I’ve come up with the great idea of having Baby’s Breath as part of our Ceremony decorations…but not just white, I want coloured Baby’s Breath. The Man was a bit concerned to begin with as he was under the (mistaken) impression Baby’s Breath came in blue, white or yellow shades. Once he realised he was thinking of different flowers, he started to get excited about this little experiment that has taken over our kitchen.
Phase One started on Saturday. Phase Two was Sunday while Phases Three & Four will be attempted in the coming days.
Saturday saw me purchasing two bunches of Baby’s Breath at our local marketplace. Once returning home I filled up two vases, one with red food dye, one without. I can’t remember how much dye I actually squirted into the first vase, suffice to say, it was amble. And then I sat back and waited…and watched.
Three hours into the experiment we noticed a slight tinge of pink coming through some of the blooms. It was working!! Before going to bed that night there were more signs of colour seeping into the petals which made me very excited to see what Sunday would bring. More colour and me trimming the longer stalks on each mini bunch to allow the dye to travel less distance to each bloom. I also topped up the water and food dye to ensure there was enough available. The colour changes kept coming and it was pretty awesome to see the colour spreading through the veins of each petal.
Sunday also saw me undertake Phase Two. This included a pair of rubber kitchen gloves, an empty box and a can of red spray paint…just your run of the mill hardware store variety. I snipped off two sections from the second bunch of Baby’s Breath and sprayed to my hearts content inside my little cardboard ‘booth’.
My findings? Quick, messy, vibrant. If we’re cutting it close time wise certainly the way to go. But I wasn’t sold on the effect, and explained this to The Man when he finished work Sunday morning. I’m still not sure tonight if it’s the coloured stalks that isn’t grabbing me, or the fact the blooms look like coloured popcorn. But overall, in comparison to the dye flowers, I just wasn’t feeling it.
We agreed to give the dye lot four days to take before removing them from their colour source. If this is the way we’re going to make my vision a reality then we’re prepared to do so four days prior to our wedding. I’ve been documenting the progress with photos so we can refer back to them when all the options have been trialled…but I must admit, so far I’m sold on this method.
And today was Day Four, so out they came from their food dye water and into a florist sponge and the little metal bucket we’re going to be using on The Day. I didn’t arrange them in the foam, was more concerned to be honest with the food dye staining my manicure (forgot the gloves!!!) but I am impressed with the look. One valuable lesson, we’ll need two bunches per bucket to give it that ‘full’ look. Our florist is going to love me before too much longer!
On Saturday I’d said they were looking like mini carnations when the colour started coming through, and it’s stuck in a sense. Not every bloom coloured, some only partially, others virtually not at all. But the effect is WOW in my opinion. The Man is quite struck with it too. Very pretty, unstated and cute.
Now to prepare for Phase Three!!
DIY TALEZ 