I was putting laundry away in our closet the other day and Little Miss Henley found my box of gift wrap.   She pulled out all of my pretty tissue and a bunch of ribbon that I have been saving hoarding for the last who knows how many years and had a field day with it!  She was a happy camper for at least twenty minutes, which is the longest she will do anything before she gets bored.  I was so happy to actually get a whole pile of laundry put away that I didn't even care half of the tissue paper was destroyed.

Since she loved the ribbon so much, and also has an affinity for cardboard boxes, I wanted to make a baby friendly and relatively indestructible toy for Henley to play with.  I have seen lots of busy boxes and books with ribbons and I thought that it would be a perfect, quick, and easy project to make a Christmas Ribbon Busy Box for Henley, especially to give to her while I am wrapping presents this season. 

What you need:

We had quite a few rainy days this week...ugh! I know that here in California we need rain, but I hate it.  If it never rained I would be totally fine with that, you know, minus the whole drought aspect.

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by an up and coming online flower company, The Bouqs, about reviewing their product in exchange for a free bouquet.  There is something about having fresh flowers in the house that brightens my day, so obviously I said yes.


The Bouqs' main collection of flowers is the "Volcano Collection".  These flowers are grown in South America on a volcano, literally.  This collection takes a week or so for delivery, and is where I chose my bouquet from.  They also have the "California Collection", which is a little more expensive and subject to taxes, but offers next day delivery. 

I was pleasantly surprised by the youthful, modern design of the site and happy that it was extremely easy to navigate.  You get a clear, concise view of what each bouquet looks like, and can select each one in three different sizes: Original (around a dozen stems, $40-50), Deluxe (two dozen, $50-60), or Grand (three dozen, $70).  Shipping is free, so you don't have to deal with crazy delivery fees.

The Bouq that I chose was "Dawn" in the "Volcano Collection".  I picked it because I loved the fiery orange color and thought it would be perfect for a Thanksgiving arrangement.  When it arrived, I was so excited!  The packaging was simple, yet cute.  The bouquet comes boxed and wrapped in brown paper.  The box has directions for unwrapping, arranging, and caring for your flowers. 



I unwrapped the flowers and they were gorgeous!  Despite being boxed and wrapped, they were fresh and unharmed, minus a couple of petals that were a little bent.  These roses were better than ones at the store by far, and just as beautiful, if not more so, than from a florist.



I removed them from the packaging and followed their directions, which were basically how I always care for my flowers.  Look at how beautiful the colors of these roses are!  Perfect for fall!



 



To compliment the colors in the bouquet, I took  square of burlap and wrapped it around the vase I had.  Then, I secured it with a rubber band and tied a burlap and orange chevron ribbon around it.  Perfect for my Thanksgiving table!



I received my Bouq on November 20th.  It is now December 4th and the roses just started wilting .  I changed the water out twice and they lasted me this long!  I have to say that I am very impressed with the quality of my bouquet.  I definitely recommend you check out The Bouqs for the next time you order flowers!



Disclaimer: I did not pay for these flowers, and I am an affiliate of this company, but they didn’t buy my opinion.