Thursday, April 30, 2015

Urban Jungle Bloggers: Offer A Plant To A Friend



One of the main ideas of our Urban Jungle Bloggers community is to spread the green love. Admittedly, most of the times we do it digitally by sharing our monthly Urban Jungle Bloggers posts, other plant related posts, green pictures on our Pinterest board and other green news on Facebook and Twitter. But for this month's challenge we thought we'd take it literally and spread the love in real deeds, with real plants: We want to encourage you to offer a plant to a friend!


Very often when we think of a gift for a special occasion we think of the usual, classical choices: a bunch of fresh flowers, a bottle of wine, a box of chocolates. Be it a birthday, a housewarming party, a wedding or a simple dinner invitation. But why not consider plants for your next invitation? Offer a plant to a dear person as a toke of your long lasting friendship. Plus the plant gift will last for a long time - unlike the fresh cut flowers, the wine or the chocolates. It will be a lovely and lasting reminder of a special moment and special person.

When I thought of an idea to offer a plant to a friend, I looked around my apartment and I found two cute house vases that were sitting there without a real function or calling. And that sparked an idea: One of my friends has opened Munich's best ice cream parlor not too long ago and I remembered that one cute table sitting in the shop window all empty. So I thought those two little house vases could easily be turned into little growing roofs with colourful succulents as a sort of belated 'housewarming gift' for my friend's ice cream boutique.


It took me like 10 minutes to create the little green roof vases. I filled them up halfway with pebbles, added some succulent soil and planted a small selection of succulents in various sizes and colours. Next thing I found myself in my friend's ice cream boutique True & 12 (where they prepare daily fresh, organic ice cream by hand) and I offered both little plant houses as a present.  Now the succulents are sitting on the little white table in the shop window and watch the world pass by and eat Munich's best ice cream. They must be incredibly happy plants! For this occasion I have teamed up with a dear photographer friend who made those amazingly beautiful pictures - thank you Stefanie!

Oh and listen up! This month is really all about giving: Judith and I will be giving away a secret plant-related gift to two of our readers, so leave a comment below!

Urban Jungle Bloggers is a monthly series initiated by 2 bloggers: Igor (Happy Interior Blogand Judith (JOELIX.com). Every month we share ideas to create an urban jungle through styling ideas, DIYs and green tips & tricks. You can find additional inspiration on our Urban Jungle Bloggers Pinterest board and keep up-to-date on our website and Facebook page. Want to join? Use #urbanjunglebloggers on Twitter and Instagram. Or let us know and we'll share the badge and upcoming topics with you. Let's bring some green into your homes and blogs!

Photography by Stefanie Szillat, plant styling by Igor Josifovic

39 comments :

  1. What a lovely gift! I really like the vases and the idea of creating 'green roofs' with plants.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Abi! I thought it's a fun effect to have a little succulent roof:-)

      Delete
  2. Awww those houses are just adorable :) They must be beyond happy for being in the presence of really yummy ice cream all day! Hurray for sharing green gifts!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Judith! They have a pretty lucky place to live and thrive indeed! And I will visit them from time to time when I get my ice cream fix!

      Delete
  3. Super mignon comme cadeau ces petites maison, tu as du faire un heureux !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Merci et oui j'espère que mon amie est heureuse avec les petites maisons:-)

      Delete
  4. I love your "house idea". I ll try to contribute to the Urban Jungle Bloggers by tomorrow and I somehow also refere to the "plant house present" idea :) Cheers, Maria

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Maria! I am curious to see your Interpretation tomorrow!!

      Delete
  5. Aw, these are just perfect presents, Igor! So sweet. And fun to see the 'handing over' as well, lovely photos.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Yvonne! It was intended as a real plant gift to a friend so I just had to get someone to snap that moment:-)

      Delete
  6. This is the perfect gift, one I would absolutely love to receive:)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nice idea :) plants are wonderful gifts!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Just gorgeous!!!! Love the whole story telling and it reminds me when you did the fab post on Mapology Guides:-)))

    Great that you upcycled your little houses and may I say you chose some cute succulents.
    Best of all you can now pass by, eat an organic ice cream and tend to the plants (if necessary).

    Just perfect all round!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Very lovely. Great idea for succulent planters.

    ReplyDelete
  10. The house vases are so appealing! Wish to open up an ice cream boutique around your corner!
    Green greetings,
    Leah

    ReplyDelete
  11. Lovely gift! And now I really fancy an ice cream! :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Schöne Idee - und bestimmt leckeres Eis :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ein tolles Einweihungsgeschenk! Das erste Bild gefällt mir ganz besonders gut, mit dem alten Holz.

    ReplyDelete
  14. A nice house for some beautiful little succulents :)
    I love also the way that the little roof are painted. Such a great gift !

    ReplyDelete
  15. What a fun challenge! I potted up and gave away Hen & Chick plants to a bunch of my friends. They were so appreciative. I blogged it here: http://teri-gonewalkabout2.blogspot.com/2015/05/may-day-gift-of-plant.html

    ReplyDelete
  16. That is a great idea - to gift a plant, thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  17. love this post and its message ... have a wonderful weekend, Igor!

    ReplyDelete
  18. It was a pleasure to join "the team"! I love your little houses too. Hope I can get some for the next housewarming party! Have a great day, greets Jackie

    ReplyDelete
  19. Μα τι όμορφες & πρωτοτυπες καμινάδες έχουν τα σπιτάκια σου!

    Happy May Day :)

    http://beautyfollower.blogspot.gr

    ReplyDelete
  20. I really love your green gift idea... I'm an architect and I appreciate the idea of transforming two little houses in nests for something that will grow and spread love as well.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Giving plants as gifts is a great idea! I like giving my friends plants, and it even gets better over the years, as you get to know your friends, their plant-care-level, their tastes in design and decorating (to pick out the perfect pot and plant combo!) and the place they live in, so you can give them a plant that's right for their space. Everybody's happy! :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. Absolutely love these little house planters and the idea of a growing roof. Fresh cut flowers do make a beautiful gift but their beauty is so transient. Giving a plant is a gift that lasts and keeps growing. As someone who can kill a houseplant by looking at it ( or is that forgetting to water it!) I've just taken the plunge and bought my first succulent, just need to find one of these gorgeous planters now to make my own growing roof :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. I love the little houses, they are an absolutely divine way to show off plants! I love succulents and I don't think plants are given enough so may have to do this next time instead of flowers!

    ReplyDelete
  24. I often give plants as gifts, especially for housewarming presents, and I love getting green gifts too.

    ReplyDelete
  25. eine tolle idee und die beiden sehen so hübsch aus im duett :) viele liebe grüße julia

    ReplyDelete
  26. Love the idea of giving a plant as a gift for this month topic...it's something I also do a lot even if I'm not such a green thumb myself. I love to give plants as presents... one Christmas afew years ago I've even given as gift to my best friends a collection of different seeds of their favourite plants (you can just do this with people you know very well!) and they loved this idea, then they were so happy to show me how my seeds have grown!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Beautiful houses, beautiful plant composition, beautiful pictures and beautiful gift. Just perfect!
    happy new week!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Alles was ich auf deinen Blog sehe, finde ich einfach großartig. Liebe Grüße zu dir, Igor. Mein Buch hat seit heute ein Cover! Ich freue riesig.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Lieber Igor,
    die Häuschen sind so entzückend - und die Bilder gefallen mir unheimlich gut! Auf dem unteren bist Du richtig verliebt in Deinen Urban Jungle :-)) Ein toller Blogpost - abgesehen davon, dass ich jetzt unbedingt schnell ein Eis brauche ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  30. One of you lucky guys who left a comment received a message from me and will soon get a little surprise:-) I hope to have more surprises for everyone in the near future too! Thank you all for the great support and response!

    ReplyDelete
  31. What a incredible thing it is. So creative and perfect for indoor plants. Great job Igor

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...