My Garden Club district had a flower show and I entered in the Special Exhibits (Arts & Crafts) category. There were 4 advanced reservation spots available to decorate a door panel. The name of the Class was “A Warm Welcome”. The four of us were allowed to paint the wooden panels, remove the molding, use wire, etc but were encouraged to use materials from nature. An entry would be disqualified from judging if a person used artificial flowers or a plant on the New York State protected native plant list.

I have never taken a floral design class so I know I was at risk of not following an essential principle of floral design. I tried to use all I learned the first time I entered a flower show. I also consulted with two members of my club who have experience with this. They were wonderful help!

This is the door that won first place. The judges comments were: Dramatic Welcome! Not constructive but I guess that is not necessary for a first place win.

This is a close up to show that in addition to painting the door, she put roping on it. Amazing!

My bunny won 2nd place! I was very excited. The judges comments for mine were not helpful and annoyed me a little: Hippity, Hoppity, Welcome. I felt that the comments should help me improve for next time. These did not give me any clue what I could have done better.

This door was 3rd place. The judges comments were: Welcome to the Parish! Seed pods out of scale for the rest of the material.

This door was disqualified and not eligible for voting because the maker used artificial flowers.

Here is a close-up of my bunny. I brushed the wooden panel with olive oil. I made a cardboard frame and covered it with corn husk. I fringed and glued on corn husk for the head and feet. The nose is a hazelnut that I painted. The tail is bleached curly pods. The sign is wood that I painted yellow and glued lavender on to spell “Welcome”. I used tweezers to place the lavender. Other material I used were: Bakuli pods, Button Chrysanthemum, Cockscomb,  Cotton pods, Milo, Sheet Moss, and Spray Roses.

It was a fun experience to enter the show and maybe in the future I will enter a different Arts & Crafts class.