Sunday, February 23, 2025

Orchid Show Peacock

Chicago Botanic Orchid Show Peacock photo by Jeanne Selep
Image 1: Chicago Botanic Orchid Show Peacock

The latest orchid show I attended featured a wonderfully whimsical peacock with a tail created using hundreds of living orchids.    


pink pink
Image 2: Fantasy Peacock at the Chicago Botanic

An artist created the peacock's head, and gardeners formed the tail by cleverly placing blooming live orchid plants.


Orchid Show Peacock at the Chicago Botanic Garden 2025
Image 3: Orchid Show Peacock

You can see hundreds of blossoms (looking like dots) in the photo above that will open over the next several weeks.


Pink Orchid Variety originally from India
Image 4: Pink Orchid Variety originally from India

These two photos show a closer view of the orchids making up the tail.  All of the varieties of orchids used originated from India (but most were grown here, I believe). 


Orchid Varieties originally from India
Image 5: Orchid Varieties originally from India

The photo below shows details of the tail.  Foliage behind the orchids was tinted to highlight the orchids. This image gives some a sense of the size of the peacock: the tail is about 10 to 12 feet high.  (The peacock's head is over 5 feet off the ground)


Orchid Varieties originally from India
Image 6: Orchid and Foliage Texture Detail from the Peacock

The peacock, as well as many other displays, can be seen at the Chicago Botanic Garden's latest orchid show, titled "India Blooms".  


Chicago Botanic Garden Orchid Show 2025 India Blooms
Image 7: Orchid Show 2025 India Blooms

This show may well be their best orchid show yet, and I have attended most of CBG's eleven shows. The show runs from February 8 to March 23, 2025, and if you can catch the show, I highly recommend a visit.


Chicago Botanic Garden Orchid Show 2025 India Blooms
Image 8: Orchid Show Passageway

The show's creators made fantastic floral fantasy displays designed to delight all ages, using only orchid species originating from India.


Chicago Botanic Garden Orchid Show 2025 India Blooms
Image 9: Orchid Show 2025 Display Room

Many of the Indian orchid varieties will be unusual and captivating to US orchid enthusiasts, and any flower lover can enjoy the multitude of beautiful orchid varieties and displays presented.  

 

I would show more of the displays if I had more time.  And of course I with more time I would show orchid close-ups. Here is a post with close-ups of orchids from a previous orchid show. 


Chicago Botanic Garden Orchid show
Image 10: Orchid Show 2025

This post is a new record for me - I saw the show Feb 19, 2025, and I unloaded the camera, picked, cropped and worked on the better photos, wrote and edited my text, etc. and made this post in under a week.  Not my usual workflow timing!  (I know many bloggers don't find this hard - I admire their drive...)


Have you seen the (USA) Chicago Orchid Show, and/or does your area have an orchid show?  If so, where, what country/park/garden?  Let me know!



As always,
Click on the images to see them enlarged!
There is so much more detail in the larger photos!



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The peacock creation at the garden resonates with me because peacocks are one of my favorite birds.  

Some readers might remember my post from 2024 featuring real peacocks from Italian gardens.
Click here to see my Italian peacock post


White Peacocks in Italy by Jeanne Selep May 2024
Image 11: White Peacocks in Italy


Backlit White Peacock by Jeanne Selep
Image 12: Rare Italian Peacock




St. Patrick's day is around the corner -
Here is a link to my seasonal Hutch display!

hutch display
Seasonal Hutch


















 

 

Note: here is the link to the Chicago Botanic Garden's website, and the Orchid show in specific!

 

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Saturday, January 18, 2025

Cheery Denim Bunting

Denim Bunting by Jeanne Selep
Image 1: Denim Bunting Banners

I love Denim, the sturdy blue fabric used to fabricate blue jeans.  I've crafted multiple projects with denim, but my favorite denim project transforms old blue jeans into decorative bunting.  

More on the term bunting below, but I'll briefly define bunting here as a string of triangles (or pennants, or flags) strung in a row to form a decorative garland or banner.    


Denim Bunting by Jeanne Selep
Image 2: Embellished Denim Bunting

Upcycling blue jeans into bunting is satisfyingly fast, and offers lots of options for embellishment.  Since I am a fan of vintage laces and linens, I frequently use bits of lace and doilies to decorate individual triangles. 


Denim Bunting by Jeanne Selep
Image 3: Denim Bunting Upcyled from Blue Jeans

I also love plain denim triangles for a simpler look.  The details of the blue jeans used and the range of colors stand out when not embellished.  Of course, any fabric could be used, but denim has it's own special place in American culture - a love affair resulting in many items created by people reusing this fabric.


Denim Happy Birthday Banner Bunting by Jeanne Selep
Image 4: Happy Birthday Banner (Bunting)

The first bunting I made was for a birthday decoration.  I had saved worn out blue jeans for denim projects, and I wanted to upcycle them.  Bunting is a satisfying, quick, low tech project (no precision measurements) with a cheery result that has lots of possibilities for embellishment.


Denim Bunting by Jeanne Selep
Image 5: Denim Bunting

I used white electrical tape to quickly form letters on the banner - this way I can spell out a name, or whatever I want.  In the end the words I used most are "WELCOME" and "HAPPY BIRTHDAY".  Letters could also be painted or ironed on, or embroidered or appliqued for the ambitious.  


Denim Bunting by Jeanne Selep
Image 6: A Drinking Straw makes the top Sturdy

Bunting is almost intuitive to make, and I will be posting a tutorial soon with tips. (Photos already done!  Post started!)  But a sneak peak here: for my bunting, I've added one innovation: I put a drinking straw in the top of the bunting to make stringing the triangles fast and easy, and to keep the top of the triangles from sagging.  


Denim Bunting by Jeanne Selep
Image 7: Step #1 Decorated Denim Bunting

I also hope to showcase some other embellishments I have experimented with.  Watch for the full tutorial soon, but in the meanwhile I hope this post has inspired you.  Up-cycle away!

 

[Notes: Bunting is a British word for this type of garland made with triangles.  Strings of flags, frequently triangular, (called bunting) were used on British Navy ships for centuries.  Bunting then found their way into the celebrations of British events as decorations. You might also call them garland, etc.]

[Notes: I stressed for a while to determine the triangle size I wanted.  The top of my triangle measures 7.5 inches across, and the top to bottom dimension is 8.5 inches.  This allows a template to be printed out on 8.5x11 inch paper, and I have made bunting with paper, which could be a cute project with kids in a class setting.]






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I am linking up to these parties:
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Eclectic Red Barn: Wonderful Wed (Entry 19r of 138r.)
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Artsy mama: Artsy Party Wed 10a (Entry 12 of 34)
Simple Life Mom: Homestead Blog Hop 532 (Entry 8 of 76)
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My Thrift Store Addiction: Vintage Charm 474 Wed (m Entry 12 of 81)
French Ethereal: Share Your Style 448 (Entry 15)
For the Love: Lets grow Together Wed 346 (Entry 17)
Try It Like It: Creatively Crafty 378 Th (Entry 11)
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Bunting