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Winston Flowers Comes to Additional Meeting!

On Thursday, October 25th, we were treated to a hands-on tutorial on flower arranging by some experts who work at Winston Flowers. We were each given a group of flowers and a vase so we could make our own arrangement. 

Some of us were doubtful that we could do it (or maybe that was just me), but everyone's arrangement was beautiful - and they all looked a little different, even though we were all working with the same materials.

We were given the most beautiful hydrangea stem, some gorgeous calla lilies, some fancy roses, some red berries and some geranium leaves that smelled wonderful that we used as a filler.

The expert showed us what to do as she made a larger arrangement using the same materials that we would use, and then she and her fellow experts went around and helped us to succeed at arranging our stems.

Some of the tips we learned were:
*Start with the larger stem and then put everything else in
*Cut the stems longer than we think and then trim them so we don't get them too short
*Put like things in groupings within your arrangement
*Stand back and look at the arrangement from different sides as you are working
*Work with your arrangement on a high surface so you can see it better - use an overturned pot
*Calla lilies can be manipulated by pulling on the stems lightly - you can change their shape!
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Mary Alice Hatch was our hostess. She had plastic-covered tables arranged in her family room, and she gave us a spiritual message about enjoying the beauty of the earth. Flowers are definitely in that category. And Mary Alice was a super-producer - while the rest of us were tweaking our precious creations, she was making extra arrangements for the sisters who couldn't make it. Her total output was 8 arrangements - and they were all beautiful! Way to go Mary Alice!

We are grateful to the experts from Winston Flowers who came to show us such a useful and artistic skill, and we thank Mary Alice for her generosity in sharing her gift with us. Her son's school had an auction and Mary Alice won the bid for this presentation. She thought of the Relief Society and our Additional Meeting and wanted to share this gift with us! Thank you SO much, Mary Alice! We have all been uplifted and edified as a result of your kindness and generosity.