We are pleased to announce that there will be a singing performance during our designer’s lunch break. Stacey Leathersich has agreed to perform and entertain show goers.

If you’d like a preview, please visit her website or Facebook page. Here’s a link to a YouTube video.

If you need more information about our upcoming Spring/Wedding Floral Design Show in San Diego, see our announcement for more details.

…Maybe eating candy from a mummy’s head?  Halloween is loved by many because it’s spooky, because you get to be someone else for a night, and because you are allowed to scare the wits out of the neighborhood.

What goes better with Halloween gatherings than drinking your hot cocoa from a skull mug or grabbing some fruit from a platter but getting an eyeball instead?  Not only do your guests get a kick out of it but you can choose to use your Halloween tableware anytime during the year, just to keep your friends guessing.

Many of our mugs and candy bowls have assorted designs.  Stop by the store to see the varieties above and check out some of your online choices (to the right).  Always be sure to check if your mug or tableware item is food-safe, read our food-safe blog for more information.

Don’t forget to stop by the grocery store for some hot cocoa mix, hot apple cider, or other favorite hot fall drinks!

Spiders, bats, rats, and similar creatures of horror movies and dark passageways are found at the best and scariest Haunted Houses and parties at Halloween.  In regards to patterns in nature, it would be unlikely to see some of these frightening critters alive and awake on Halloween.  Normally, bats would be hibernating or migrating to a warmer climate in order to live through the winter and many varieties of spiders will have laid eggs and died by the time the weather gets cooler.  Now, of course, in sunny Southern California you never know… (cue favorite horror movie music.)

Most of us prefer to be surrounded by the plastic or paper variety of insects and rodents at our parties…I mean really, who wants to share their Halloween treats with some critter, or anyone else for that matter?  Because of that, I wanted to introduce you to some of the creepy crawly critters we carry here at Shinoda’s.  Check out the links to the right for some of our online items and come on into the store to see what else we have.  Remember we only have about 20% of our overall store inventory online.

Thanks to Science & Nature Suite 101 for their article on Halloween Nature Myths, you can read more information at www.suite101.com/scienceandnature.

Why not bring some of the beauty of Autumn indoors?

Today I wanted something simple and quick that included fall colors and leaves.  I chose candles, maple leaves, and some fabric and added in some pottery from my cupboard.  As I said earlier, I love piles of leaves, so there is some necessary disarray in my ideas.  Wind doesn’t blow leaves into a straight line.  Here are some unfinished ideas my brainstorming produced…

Stay tuned for some Halloween merchandise next week!

Floral competitions generally have 2 parts: Designer’s Choice and Surprise Package.  There is usually a theme for the designs and there are of course size limitations.

For this competition, the designers were given 45 minutes to complete the first portion based on the theme ‘Riding in Style.’  They came with their flowers fully in tact, their armatures or containers set, and their tools ready.  It’s fascinating to see the designs come to life, especially in this case because they had to incorporate ‘Riding.’  We saw tires, steering wheels, little toy cars, checkered flags, and various carriages and wheels.

The Surprise Package is great because none of the designers know what to expect.  They are all given the same materials: flowers, greens, ribbon, tulle, chenille (pipe cleaners to those of us outside of the industry), flat wire, oasis, pew holders, and in this case wire hangers and a chair.  They had 30 minutes to complete their design.

The goal was to use the materials present to create a floral design that would decorate the chairs for a VIP benefit dinner sponsoring a racing event.  A few of us discussed this part of the competition afterwards and decided next time the Surprise Package should include Match Box cars….ooo! or maybe toy tires to tie into the ends of the ribbon.  I think it could work.  This was a tough theme!

After long deliberation and tallying, the winners were announced:

1^st place: Suzie Bowen

2^nd place: Sonja Longley

3^rd place and People’s Choice Winner: Masako Lesure

I did make it into the other parts of the fair, but I stayed away from those fried concoctions everyone is so crazy about.  Maybe in another 20 years…I’ll stick to flowers for now.

See you around the store!

Stacey

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