Floral Soil Design Nite at Starbucks

Posted on February 17, 2017 by Meryl Alcabes

Make Your Own Floral Creation!

So last night my young buddy Andrea talked me into taking part in Floral Soil Design Nite at Starbucks.  Yeah, I had no idea what that would encompass, either.

It turns out that creative entrepreneur Mickey Blake, of Floral Soil, has created a non-toxic, plant-based foam for florists to arrange cut flowers and foliage.

 

Mickey of Floral Soil

 

I couldn’t actually see how this would interest me, as I have no living plants in my home (my motto:  gift me a plant and see how quickly I can kill it) but the images on Mickey’s website of what we’d be creating—a “cake” of succulents and cut flowers—was so adorable I signed on right away.  I could just imagine all the compliments I’d be receiving with one of them as a centerpiece on my dining table.

 

Adding plants and flowers to Floral Soil

Floral Soil and plants

Floral Soil at Starbucks Madison Park

 

Mickey told us a bit about the history of Floral Soil and let us practice on a cupcake of the material before graduating to working with our cakes.  She showed us how to use chopsticks to create a hole for inserting the stem.

 

Mickey of Floral Soil demonstrates planting technique

planting Floral Soil cupcake

 

We discussed how to wrap the design around the Floral Soil mold in a creative way while sipping tea and exchanging life stories.  Mickey was very encouraging, as in “that looks great, but maybe a smaller plant would look better right there.”

 

Using Floral Soil at Starbucks Madison Park

Mickey demonstrates variety of Floral Soil shapes

 

As we created our masterpieces, it became clear even to me, with my limited home decorating talents, that this would be a fantastic way to incorporate brightness into a room and tie the decor together.  Use colors that play nicely with the hue of your sofa bed and change the vibe of your living room.  Pull in some of the tones in the recliner over in the corner and suddenly your design scheme will look more intentional than haphazard.

 

Mickey introduces Floral Soil to participants of Design Nite at Starbucks Madison Park

 

I could see how “my” creation would look a lot better if Mickey worked on it a bit so I offered to shoot some images while she “finished” what I was working on.  (Full disclosure:  I basically got Mickey to make mine, so I knew it would look good.)  (We have a different skill set.)  (Mine does not include anything with “floral” in the title.)

 

Floral Soil Design Nite at Starbucks

 

That was fun!  And now I have a centerpiece to use as long as I follow Mickey’s careful  instructions of not over-watering.

Or was that under-watering?

I may need to repeat Floral Soil Design Nite soon.

About Meryl Alcabes

Twenty-five years ago, Meryl Alcabes launched Also Furniture with her husband Carlos. They were new to retail and new to the furniture industry, so the first few years of business were a challenge. However, with her art school background and gregarious personality, Meryl loved the combination of meeting new people and helping them design their living spaces by focusing on appropriate colors and styles for each situation.

When Meryl and Carlos were first married and found their dream apartment in San Francisco, they could only afford one new furniture item a month. The very first thing they purchased was a sleeper sofa, which they used as a bed at night and for seating during the day. After a few years in the furniture business, Meryl realized that sleeper sofas were a must for most apartment and condo dwellers, and they were hard to find—so the couple decided to specialize in sofa beds and Sleepers In Seattle was launched.

Two of Meryl and Carlos’s sons, Max and Jacques, have since joined the firm, which has expanded in many directions with Savvy Home. Meryl’s interests include photography and collage, in addition to cooking for her family and friends and frequent entertaining. Dinner table discussion always includes furniture talk and speculation about when their third son, Raphael, will join the business.
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