July fourth is just around the corner, and as with any holiday my mind has been swirling with new simple decorating ideas for our home. For this table centerpiece all you will need is some Queen Ann's Lace, red and blue food coloring, several glasses, water and rubber gloves. If you are blessed to live in the country ,or have some open fields nearby you should have no problem finding these wildflowers. I found mind along the roadside. The kids will love getting in on this fun project, and will feel excited to see something they helped make take center stage on the family table!
- Using sharp scissors collect your Queen Ann's Lace by cutting stems at an angle.(I cut them long, and trimmed later.)If possible have a pitcher filled with water with you so you can keep them as fresh as possible.
- Once home fill three vases with a little water. Add red food coloring to one, and blue to the other. I used quite a bit of food coloring, especially the red. Keep one plain for the flowers that will remain white.
- Divide your flowers according to how many red, white , and blue ones you want. Cut at an angle to your desired length.
- Add flowers to vases.
- Let the flowers stand in colored water for several hours. The colored water will absorb up the stem and be deposited into the flowers. ( The longer you keep them in the colored water the deeper the color will become.)
- Now arrange them in the vase of your choice. These would look lovely on a buffet table, or as a center piece.They even look nice in several vases lined up down the center of a table.
*The blue will be more vivid in color then the red. In order to reach desired red color you may need to dip actual flower head into red food coloring, and water mixture. Do this near your kitchen sink. Gently shake off access, and gently pat with paper towel.
For more information on these lovely wildflowers click the links below.
http://www.auburn.edu/~deancar/wfnotes/q_a_lace.htmhttp://lace.lacefairy.com/Fun/QueenAnnsLace.html
2 comments:
Queen Annes Lace is Wild Carrot, I think you will find it was not introduced as a medicinal plant, but escaped into the wild from domesticated carrots brought over by the Pilgrims.
More carrot history at the World Carrot Museum
I sure didn't know there was a World Carrot Museum. I need to look that up.
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