Paulie Antiques Spring 2018 Designs

 Mimosa acacia ushers in spring in the most delightful way with it's subtle fresh fragrance that I can't get enough of. It's only around for a limited amount of time so each year I make sure to get out to the wholesaler to purchase some. I dry it every year and it honestly makes me SO excited for spring! Here's a little arrangement I put together today :) XO

love, polly

My floral designs for Juli + Alex

Congratulations, Juli and Alex! It was a dream designing your flowers for your wedding! Thank you for inviting me to the event, too. I had a blast!
All photos taken by Steve Capps

love, polly

Outfit: Pine & Clover

I came home from work carrying this bouquet of flowers my boss and I designed the other day for a corporate event and created this outfit inspired by the flowers. It's a neat take on fall with the orange Dahlias, Ranunculus and Orchids and red Celosia. I designed a wedding of a friend last weekend and I will post the photos of that bouquet which is very "traditional fall" as soon as I can! :) These boots are from Modern Vice by the way... and I'm totally in love with them and obsessed. I've been following Amy Roiland's fashion blog and that's how I found out about Modern Vice... so dreamy and made in NYC! 

Outfit Details: Boots- Modern Vice 

Tights- American Apparel

Dress/shorts: vintage

Hat: Anthropologie (thanks, Anna!)

Scarf: Made by Maria Mejia ♥

love, polly

My floral designs for Nick + Dana

Designing the florals for Nick and Dana's wedding was so much fun because they had this awesome conceptual image for me to work from which eventually became the two gold Manzanita trees reaching towards each other with white orchids suspended in their branches. I also manipulated birch wood to cover the clear vases while still being on the eco friendly side (aqua foam-free!)

 Working my magic at the reception...

 Dana's bridal bouquet. 

Thank you so much Dana and Nick! It was a blast to have a role in your special day!

All photos by Louie Abellera

love, polly

Outfit: True to You

 Today was a bit lazy and it suited me perfectly because I had time to walk home from work and pick a wildflower bouquet along the way. Building this bouquet was a lot of fun and of course I had my clippers because I was coming from work. I saw some gorgeous Smokebush and was content at just having that at first until I saw some wild Fennel... then I added Echinacea, Salvia, Hydrangea, Day Lily and grasses. So fun! I love Chicago in the summer!

And of course this post is named after a song by Ric Ocasek (of The Cars) True to You ... what a great man. 

love, polly

Paulie Antiques Floral Designs Lately

My friend from college commissioned me to design this arrangement for his mother for Mother's Day. He wanted it to be smaller, though... so it's a bit more manageable than some of my other arrangements! Haha. Of course there is the signature protea in the center, whenever possible! Have a great weekend!

love, polly 

Paulie Antiques Mother's Day design

 My friend commissioned me to make an arrangement for her lovely mother for Mother's Day and I got so excited! When she requested baby's breath I knew it was going to be a tad challenging with my "style" but I knew I could pull it off in a colorful and eclectic fashion. I can't wait to see the peach Gladiolas bloom because they are so fresh in these photos that you can barely tell they're going to bloom! It was a lot of fun making this arrangement! XO

love, polly

Paulie Antiques Floral Work Lately

One of my friends from college Clara (from my 2013 Paulie Antiques Lookbook) hired me to design a birthday arrangement for her sister and it and it was so much fun! Proteas are always a must and I've been really obsessed with mixing leatherleaf ferns and tree ferns lately because they both last a long time. Finger acacia season has been amazing because I haven't worked with it before this year and it dries so well. It smells heavenly and is truly one of my most favorite foliages! Happy Monday! 

love, polly

Floral Designs Lately

I produced these floral designs in collaboration with Halsted Flowers and Flowers by Stem. I'm really enjoying freelancing this wedding season! Thanks for taking a look.

love, polly

Paulie Antiques Floral Work Lately

I loved designing this arrangement for a friend who lives in my building. He saw my work and wanted to give something spectacular to his girlfriend for her birthday. I delivered with this, a 4 foot arrangement. She loves gold! What do you think? xo

love, polly

Outfit: Pastels

Happy Father's Day! Aren't these ranunculus amazing? They're from a wedding designed by Flowers by Stem and I struck the vases, candles and flowers last night as part of my job. I love striking weddings because I get to keep some of the flowers and play with them ♥. Life has been very busy lately and although I don't get to spend Father's Day with my dad, I am going home very soon to be with my family for the Fourth of July and my Great Grandma Polly's 101st birthday. I am very excited to head home to Taylorville and see all of my family and the wide open spaces I grew up in. It's literally a breath of fresh air compared to Chicago! Anyway, I sent my dad some lavender, tomato and pepper heirloom seeds for his garden and lavender essential oil & soap to help him sleep naturally. I hope it works! I've been so fascinated by naturally healing the body with plants. We truly have everything we need to heal ourselves from our ailments. People have even been calling me a witch lately and I love it, haha! What an amazing and complex universe. I hope you and your father have a great day. What are you up to?

outfit details: Bait Footwear shoes
Brooks Brothers blouse, thrifted
vintage skirt & hat, thrifted
American Apparel tights
my mother's socks
love, polly