Happy March! Living in New York this winter has felt a bit like being caught inside a snow globe held by some angry child who just won’t stop shaking the darn thing. But now it’s March, and I’m feeling spring breathing down winter’s neck. I’m ready to eat outside, ride bikes and be surrounded by flowers. I was introduced to the work of British floral designer Constance Spry this winter by Amy Merrick — my go-to girl for all things floral (and the other Amy Elizabeth living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn). I immediately proposed that she do a Constance Spry-inspired project and I’d write the history part. I think Amy literally jumped up and down when I asked her, and she did such an amazing job explaining how to recreate Constance’s work that I think even I might be able to tackle it! — Amy A.

Image above: Spry’s London flower shop in 1947 from The Surprising Life of Constance Spry

I hadn’t heard of Constance Spry until Amy mentioned her, but apparently she’s a favorite of all floral girls. Constance was a British floral designer in the 1920s, and she arguably did more to change florals that anyone since. She rejected the stiff, wired arrangements that were popular at the time in favor of loose, fluid arrangements in solid blocks of color. She used materials that were usually discarded, like grasses and berries. She embraced vegetables in arrangements and preferred non-traditional containers. She would frequently raid her clients’ cupboards, pulling out serving pieces to use as unorthodox (for the time) vases.

Image above: Constance Spry arrangement from the Design Museum

While Constance’s arrangements may not sound unconventional today, they were certainly show-stopping at the time. Literally. In the ’30s, Constance created a scarlet-roses-and-red-kale-leaf window display for a Bond Street perfumery that attracted crowds so enormous, the police had to be called to help with the traffic flow. In addition to creating floral displays for many other London businesses, such as the Elizabeth Arden salon and the dining rooms at Hatchet’s Restaurant, she had wealthy and important private clients. She created the flowers for Wallis Simson’s wedding to the Duke of Windsor and even designed flowers for the processional route for Elizabeth II’s coronation.

Image above: A Constance arrangement recreated by Amy Merrick

CLICK HERE for more Constance Spry + Amy’s amazing DIY floral project!
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Image above: We Like It Wild: Late Summer Gradation

Image above: paint chip quilt in blue $400

It turns out that the word ombré is relatively new. In French, it means shaded or shadow, but in decorative arts it refers to a graduated color scheme that moves from light to dark. It’s not a new concept – it’s one that nature perfected. But historically, it refers to a method of dyeing fabric. The first recorded use of the word as a dying technique was in 1841, but didn’t even enter the Oxford English Dictionary until 2005.

To bring the ombré look home,  you can try your hand at dip-dying fabrics or paper cups. I’m planning on making an ombré fade cake for Valentine’s Day. There are also plenty of ombré options in stores.

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Today, Grace and I are heading to Terrain, one of our favorite stores — we’ve honestly made the trip from Brooklyn to Philadelphia just to eat in the greenhouse cafe. The store is filled with some of the best terrarium accessories ever. The terrarium craze is certainly not a new phenomenon. It was perfected by those masters of obsession, the Victorians.

Image above: From The Ferns of Great Britain and Ireland by Thomas Moore, 1857, from the New York Public Library

We can trace the history of the terrarium back to another Victorian obsession — ferns. The newfound prosperity in Victorian Britain resulted in a lot of women who didn’t work as a nod to status and had a lot of time on their hands. The Victorian era was also all about self-improvement, so these women made things. They cut out paper, made shell crafts, sewed and collected ferns. Collecting ferns was a relatively inexpensive hobby — you just had to go out and hunt. The fact that ferns lacked any flamboyantly colored flowers made them seem more serious. Fern collecting was one of the few egalitarian hobbies; it was appropriate for both men and women and for people from all social backgrounds. Ferns were the chosen motif for everything from coffeepots and fish knives to printed textiles and jet jewelry. — Amy A.

Favorite terrarium tools and vessels!

More about the history of terrariums + terrarium accessories after the jump . . .

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Image above: Illustration by Julia Rothman

Image above: Pajak from PolArt, $129.95

There is a strong folk arts and crafts tradition in Poland and it was particularly strong in the Lowicz region of Poland – an area located little more than 50 miles outside Warsaw. And in the winter, when much of the outdoor work was suspended, Polish peasant families passed the time by preparing for their two major holidays – Christmas and Easter. Paper cutting became a popular folk craft in the mid-1800s when Polish peasants would create elaborate cutouts to decorate the walls and ceiling beams of their homes. These cutouts were called wycinanki and decorated the walls of peasant homes. For the ceiling decoration, pajaki were crafted using colored paper and straw.
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The staple of college dorm rooms and office desks everywhere, the Anglepoise lamp was invented in the 1930s by an English automotive engineer who specialized in the design of vehicle suspension systems. George Carwardine owned a factory in Bath where he invented a spring that could be moved easily in every direction but remained fixed once placed in a position. George didn’t set out to invent a lamp; he just liked tinkering around with springs. He patented his new spring design then looked for an application.

When searching for an application, George looked no further than his own factory and realized how useful it would be for the workman in his factory to be able to position a light so that it could illuminate a particular component. He designed a heavy base to stabilize the lamp and then a shade that would concentrate the beam.

Image above: 1953 Anglepoise lamp advertisement

George licensed the design to Herbert Terry & Sons, a manufacturer based in Redditch who supplied springs to his factory. Charles Terry, the eldest son, was interested in expanding the business beyond springs, and the lamp seemed like the perfect solution. Initially, George wanted to call the lamp Equipoise, but the name was rejected by the Patent Office on the grounds that it was an existing word (equipoise means an equal distribution of weight), so the pair settled on Anglepoise. The original Anglepoise lamp was marketed for industrial use.

Read on after the jump for more about the Anglepoise lamp + sources…

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Image above: Various English sterling silver napkin rings, ca. 1883, 1910 and 1948, $150; Liberty head cuff links, $500; Destino cuff links, $300; 1920s Dragon’s Breath cuff links, $95; and 1920s Art Deco Greek key cuff links, $350

When Kate, Grace and I were in Brimfield last week, Kate and I found ourselves drawn to a boys’ club aesthetic. (Kate posted about all of our favorites here.) Kate liked the vintage sporting gear, and I became enamored by model airplanes and ships. (I’m still kicking myself for not springing for these planes.) But we both became captivated by cuff links and spent hours hunting through piles for the perfect pairs to bring home to some lucky boys (see all of our finds here). I must admit to being a little jealous of all the man jewelry, so during the car ride home, Kate and I brainstormed ways to utilize cuff links in home decor as napkin-ring closures. While Kate worked on the cuff-link napkin-ring project in Oakland, I delved into the history of both napkin rings and cuff links here in Brooklyn — a true bi-coastal collaboration! Don’t miss her project here! — Amy A.

Image above: Selection of six 19th-century Victorian napkin rings, $190

Before we talk about napkin rings, it seems only fitting to begin with the napkin. The first napkins were actually lumps of dough that the Spartans cut into small pieces and rolled and kneaded at the table. This evolved into actually using sliced bread to wipe hands. The Romans were civilized enough to use pieces of cloth — both large and small pieces. They reclined to eat, and a large piece of cloth called a mappa was spread over the edge of a couch to protect it from food. Each guest brought their own mappa to dinner, and afterward, the cloth would be filled with leftovers from the meal — the first doggy bags!

Cuff links and napkin rings come together in this fantastic project created by Kate! (And it doesn’t hurt that leather is in the mix — another favorite Brimfield trend!)

CLICK HERE for more napkin ring history + a super chic cuff-link napkin ring!

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