Sending Smiles ~

It's amazing what you can do with 12 carnations and a little bit of creativity. Our Floral Designer Rocio loves making puppy arrangements so here she shares her tips with you! Here's what you will need ~ 12 full size carnations, floral glue, floral tape, a floral container, 1/3 of a block of floral foam and some assorted greenery.  First take your wet floral foam and tape it securely into your floral container.  Slowly start adding the 12 carnations starting with the top to form the head, the ears, the face and the 2 front legs.   Keep going, adding carnations but only using 12 total!  Now he has his 2 front legs, sitting over the edge of the container.  Using the floral glue, add the eyes and the nose. Be creative here. We use eyes and noses for the floral industry but you can use felt, screws or even a pip cleaner to form these facial features.   Next, start filling in with assorted greenery and mosses. This will become his little b...

Here at the shop we are enjoying the succulent craze! In addition to using them in our every day floral arrangements and wedding designs, we sell plants here in the store. Folks love them because they are super cute and easy to care for. What better time than January and February to bring a bit of living art into your home or office right?   Last week our shipment of new terrarium glassware arrived and we were quick to make a few gardens with them. For this one I kept the succulent plant in it's own but and then added some loose stones. The lid helps create it's own little environment making watering a very rare thing! I also added a touch of burlap ribbon and raffia for a rustic feel. Tomorrow we have a new shipment of plants arriving. Why not pick out your own plants and container and let us put it together for you. With the winter cold outside, it's the perfect time to bring a little nature inside! 

We've all seen those commercials with the little kids talking about how "Bigger is Better" right? Don't they make you laugh? Those kids are so funny. Well, imagine this arriving to your door? Here at the Flower Shop it is our job to help folks choose the perfect floral gift.  Because most orders come to us via the phone, we use descriptions such as "desk sized or coffee table sized" to help them visualize how large the arrangement we create can be.  Next we discuss particular flowers, colors and style. It's not as easy as you might think. With beauty in the eye of the beholder and everyone on tight budgets, it's hard to be sure we are both on the same page. It's the main reason our Website has become such an important tool for us. The hardest part of our job is to try to understand what the sender is expecting and making sure that the moon, stars and sun align with their budget. So is Bigger Better? A consumer that owns and drives a Be...

Back by popular demand Tulip Mania - 10 stems of Fresh Dutch Tulips. Can't pick up some of the beauties? Why not visit our website and send yourself some today! www.sendingsmiles.com

It's hard to believe that we are half way through January so that puts us less than 3 weeks to Valentine's Day . Now don't start cringing and getting all stressed out. Let's face it, we have a nice selection of lovely floral gifts on our website right now and if you order prior to February 1st, you pay our regular price on roses instead of the holiday pricing. Here's a tip for you, order early and save money. One less thing for you to do later. Here are some Valentine's Day Gift Ordering Tips for You! Valentine's Day is on a Thursday this year which leads us to believe it's going to be a busy one for us florists. I'm not sure if I want to cry or laugh about that! The truth is that there are more people that want to send flowers than florists that can deliver them. Oh and heaven forbid you order from those companies that ship flowers in a box. Do you really want your sweetie to get their Valentine's Day roses from the FedEX man? I don...

Well, we had another fun event here at our Princeton Flower Shop  this past week! Scarf tying along with wine and cheese with 29 ladies in attendance. As you can tell by these smiling faces, the ladies had a great time!  Dear friend Ann (Ann and I have known each other for over 20 years) has always worn scarves so who better than to lead our discussion, right?   Wearing her signature fun colors, she showed us many fun ways to tie scarves of all different shapes and sizes.  Great customer Martha shows off what she learned!   Martha has been to every class we have had so far!  Ann leads a hands on session where folks tried their luck at using their owns scarves. Between the discussion and demonstrations the ladies took sips of wine and at some snacks including wonderful cheese from Tre Piani Restaurant.    Be sure to look for our next classes and a list can always be found on our Princeton Facebook Page and you can now r...

This design might not be for everyone but our designers spent some time being creative and having fun. Bird of paradise, tulips, lucky bamboo and horse tail combine to make for one fun and funky floral design! What do you think? Would you want someone to send this to you?

Well, probably not much but that is not stopping us from combining them into one fun filled class in February. Join us on February 20th from 6:00 - 8:30 pm to enjoy both flowers and yummy cupcakes at our Princeton Forrestal Village location.  Join us for a fabulous in-store event featuring photos and sweets. Photographer Deirdre Ryan will be here to teach you how to take clear close-ups and great pictures in general. We will be hosting this event with Cheryl Ojeda - creator of Sweetly Spirited Cupcakes. Taste test her incredible (Alcohol infused) cupcake creations while you learn hot perfect your picture taking skills. Of course, light snacks and beverages will also be served. This event is only $25, so call 609-520-2005 to reserve your spot today.  You can also sign up for this Class  by going to our website . We'd love for you to join us! 

We can't believe how many parties we had this past weekend. Everything from Showers, Anniversary and Birthday parties... we really had some fun clients this weekend. Pink was the hot ticket with more than half of them including some shade of pink. Take this piece below at Tre Bar. What a fun arrangement to greet the guests when they arrive. Designer Norman went crazy with the silver and pink on this one!  This gorgeous piece below in shades of creams, pinks and burgundy really looked elegant at the Cranbury Inn. We also loved the small mercury glass cups that also decorated this long, square table.   Designer Holly really did a beautiful job on these pieces, don't you think?  Balloons are always a bit hit for January parties because they add so much color. This Bat Mitzvah held on Saturday at Salt Creek Grill really got a color blast with these lavender, silver and purple polka dot balloons.    This birthday girl must have felt like a quee...

Don't you just love the stem accent on this bridal bouquet? An elegant cream ribbon accented with pearls and rhinestones. So romantic and elegant.  Sahara roses are by far one of our favorite roses here at the store. When a bride does not want white or ivory, these roses are a lovely shade of soft beige and along with the Sahara roses we added in Vendella roses which are a very soft ivory. In this case we added a rim of lace dusty miller for a hint of softness and a touch of silver, without the bling.   Notice the color below in full sunlight.  This photo taken in the store shows the creaminess of the roses and the full effect of the stem treatment. A soft wired ribbon accented with tiny pearls. The height of elegance and romance.   

Have you ever noticed how many people just love angels and even collect them? We've always had angels in our shop but we recently brought in a few more styles and have more arriving later on this month. Angels make great gift for the home and garden for everything from birthdays to sympathy.   This angel has a modern feel but is still very soft and almost romantic, don't you think? The angel below is over 16" tall and has the sweetest face. We love adding angels to our floral designs but they make a great gift just by themselves.   Be sure to check out facebook pages to see all our new arrivals as they come in!

Wow, imagine seeing these beauties growing in a field? What are they, you ask? These are a Lily that bloom in a vibrant orange.  Each stem has 3 to 5 flowers on each stem that will measure a full 4 or 5 inches across. This particular variety is named "Bursa" and it's a newer variety here at our store. They are available year round and are grown in Mexico.  As floral designers we love creating arrangements with lilies of all sizes and colors. Lilies are commercially available in 4 major types, Asiatic, Oriental Hybrids, LA Hybrids (Longiflorum X Asiatic and Longiflorum (Easter Lilies).  These Bursa Lilies are long lasting La Hybrid. They have almost no fragrance (compared to their "cousin" lily the Oriental Hybrid) and bloom from bottom to top. They do put off a bit of pollen so be sure to remove them as they open being they can stain your hands, clothing, etc.   Lilies come in Yellow, Orange, Pink , Red, White and even 2 tones!  To s...

We are so happy to announce that we have now added to our website a category including all our Upcoming Classes and Demonstrations. Not only does it provide you with the information ~ date, time & cost of each class, you can now reserve your space and pay directly online.  Our next class is our Scarf tying class on January 16th from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm. Wine, snacks and a scarf of your own are included in the $20 price.  On January 22 ~ Wedding Planner Jasmine Cianflone from This Moments Events will be discussing "Diy? Oh no you don't! 5 things you should NEVER DIY". At this discussion , enjoy light snacks and champagne while you have all you questions answered. Only $15 per person, so this is a great event to bring a friend or a bridesmaid to!     Be sure to check back to this new Category often to learn about all our hands on Floral Design Classes, Ladies Events and more! 

One of our favorite flowers here in the store are sunflowers. Is is possible to view one of these happy blooms and not smile? What I love about how the flower world has changed, is that we can get these lovely flowers pretty much year round. Take these sunflowers that we are selling today for our $5 Friday Flower special. These are from a farm called Esmeralda Flower Farms and they are grown in the warmer climates in South America. We also get lovely sunflowers from the California farms and during the summer we are able to buy from local farms in New Jersey and up and down the East Coast.  This variety is called Sun Rich Yellow and they are grown in Mexico. Well, it might be January outside but it's summer here at the flower shop and I predict that they beauties will be all gone come 7 pm tonight. 5 stems for only $5 on Friday - it's a match made in floral heaven!!  Want to take advantage of our $5 Flower Specials each Friday? Sign up for our texting service by texti...

It's that time of year when the store gets flipped from Christmas to winter/New Year. With lots of birthdays and anniversaries taking place in January, in addition to our beautiful floral designs, we have some neat gift ideas. Love this new Mother and Child statue. You can use it to floating a pretty flower in the home or put it in the garden come spring with bird seed. :)  Lots of birthdays in January so we have some gift ideas such as books, wine charms and wine glasses.   Why not poke a little fun for someone turning 30, 40 or 50? Over the hill balloons and wine glasses make a memorable gift.   We love those girlie gifts here at the store - purses, wine glass, candles and European style bud vases. Treat yourself or shop for a girl.   We just brought in a line of books on life, weddings and staying strong along with blank journals and more Yankee Candle diffusers just arrived for the winter. These funny wine glasses say "Ms. Alwa...