October is the month that I'm headed to 1345 Piedmont Avenue Northeast to the Atlanta Botanical Garden right here in the United States in Georgia, right at home! I'm super excited to be invited to speak, demonstrate and design under the magical ATL moonlight as it transforms the grounds of one of the most storied places in the city into one of the spookiest outings this season.
Scarecrows in the Garden boasts dozens of creations by local artists, crafters, youth groups, and others like, guess what? ME with Colonial House of Flowers! While creepy creations are scattered around the park throughout October you'll be able to check it all out by flashlight at Fest-of-Ale. I have heard from so many people that it is a sight to behold.
Look for me tucked away sharing my best tricks for craft/floral/botanical design with little projects you can make and take for a treat!
See Atlanta's Boozy Fest of Ale Returns This Season, Secret Atlanta
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Credit: Atlanta Journal Constitution
Photo from Halloween Scarecrows In The Garden, Phillips World
You can find details for the Blooms & Beers classes on October 5, 13, here. Details for the Great Pumpkin Carving Festival that's part of Scarecrow in the Garden on October 22 can be found here. Whether you stop in to make and take a dried botanical wreath or a succulent pumpkin, or take fright to pop over to say "hello" I am grateful!
I love wreaths, foraged florals that are dried and fresh and succulents this time of year so plan to plenty of those signature mediums and design ideas.
(Above) Design by Christy Griner Hulsey | Styling by Tristan Needham Design | Photo by The Happy Bloom
I hope to see you in October! I've got all of our craft supplies read to go, and of course have beautiful flowers and plants to share. My family even pitched in to help me put together one of our French Bucket Flower Stem Rack that I think will bring some old world and total CHOF to my little teaching space. The rack is really easy to put together. It's available for sell, www.colonialhouse.net. I love the Instagram reel created by Estevania Dillion. Photos showing the simplicity of this retail flower shop piece's and Florista Farm's beautiful social media post are below:
A Little About Me And How I Got Into Floral Design:
My family is deeply rooted in the south Georgia area. My dad worked in forestry, my grandad had a timber firm and my grandma was a natural forager and gardner. I grew up being sent to the garden and hearing stories about trees and flowers and landscapes. As a member of our family we were expected to assist my grandmother's efforts from everything from collecting Golden Raintree blooms, Pine Cone Lilies and sticker bushes to make Christmas Gum Drop Trees to planting Okra, annual flower beds and blueberry bushes. Family members of all ages were expected (notice I do not say asked) to prepare and decorate when she signed up to be on things like a local garden tour of homes or to decorate for neighbors weddings or events. My sense of mechanics which includes doing more with less, flexibility and beauty in the less-than-pefection was developed in those early years. No one, anywhere knows mechanics and foundation better than a farmer's daughter. It was she who taught be how to make everything from a centerpiece to garlands by hand from what is on hand.
Design: Christy Griner Hulsey | Photo by Katrina Barrow Photography
When my husband and I married, we moved back to our beautiful hometown of Statesboro, Georgia which was only a few hours away from my Grandma's house and bounty in Nashville, Georgia in Berrien County. Luckily we were able to acquire a sweet and loving little flower shop that had been in his family since 1968 for an affordable price and able to revive it to what it still is today: Colonial House of Flowers.
My grandmother would often send fresh cut and dried materials like grasses, eucalyptus, lotus pods, lichen, spanish and mood mosses to me through the mail. If found myself using the nature's gifts she'd sent in everything I could from photoshoots to daily arrangements. I became know for this raw, moody, natural aesthetic that I think is soulful and telling of who I am. I found myself looking at my self as a forager and looking to nature for materials and mediums. I feel like I design nature and therefore, work seasonally, more effortlessly. I find this rewarding.
Design: Christy Griner Hulsey | Photo by Katrina Barrow Photography
It's been all hands and heart on deck every day of the last ten years since I made the commitment to move forward keeping the family business alive. We have moved to Atlanta but are committed to our original goals of helping people bring more beauty and nature into their lives and celebrating home. I know that home isn't a place and I am happy it came with us, life, business, friends, and family and it all. I am excited to bring my experience and background to the make and take classes at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. I will be sharing stories, ideas and dried materials including many grown and foraged right here in Georgia by me, my friends, and my family. I love Atlanta. I love my home! Catch me in the Garden this October!
Read more:
Atlanta Botanical Gardens Fest-of-Ale, www.beckymorris.com