Poetry Flowers

I think it was about ten years ago that I took a Writing for Children class at UCSD.

To provide motivation to pick up my pen.

Figuratively speaking, as I did all my work on a laptop.

I wasn't particularly interested in the genre but the time of the class fit into my schedule and any writing leads to more writing which leads to better writing. Once you get started.

It was in that class that I had the good fortune to meet a very talented student.

Who remains a close friend to this day.

She went on to teach memoir writing among other creative pursuits (acting, singing and so forth) and a few years ago decided to go back to school.

In June, she will graduate with an MFA in Poetry.

Which is impressive in and of itself.

But add to the fact that she turned 79 a few weeks ago and the awesome factor quadruples.

So Saturday night we celebrated the grand occasion and gifted her with a bouquet of flowers.

Long-lasting poetry flowers.

I got the idea from this website.

Personalizing the bouquet by using a book of poetry. And don't get me started on the horrified look on the gal at Book Tales in Encinitas when she realized I was buying a precious (used) book in order to rip it apart and cut out petals.

Brewed a strong pot of tea (called pu'er that we brought back from China) to soak the pages and provide an antique tint. The Chinese tea was a nod to the recipient's Chinese heritage.

Dipped pages can be dried outside. Or for quick results, place in oven on lowest setting and keep an eye as they will 'crisp' up quickly.

To keep it fancy, black floral tape (ordered from Amazon) was used to wrap each stem.

Black ribbon to adorn the vase.

Each flower is unique because they are individually made but it was fun to wrap some buds tightly (as if they had not quite bloomed) and others more open and blossomed. It added a nice variety.

The possibilities to customize a paper arrangement are endless.

Pages from a cookbook for an aspiring chef, old maps for a world traveler, etc.

Have fun, be creative.  And celebrate those that inspire you!