My No Cost Winter Bouquets Play!

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DYE THOSE BLOSSOMS!

Some freshly cut flowers can be dyedfor special effects, or just to enhance their original colors-by immersing their stems (at least two inches) in one cup of water to which one tablespoon of food coloring has been added. Experiment: I've gotten good results with this method with jonquils and Queen Anne's lace, but daisies can be tricky. Once blossoms have been dried, of course, they can be accented with a florist's spray paint (which comes in many colors). An 11-ounce can of the paint currently costs about $3.00 retail . . . but if you go into the dried flower business in a big way, you can save a lot of money by purchasing your supplies wholesale.

ARRANGE YOUR FLOWERS

Once you've gathered together a generous supply of dried flowers, weeds, and other foliage-plus some fine wire, florist's tape, flower picks, styrofoam, florist's clay, and scissorsthe real fun beginsl Once again, experiment. A pretty bouquet doesn't just happen: It's an artful blend of harmony, balance, and scale . . . a mixture of foliage tints, tones, and shades plus-perhaps-an added selection of pods, cones, and grasses. (A good tip: Always remember that the best arrangements are usually twice the height and width of their containers.) Experiment! Have fun!

AND SELL THEM!

Once I started on this craft, 1 became so hooked that I soon had more winter bouquets on hand than I could use. So I offered some of the arrangements to friends for about half the price charged by a florist shop. That turned out to be good advertising: Some of my friends told their friends about my work . . . and they, in turn, told still others. Before I knew what was happening, 1 was being asked to do programs for garden clubs, and teachers were requesting demonstrations for high-school and community-college classes. Eventually the local Arts and Crafts Commission invited me to participate in their annual show . . . where I sold more than $100 worth of bouquets each dayl My little hobby, in other words, has grown into a small-and delightfulhome business. It now nets me an average of $100 to $150 a month for very little effort on my part . . . and I could earn a lot more if I wanted to really work at it. Which I don't (since I already have a fulltime job as a secretary). At present, then, while it's nice that my hobby "pays its way" . . . the money it currently brings in is not as important to me as [a] the boundless possibilitieswhich I may someday want to develop of my little home business, and w [b] the sheer pleasure I derive from recycling the flowers, grasses, pods,.and stalks of summer into beautiful-. winter bouquets.

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