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[Oznell]

Oh, no -- talking about the Hobby Lobby faux cosmos flowers got me going, again!  Even though I "doth protest" to preferring fresh flowers,  have discovered two more faux botanicals that have that desirable, realistic feeling.

"Stagedby. ana. egger", a California stager, is recommending 3 choices at HL for 'after the New Year' looks-- she's one of those who don't think you have to wait till spring for these.  And she has a very good eye for faux.

Ana kind of went crazy with delight, right there in the flower aisle.  That's a familiar feeling-- do you ever do that?

She loves:

1). the small money leaf branch.  SKU 217166

She showed one way she styled it at home.  It has such a natural, wispy look, yet dramatic.  Love this-

2)  the cosmos spray.    SKU 2016343.    If you can stand hearing about it one more time!  It was kind of gratifying that she picked out the flower that both @GingerHead and I have raved about, ahem:

How she styled it at home--

3). the ranunculus spray.  SKU 1397140

How she styled it:

Have always liked ranunculus --  makes me think a little of wild roses, sort of naive and charming.... Both the ranunculus and the cosmos come in other yummy colors too, including fragile pinks.

I was annoyed to see that the sale seems to be off this week for the flowers?   But I think they alternate sale weeks with regular price weeks, at least some of the time, so it's good to check their ad online before going.

I am going to keep my Christmas evergreen branches in one pot through January, but nice to see a few other ideas for another jar, maybe ....

[skatting44]

Usually will find something nice at Hobby Lobby. I made a wreath of faux succulent plants  based on one of their  craft  brocheures.

[781Florist]

I enjoy the faux aisles at Hobby Lobby and being very particular about the realism quotient of artificial/fake/faux  I am often surprised at the number of stems that are of a very good quality there.

This past Christmas I continued my search for some truly realistic looking faux holly.

I did find some very nice green holly stems at Pottery Barn,but unfortunately the price per stem was just a bit less than the downpayment on a seaside Italian villa.

I then got lucky and stumbled upon some variegated (my favorite!) holly stems at AFLORAL.  The sale price per stem made it affordable enough to fill a vase with 5 stems and I dare anyone to guess whether it is real or not!

That money leaf branch in the pictures might be just the thing for my spring/summer vignette atop my armoire this year.

Thanks for the post and the inspiration!

[GingerHead]

@Oznell 

Those look nice! Oh what a dream job that would be. I would love to be a home stager! 

Thanks for the heads up, I have a trip to Hobby Lobby planned for Friday. I'll be taking a look as well as picking up more of the cosmos (thanks to you).

I do find that plain greenery looks more realistic than a lot of the florals. It is so hard to find good florals. Like we've discussed before, white florals and also I find that colorful florals that look kind of aged or dried look more realistic.

I found some dried looking purple peonies on Amazon and the picture looks fantastic and there's also a video review that looks really good.

I may try these after the smoke from my credit cards dissipate a little. They are a little pricey ($30 for 6) for my bargain hunting self and my husband may leave me if I buy more florals, hopefully not haha

[DSD2]

So lovely @Oznell 

Your posts are so uplifting and so appreciated! 

[Oznell]

How neat, @skatting44 -- I didn't realize they put out instructions for craft projects like that.  A wreath of succulents sounds like it could be striking.

@781Florist ,  hey, the fact that a floral professional like you is even willing to consider faux-- that's a testament to how much better faux flowers have gotten over time, I expect.  And in arranging, you can put all your customary floral design principles to work, making whatever you're creating even more plausible.

I like holly too-- it's one thing I can have that's real, since we have several ( overgrown) bushes in the yard...

@GingerHead ,  those purple peonies are a real find, wow!  It's surprising sometimes what you can get on Amazon.  Love the anomalies, and variation in color, etc.,  making the 'dried look' so believable. 

I too try to stick mostly to branches-- in the last year, I've "branched out" ( ha) a bit more, experimenting some with (so far) a limited number of faux flowers.  They can be hit and miss, so it's a thrill when something works out.  I keep telling myself not to go overboard....

Aww, thanks, @DSD2 ,  much appreciated.   

[skatting44]

@Oznell 

 The Hobby Lobby in my area had  little brochures  on the shelf where they were selling  the succulents.  I made the wreath  abt 2 yrs ago .

I put the  faux flowers outside  spring/summer/fall  in my urns as the deer  eat every flower  and come up to my front door.

[SactoSue]

Oh, so true. 

I thought I was the only one who felt that Pottery Barn stems always seem to cost as much as my first car