With thousands of blossoms purchased at a huge discount through Doreen at Interdecor, in Spokane, WA, Jean had her work cut out for her! Interdecor is one of Heart for Romania's longtime "flower-supporters", providing in-kind donations and below-cost floral supplies for the foundation's investment in beautifying Romania through simple expressions of friendship.
Jean (above) is anchoring styrofoam in a new container for a lobby arrangement. Supplies are extremely limited, so Jean spent much time modifying items. Old and new vases were painted and then sprayed with accent paints to give them a new, creative touch.
Jean and her Romanian friend, Maria, creating their art. The arrangements were custom-designed for every room, coordinating the creations with the room's carpet, blankets and pictures. Every room received one small potted arrangement, and one large wall arrangement, and both had matching bows. All the ribbon used was a generous donation from Cottage Flowers, in Hermiston, Oregon. Many other large arrangements were created for hallways and public areas.
The Romanian broom (pictured above) was Jean's choice for the platform for the wall arrangements. But the ethnic stereotype against putting street brooms on a hotel wall was an insurmountable option, so a flatter platform (below right) was chosen when more-desirable baskets (below left) would not be available for 5 months.
