Valentine’s Day shopping isn’t exactly easy.  Whether you’re shopping for that new person in your life, the one who’s been right there with you for years or just for yourself (don’t laugh!), figuring out the right thing to get can be daunting.  You might want it to be memorable, you certainly want to send the right message, and more often than not value is important.  As we all know flowers are often the answer to this dilemma and right now FromYouFlowers.com has a great range of products for your Valentine’s gifting.

With great prices across the entire catalog our arrangements make a perfect stand-alone gift or pair them with something else to make for a truly special Valentine’s Day.   We like some of the interesting complimentary gift ideas New York Magazine threw together for ’09 – especially the Little Spoon o’Love Gift Tower – and we’ll certainly be on the lookout for this year’s edition.

Surprise that special someone at work the Friday before or wait until Sunday – either way we’ll get it there for you!  Click any of the images to jump to the product page.

For the Budding Romance: Playful, simple and flirtatious

For  the Girlfriend: Vibrant, elegant and lively

For the Real Significant Other: Classic, luxurious and gorgeous

Various Loved Ones…Including Yourself: Decorative, fun and…dare we say…comforting

All InBloom readers Save 15% with the code TWT – our discount for @fromyouflowers Twitter followers

Hanukkah begins at sundown on Friday 12/11 this year. The eight-night celebration goes through December 19th and is marked by customs including the nightly lighting of the menorah, playing Dreidel and the eating of traditional fried foods.

If you are hosting a Hanukkah celebration and/or feast this year then you are likely organizing your menu and making final arrangements for Friday.

Hanukkah menus

One delicious tradition of the Hanukkah holiday is the food. Foods including latkes, fried donuts and brisket are popular choices.

Kids’ crafts

A fun way to keep kids entertained during Hanukkah celebrations is to have craft projects on hand. Printing out Hanukkah coloring pages from online templates is an easy and fun activity and is suitable for all ages.

Dreidel crafts

Playing Dreidel is a tried-and-true Hanukkah tradition. Find Dreidel craft projects online, gather necessary materials and you’ll keep the kids busy for a while.

Hanukkah decorations

An inspired idea is to decorate your home with a combination of store-bought and home-made Hanukkah decorations. Use the kids’ craft projects to decorate your home–if you’re feeling crafty then try your hand at making this cool candlelit branch decoration or this home-made Menorah.

Also, Hanukkah plates, garlands, napkins and signs are available at most party stores.

Hanukkah flowers

Hanukkah flowers are one of the prettiest–and easiest–ways to perk up your home for a get-together. Find Hanukkah flower centerpieces with candles, pretty Hanukkah bouquets in shades of blue and white,  and festive blooming plants like this blue iris stack to decorate your home with.

Happy Hanukkah!

Ready or not, the holiday season is upon us.  You might have already started making your list, putting up your lights and decorating your Christmas tree. Perhaps you’ve even gotten a head start on your holiday shopping.

Last year you may have waited until the last minute and cursed yourself as you braved holiday crowds, scrambled to ship gifts out and frantically addressed your Christmas cards. You might have vowed never to procrastinate again.

Take last year’s stresses and lessons to heart this year by getting a grip on your list, sending out gifts early, and strategically shopping.

This year, consider sending a little Christmas cheer early by sending friends, family and co-workers a festive holiday wreath to beautify their front door. An evergreen wreath on the front door is a festive touch which will welcome in guests and send a message of holiday joy.  This thoughtful gesture will express your warm holiday wishes early this year. Sending one only takes a few minutes and even fewer mouse clicks. It’s an extremely quick, convenient and painless way to send a gift.

Receiving a beautiful wreath as an early Christmas gift is an unexpected treat.  After all, you don’t have to wait until the last minute to say “Merry Christmas!”

With your Thanksgiving guest arriving next week, why not dress up your front door to welcome them in for the get-together? We’ve got some easy ideas on how to create a welcoming path for your guests!

Wreaths

Hanging a pretty wreath on your front door is a great way to create a welcoming beacon to your home. You can always buy one, but it doesn’t take much longer just to make one!  Head on over to your local crafts store for inspiration, ideas and supplies.

A simple and inexpensive twig or grapevine leaf can be the form of your wreath.

Using the grapevine wreath as your basis, you can get really creative with the project. You can use faux–or real–fruits and leaves of the season on your wreath by merely hot gluing them onto the wreath in a pretty pattern. Oranges, cranberries, and holly are all good to use. Or, glue pieces of dried corn husks and wheat to the wreath.

A really unique, beautiful and functional idea is to create a birdseed wreath. You’ll only need a few materials, and it’s actually a quick and easy project.

Swags

An even easier way to dress up your door is to make a quick swag to hang on your front door. Items you might consider using include dried wheat and cornhusks. You can even add in some dried or faux sunflowers. Simple tie a pretty and festive ribbon around the bunch, tie to the door and Voila! You’re all done! What could be easier?

Cornucopias

You can make a simple cornucopia to hang on your front door by using a natural sap bucket, wicker cornucopia basket or cone shaped tin can. Use dried flowers, faux fruits, pinecones and grasses in your cornucopia.

Other Ways to Welcome Guests In

-Decorate your front steps with gourds and potted Autumn plants like Chrysanthemum
-Get your kids to help make simple pumpkin cutouts or turkey crafts to decorate windows with
-Use kids crafts like these garden turkeys in flower beds
-Fill wicker baskets with faux lowers, fruits and cornhusks, tie with a pretty bow and leave on your front steps or porch
-Make a scarecrow with old clothes, a pillow, a hat and straw
-Set out bales of hay with gourds on top and beside them

We hope we’ve provided you with some fun, festive, affordable ways to welcome your Thanksgiving guest in. Happy crafting!

As the winter chill sets in, and colorful leaves of fall and give way to bare tree branches, it casts a more somber tone on the landscape. But just because the vivid oranges, golds and reds fade away outdoors, it doesn’t mean that you have to sacrifice color inside. In fact, the late fall and winter are perfect opportunities to get creative with seasonal décor.

For instance, rather than just relying on cold weather plants and blooms to liven up a room, why not add an extra point of interest with complementary fruits? Of course, pumpkins and gourds are the go-to option for early fall and Halloween, but don’t limit yourself to them. The chilly months offer a variety of vibrant options, including pears, cranberries, and pomegranates. Even a large bowl filled with a lively selection of fruits, intermingled with dried leaves or flowers, can have an attractive effect.

If you aren’t sure where to start, these ideas might offer some help:

• Kumquats: Don’t overlook the potential of these lovely, palm-sized citruses. Better Homes and Gardens suggests creating your own seasonal kumquat topiary using flower foam as the foundation. Simply the cut the foam to the desired shape and attach kumquats around the base with picks, topping it off with coordinating rose blooms.

• Cranberries: For a clever way to add an extra splash of color to a flower arrangement, fill the vase partially full with cranberries. Be sure to add enough of the tart fruits in the vase to prevent them from floating around in the water, and the stems will also nest securely in the bed of berries. To replicate this effect in a gift, send someone a seasonal flower arrangement filled with cranberries.

• Pears: Bring out the glitter and gold for the winter, and try your hand at gilding pears. Highlight the fruit’s delicate shape with easy-to-use gold, silver or copper leaf paper. Most craft stores sell gilding kits that should include everything you need. USA Pears recommends silver leaf on Gold Anjou pears and copper on Red Anjou.

• Pomegranates: These symbols of good luck also dry beautifully for long-lasting décor accents. According to eHow, the first step is selecting fresh, healthy pomegranates that are smooth and firm. Then, all you have to do is space them out on a wire rack and allow to air dry for at least three weeks. Take care to turn them every couple of days as well to preserve their shape. Once dried, integrate them into floral centerpieces, wreaths and garlands or display them on their own.

• Apples: The wonderful part about decorating with apples is their sheer variety. Bright green Granny Smiths, blushing Galas and sunny Golden Delicious are just a few of the options you can choose from. Martha Stewart suggests coring out apples, placing votive candles inside the spaces and floating them in water to cast a warm glow on an autumnal meal. Or showcase a harvest-themed centerpiece made up of chrysanthemums, roses, carnations and eucalyptus, interspersed with glossy apples.

As you start thinking about how to liven up your home for winter, consider bringing the fruit out of the kitchen and into dazzling displays. They can provide cheerful notes on the fireplace mantle, coffee table, dining room centerpiece or any entranceway. Just find a fruit you like and have fun with it.

Know someone with an October birthday coming up? Why not give them something different this year? If they are a Halloween lover then send an adorable and whimsical Halloween flower arrangement straight to their home or office. It will surely bring a smile to their place and accent their Halloween decorations–plus, it will be a welcome departure from the usual birthday gift cards.

This unique spooky-spider arrangement is too cute!

Orange blossoms spill out of this ceramic pumpkin to make an adorable gift.

A vase full of candy corn displays lovely fall flowers in this festive bouquet.

The leaves are changing and that familiar Autumn chill is in the air. Gone are the sunny, balmy days of summer, as well as the bright sunflowers and daisies, green grass and our summer garden harvest.

But just because the grass in your yard may be turning brown and your garden which was once thriving a few months ago might resemble a wasteland doesn’t mean you cannot get a few more months of color in your yard, add some fun fall touches to your front porch, as well as prepare for next Spring.

Planting Fall Color

Once all the bright summer color has vanished, it may seem as if your porch and yard are gloomy and boring. They don’t have to be! Plenty of flowers can flourish in a pot or bed in the Autumn. Chrysanthemums, Asters and Pansies are a few flowers that can grow heartily throughout Fall. Try big pots of beautiful chrysanthemums on both sides of your door to welcome guests.

For a fun weekend project, try container gardening with Fall perennials. Use seasonal perennials that will survive well in your area and plant lovely combination arrangements in large pots. You can get really creative but usually the large pot is filled with a taller perennial or decorative grass in the center, some ‘filler’ plants or flowers in the middle, and some ‘spiller’ plants as the final, last layer; these will spill over the pot in a nice fashion. Here is a great step-by-step video on the process. Cheerful pots and beds of pansies will add color to your yard as well.

Cleaning up the Garden

Once you’ve enjoyed your summer harvest, it’s time to start preparing your garden for Fall and Winter, as well as start your planting and/or sowing for fall vegetables. Check out these guidelines:

• Replace all spent annuals
• Prepare soil for autumn planting
• Plant spring bulbs
• Rake and remove all fallen leaves
• Cut back the spent perennials / biennials
• Remove annuals damaged by frost
• Harvest all herb stems and roots
• Fertilize remaining plants as needed
• Sow seeds for succession planting
• Plant peonies, poppies and irises
• Add winter mulch, if needed
• Prepare bulbs for forcing and chill
• Divide and transplant perennials and ground covers
• Apply dormant fertilizer to trees, shrubs, ground covers and vines
• Plant and mulch hardy annuals for winter
• Plant bare-root trees, shrubs, ground covers and vines
• Transplant roses
• Plant bare-root roses
• In southern zones, stop watering to induce dormancy

You can also start planting your bulbs for Spring, such as bright yellow daffodils, gorgeous and vibrant tulips and many more types of bulbs to make a beautiful show once Spring arrives.

Decorate for Fall

In addition to adding mums and container gardens throughout your yard, there are several other things you can do to decorate and beautify for Fall.

• Make an easy Autumn wreath for your front door
• Decorate your front porch and stairs with gourds and pumpkins
• Make a scarecrow
• Pick beautiful fall leaves and flowers, preserve them in glycerin for three days (two parts hot water to one part glycerin), then display in a beautiful cast iron pot or wicker basket on your front porch
• Fill an old children’s wagon with hay, pumpkins, gourds and leaves to display
• Tie dried cornhusks from your front or back door
• Fill window boxes with mums and pumpkins

As you can see, there are so many ways to brighten up your yard and porch this Autumn. Do you have a great Autumn decorating idea we’ve missed? Please share it in our comments section!

One of the most fun ways to collect items to use in your Fall decorations is to take a long drive in the country to enjoy the beautiful Fall foliage, collecting items and produce from local farm stands and markets along the way.

Stop back by later this week for ideas about how to bring the beauty of Fall indoors!

Summer is officially over! September 22 marked the Fall Equinox and the official start of Autumn. Even if Summer is your favorite time of year, how can anyone not get at least get a little excited over the joys of this season: evenings by the fireplace, the beautiful changing of the leaves, football, Halloween and of course, Thanksgiving!

Bring out your creative side this Autumn and decorate your house with signs of the season– all it takes is a walk to your own backyard or quick trip to your local farmers’ market and you can design some unique and easy decorations for your home. Dried wheat tied in bunches and displayed in a wooden bowl make a wonderful table centerpiece and can also be given as presents for guests to take with them after a cocktail or dinner party. Another unique idea for a centerpiece is to purchase some gourds or pumpkins from your local store and display them on a platter; mix some leaves or flowers from your backyard to complete the festive look!

The colors of fall are probably best displayed through the fall foliage and the flowers and plants in season during this time. Take advantage of the lustrous and rich shades of seasonal flowers such as gerbera daisies, sunflowers, and calla lilies; or spread some autumnal cheer to someone you care about by sending a beautiful mum plant or blooming cyclamen. Or, consider sending a festive flower centerpiece showcasing the colors of the season.

As the days get shorter and the nights get longer, spend time with family and friends by hosting an evening of entertainment! Start with some delicious seasonal beverages such as hot harvest cider or hot brandy toddy and serve them with warm and delicious appetizers like ginger brie bites or pumpkin risotto cakes. Top the meal off with a delectable dessert such as an apple upside down cake and your evening is sure to be a hit! You can pass the time between servings of this scrumptious food by playing games for an intimate group of people like charades, Pictionary, or try some classic board games that are sure to bring out the fun yet competitive side of everyone!

Happy Autumn from all of us at FromYouFlowers.com—now, get out and enjoy the season!

Summer sunshine is upon us–why not spread some to a friend or loved one with this lovely Summertime Splash bouquet? Orange roses and alstroemeria, yellow lilies, pink asters, hot pink miniature gerberas and green button spray chrysanthemums are delivered to the lucky recipient in a clear glass cube vase.

It’s the perfect arrangement to say ‘I love you’, ‘Get Well’, ‘Thinking of You’, ‘Happy Birthday’ or just to let someone know how much sunshine they bring into your life.