you stopped by for a spell...................

We are happy to be joining in on the Etsy Cottage Style Vintage Alphabet Party today!

The Vintage letters for this month are E and F.

In the 70's we began carrying Fenton Art Glass.

Fenton History

Fenton Art Glass Company is the largest manufacturer of handmade colored glass in the United States.

The Fenton Art Glass Company was founded in 1905 by Frank L. Fenton and his brother John W. Fenton in an old glass factory building in Martins Ferry, Ohio. They began by painting decorations on glass blanks made by other glass manufacturers. Soon, being unable to get the glass they needed, they decided to produce their own glass. The first glass from the new Fenton factory in Williamstown, West Virginia, was made on January 2, 1907. Frank L. Fenton's desire to develop new and unusual colors helped to keep Fenton in the forefront of the handmade art glass industry. During the years from 1905 to the 1920's, Fenton design was influenced by the artists at Tiffany and Steuben. In late 1907, Fenton introduced "Iridescent" glass. This glass, now known as "Carnival" glass, is a popular collectible today. During the 1930's and 1940's, Fenton produced practical items, such as mixing bowls and tableware to get through the depression and WWII shortages. They continued working on developing a wide array of new colors. In the late 1940's, the top three members of the Fenton management team died, leaving Frank M. Fenton, age 33, and Wilmer C. (Bill) Fenton, age 25, to step in and take over as President and Vice President. In spite of other glass factories closing at a rapid rate, Frank and Bill led the Fenton factory through significant American growth for the next 30 years. In 1986, the leadership of the company passed on to the third generation, with George W. Fenton, Frank M's son, taking over as President. Today eight Fenton family members work together along with over 100 employees to create handmade glass artistry that is loved by collectors around the world. Fenton is known for its beautiful colors and patterns. Each piece of glass is an artistic creation by skilled glassworkers and decorators.

This was exerpt was taken from Fenton.com

These are some of the pieces in our personal collection 

E and F are for......................

Fenton Epergne

The Epergne was used to serve finger foods that complimented a meal. It also lent itself to the use of floral arrangements for on sideboards. Usually made of silver by the turn-of-the-century epergnes were also made of glass and pottery. Of course we love to have fruit and flowers spilling out and around.

F is for................................

Fenton Art Glass.

Well, thanks for coming by. We hope if you're in the area sometime you'll stop in. We have a lot of other vinttage containers, but those are for other letters. We are off to visit other party-goers, so come on and follow us thru HERE 

Vintage Alphabet Party

Welcome to the Flower Press! We are so happy to join the Vintage Alphabet Party Alphabet hosted by Etsy Cottage Style and co-hosted by Melody (also our Master Designer)  at Brown Gingham Creations.
We had so much fun last month with the letter "B" and were amazed by all the different things everybody came up with from thier collections.
We're glad to see you came by again and for those who are new to our blog, 'Greetings'!
We hope you enjoy our Vintage Alphabet for 'C' and 'D'



'C' is for...........Candy and Cookie Containers

We love to do designs using vintage containers. Whether chosen by us on one of our vintage scavenger hunts for fresh or permenant botanical designs here in the shop or brought in by a client from thier own collection to create a custom design, vintage containers add charm, character, and a sense of nostalgia that a new container can't.

                   

      

These four candy and cookie tins are from our personal collection. They range in age from the 1900's to the 1960's 

                          

This cute little Bunny Candyholder is from the 1950's. We are surprised to find a whole groupings of these and snatch 'em up quick..it was just in time for Easter. It's perfect to hold a little posy of flowers to brighten someone's day.

This gold plastic candy container is also from the 60's. We thought this would be lovely with an anniversary design of fresh flowers or to hold a vignette of personal collectibles for a client

                                                       We knew this candy box was old, from about the 1930's we thought,  

 but you can believe our shock when, while watching 'Meet Me In St. Louis', Judy Garlands character received this candy box. Remember this movie was depicting the era of the 1904 World's Fair, so costumes and props used were from that era!

This next picture shows what we create with these vintage jewels.........

 

there's a surprise inside.......................

we filled the candy box with beautiful eye-candy. Roses, chrysanthemums, gypsophylia, and alstromeria in a pave' design accented by vintage haberdashery violets, of course, tendrils of boullion, and an exquisite jeweled dragonfly.


We do these in permenant botanicals too like the one below........

This wooden Hershey candy box is a collectible reproduction created in the 1980's. It's designed perfectly to sit on a shelf , atop a kitchen cabinet, or on a dining room buffet. If you look closely you'll see the 'chocolate' chickadee sitting on the corner, but......................... 

when you open the lid the design continues inside!

                                                

We enjoy doing floral designs using items from the past. Not only are containers vintage, but we bet you didin't realize that some fresh flower varieties are vintage also. The bulbs and seeds, like vegetables, can be 'Heirloom'. For example the true French Tulip and the Yellow Rose of Texas. Niether of these plants are allowed to be transported beyond thier respective countries borders....I know Texas isn't a country..sorry Texans, but you're not..... the Yellow Rose stays within it's borders of Texas.....so it stays in the US.  Some flower varieties grown in Holland are vintage. Some Olive Trees in the Medditaranian are very vintage. Some Rose and Chrysanthemum varieties of China are vintage. So all of this leads to our next letter.....'D'
D is for...is the Narcissus, or commonly known as the Daffodil. The sunny yellow Daffodil is a very  

old variety, symbolizing rebirth and new beginnings, the daffodil is synonymous with spring. Daffodils are sometimes called jonquils, which is the genus, but their botanical name is narcissus, which comes from Greek mythology about a handsome Greek youth, Narcissus, who was given his great good looks by the Gods. His beauty was permanent and he was immortal, as long as he never viewed his own reflection. Once, while Narcissus was hunting in the woods, a wood nymph named Echo saw him from afar. He was so handsome, she fell desperately in love, but Narcissus spurned her. She was devastated by his rejection and pined so for her love that soon all that was left of her was her voice. The Gods were not pleased. The goddess, Nemesis, heard about poor Echo, and lured Narcissus to a shimmering lake. He was unable to resist gazing at his own reflection, and fell in love with himself! As he gazed, the divine penalty took effect, and he simply faded away. In his place, beside the water's edge, sprang up the golden flower that bears his name today.

  In England, they’re known as the “Lent Lily”  because of their long association with Lent. In Wales, it’s said if you spot the first daffodil of the season, your next 12 months will be filled with wealth, and Chinese legend has it that if a daffodil bulb is forced to bloom during the New Year, it will bring good luck to your home.

  The daffodil is not only the March birth flower it is also the 10th wedding anniversary flower. A gift of daffodils are said to ensure happiness. But always remember to present two or more daffodils  – the same legends that associate this cheerful flower with good fortune warn us that when given as a single bloom, a daffodil can foretell misfortune.

So, we come to the end our vintage alphabet for this month. We hope you've enjoyed our flowery examples of the letters 'C' and 'D'. We enjoy doing these posts, but we enjoy seeing the other posts even more. Come along with us over to Etsy Cottage Style  we're sure you'll be amazed by the collections.

Alma  @ A&J's Floral Boutique(R)

Vintage 'B' is for........

Vintage 'B'ouquets.
We got excited when Etsy Cottage Style and Melody at Brown Gingham Creations were hosting this get-together. We have the original Vintage 'B', actually one of the oldest.  Now you're probably wondering what could be vintage in a floral bouquet other than the container or embellishments used. Well, the design itself. You see floral design is an ancient artform.
Our modern floral designs such as this........

has thier roots in Ancient Egypt. Archeologists have unearthed various flower containers , as well as seeds of vegetable and flowers, dating back to 1400 BC. In more of the richer tombs they unearthed remenants of floral arrangements,pictures showing  Pharoh's and Queen's carrying Sceptors made of seeds, gems, and flower petals, and in one Nefertiti is even shown wearing a cloak with layers and layers of hand-sewn flower petals and leaves.

Or, this design, which  was inspired by the Ancient Far East practice of Ikebana. Within Ikebana there are different styles such as Rikka, Momoyama, and Enshu to name just a few. The design on the right is of the Moribana style (meaning piled-up) from the turn-of-the-century.

The biblical Hanging Gardens of Babalon were the precursors of the Victorian Terrariums and  todays Dishgardens. The King of Babalon would bring home botanical specimens from diferrent areas of the know world and create miniature hanging bio-gardens as gifts to his Queen. See, even back then a man knew if he had to work odd hours or be gone for long periods, he'd better bring the wife flowers.

The floral garlands, wreaths, and headpieces originated during the 5th century in Rome. The Romans were the first society to give floral bouquets to ill people. You see, illness was brought on by evil spirits and certain botanicals would drive them away. Today, after over 30 years of research, scientisits have found that fresh flowers and botanicals do improve ones overall health and recuperation time. The flowers just make you feel better! Hand-tied bouquets that are popular today were brought to Europe in the 17th century by Dutch explorers from the Pacific Rim Islands. Tropicals flowers were woven together and bound by foliages creating free-standing forms.

Designs found in Colonial Willamsburg were translated from the Beidermier Floral Design (yes, created by the man who began the Beidermier interior design style)

that was created to express color, line, and texture rather than the flower itself.

Our modern centerpeices come to us from revolutionary France.

After the revolution skilled labor/upper class was the enemy of the unskilled/lower class and many saw the guillotine....including florists and the Mille-Fleur (millions of flowers) design was born out of necessity.  Unskilled designers or novices had no knowledge of how to re-create the splendid designs found in the castles of France, (there was no such thing as arranging foam. Designs were literally built) so they just jammed flowers and foliages into containers forming low mounds of botanicals. The bouquet was very popular in colonial America thanks to Thomas Jefferson bringing the design to our shores and in the early 1970's the Colonial Bouquet, as it was known, saw a resurgance in popularity during our bicentennial and has gained momentum even today.. Today in the floral industry they are know affectionately as roundy-moundy-huggable-humps.

Todays floral designers incorporate various styles and techniques from the past to create some of the most creative designs found.

Well, now you see, the next time you receive a beautiful floral design, you are also getting a bit of history with it. Thanks so much for stopping by and hope you come agian. If you'd like to see more of the Vintage Alphabet come with us. over to Etsy Cottage Style thru Here