The Floral Hustle

  📍 Hello flower friends. This is Jen and you're listening to the floral hustle podcast on this week's minisode We're gonna talk about how you can create 10 different pieces of work For under 75. So build your portfolio get the workout that you want to be associated with your brand and Actually just have some fun creating.

So I did this actually right when COVID started, uh, when we were allowed to go out of our house and we were allowed to actually go up to the wholesaler that is, or Trader Joe's and I went to the wholesaler and I picked out, uh, cause I decided. That I was going to do a month of making so I was going to get reinvigorated in my creativity.

I was going through a point where I really was, um, you know, redefining my business. I changed the name of my business. I wanted to change the look and the aesthetic of my business. And I wanted to also learn new skills, push my skill level a little bit from a personal flower perspective. And so I went and bought a bunch of roses.

I bought, uh, a couple other filler flowers. I then went to Trader Joe's and I spent about a total, I think it was 78, uh, but you could definitely have that be lower or you could spend more. And for the next 10 days, I used those flowers in 12 different projects. So I started out with the longest use of the stems, which is I made, I think it was like a tall type centerpiece that was more of a hand tied.

Uh, I had some tulips in there, so I actually just took the tulips out and I did a hand tied reflux. tulip tall centerpiece. I then made a bridal bouquet. I made a bud vase arrangements. I made a bridesmaid bouquet in a different shape and different kind of using the colors differently. And then I used a low compote and made a centerpiece.

And all of these I took pictures. So I would make something and I would invest time in learning how to take good pictures. I have an iPhone, so I was playing with that. I use Photoshop Express, so I was playing with Photoshop Express, you know, with the lighting and what kind of filter that I liked on it to really get that bright and, or light and airy feel to my photos.

And then I went and started, you know, Each time I was cutting the stems a little bit shorter and that use was becoming more limited. So I started longest stems and then I ended up all the way down to making, uh, I made a floral bangle out of hyacinths. I made some hyacinth earrings. I made a shoulder corsage.

I made a, um, floral necklace. I made. several hair pieces. So big floral head pieces. And I would make it and I would photograph it. I would photograph or have my husband photographed me wearing it. And then I would go and I would put that in the hydration chamber and I would Spray it with water with the paper towel.

So if you're not familiar with a hydration chamber, I do this with all my personals. I do it especially with any wearable, uh, floral necklaces or cuffs or anything like that. And you take, uh, like a Tupperware container or a shoe box, a plastic shoe box from Target. You line the bottom of it with paper towel.

You spray that paper towel. Then you put your wearable on there. You spray your wearable, you put another piece of towel and you spray that again. I personally just spray it with water from. Sue McCleary or Passionflower Sue's classes. That seems to be what she also does. And then the next day I would just rip it apart and reuse it again in another piece.

And so I slowly chipped away and I had made boutonnieres. In addition, I had made some wrist corsages and I played with photography. I played with using Photoshop Express to really get that look and feel that I'm wanting to. Have in my Instagram feed and I I really learned a lot about Repurposing the flowers again and again through this process Because I I've actually done this twice that I've gone through this whole you know iteration of using every last drop of life out of those flowers and Creating 10 to 12 different pieces.

And so how could you do this exact project and build some content for? Uh, social media, get inspired, gain some, um, you know, skill set, I would start with making a list of what you would like to create from longest stems to shortest. And then I would You know, look at, okay, what kind of color palette do you want to, I want to have this in what color palette speaks to the ideal client that I want to attract.

And so you can make all of these pieces of content and they're still speaking. Even if it's a simple boutonniere, it's still speaking to your ideal. Client. Then, you're gonna plan a trip to the wholesaler, you're going to maybe plan a trip to Trader Joe's, or a grocery store that you can buy smaller accent bunches of flowers to keep your budget down.

And then, just have some fun creating, have some fun photographing, have some fun really like just dreaming of different ideas. I planned 10, but ended up with 12. Uh, I also have some photo boards. I have some cheesecloth that help me also just play with the same item in different situations. Oh, one other thing that I made that was super fun is I found a hanging frame, a frame.

It was a regular wood frame at Hobby Lobby. And I put in a mesh. Wire across the base and then attached wire and had it as a hanging installation with flowers Coming down. So it was super fun. But this is something very doable Very inspiring and also very engaging social media content document the whole thing.

I had people Sending me DMS how much they loved What I was doing, loved the whole process, loved that I was making something. I mean, we were at a time, of course, during COVID that wasn't very inspiring. So it was a little light, um, when everybody was kind of feeling down. And I still use some of those pieces of content in my feed because I'm still in love with them.

So go have some fun and create something that you've been wanting to create and that you really want out in the world to help attract the client that you are looking to attract. Have a 📍 great day flower friend and thank you for listening.