winter and spring 2016 workshops

 The schedule for early spring workshops is ready! Some old favourites (like the always popular terrarium workshop) as well as workshops making spring bulb planters and succulent wreaths.
New this year are the Family Day workshops on Monday February 15th during the afternoon with special pricing for parents/grandparents and children.
Space is limited in all workshops so reserve as soon as you can!

succulent wreaths

spring bulb planters

terrariums

shop hours for December 2015

December holiday hours:

Saturday Dec 19 :: 11:30 - 5

Christmas Week

Sunday Dec 20 :: noon - 4

Monday Dec 21:: closed

Tuesday Dec 22 :: 11:30 - 8

Wednesday Dec 23 :: 11:30 - 8

Thursday Dec 24 :: 10 - 4

Friday Dec 25 :: closed

Saturday Dec 26 :: closed

'Boxing Week'

Sunday Dec 27 :: noon - 4

Monday Dec 28:: noon - 6

Tuesday Dec 29 ::  noon - 6

Wednesday Dec 30 :: noon - 6

Thursday Dec 31 :: noon - 4

Friday Jan 1 - Monday Jan 11 :: closed 

Tuesday Jan 12 - back to regular hours!

The James Street North Window Competition is on...

Game On!

The Holiday Window Competition is in full swing in Hamilton's Arts District

Here's the skinny:

- come down to the James Street North with your friends and family
- have a look at all of our Christmas and Holiday window displays
- decide which one you think is the best
- cast your 'vote' buy depositing your spare change into a 'vote box' in the shop or restaurant
- fill out a ballot which will make you eligible to win a grand prize draw for a basket containing merchandise and gift certificates from all of the participating shops, restaurants and  galleries
- yes... I know... AMAZING
- 'vote' at as many stores as you like, and enter your name with each vote


Where does the money go?
We want to keep the donations on the street - so the money collected with each vote will be divided between our neighbours: Living Rock, Notre Dame House and Mission Services

What does the winning shop or restaurant get?
Smack-down bragging rights for a year.

What do you get?
An old-fashioned stroll down a fabulous street looking at creative and individual windows decorated for the holidays. An opportunity to support small, local business instead of big-box/mall stores. Maybe a great coffee, hot chocolate or lunch, and the chance to win a gift basket filled with really good things.

In closing?
Vote for i fiori... I'm just saying...

update :: fall workshops are filling, filling... full (almost!)

The fall wreath and terrarium workshops have proven to be crazy popular again this year.

Terrariums
The October terrarium workshop seemed to book up in days, and the November terrarium workshop is full. There are a few places open in the December 15th workshop, so please call or send an email if you are interested in signing up.

Wreaths
It is the same story with the wreath workshop. The Wreath workshop on Tuesday November 17th is full, so we have added second one on Thursday November 19th. Thursday's Wreath workshop is almost full as well, so if you are thinking of reserving a spot - please think fast.

Festive Madness
The 'pull-out-the-stops-do-whatever-you-want' workshop on Wednesday December 9 has only a few spots left. This is the workshop where you can decide whether you would like to try your hand at a wreath, a table centrepiece, a garland for mantle or table, or an 'indoor'seasonal urn.

Supercrawl!

Super crawl is here and James Street North has been a hive of activity for a week!
We have some beautiful french lavender, gorgeous jasmine plants bursting with new buds (and scenting up the shop nicely), a couple fridgees filled with fresh fall flowers and once again, i fiori will be selling roses in the shop and in front of the shop with all proceeds donated to the Good Shepherd Notre Dame House.
We will be open this weekend:

Friday

noon - 11pm

Saturday

noon - 8pm

Sunday

noon - 5pm

Stop by and say hi!

fall workshops are here!

The first workshops for autumn have been scheduled (finally!) and more information can be seen on the 'workshop and events' page. 

In the coming weeks even more workshops will be scheduled for late October and November. Deposits are required with registration as spaces are limited .

Stop by the shop to register, or send an email to bev@ifiori.ca

the july calendar starts to fill up...

Well, the month of June was a blur. Between 'nesting' in the new shop, and designing the flowers for some beautiful June weddings, all of a sudden... Boom. It is July.
The month of July brings some fantastic events to us in Hamilton... aside from the Pan-Am games...

July 2015 :: Art Crawl

Friday July 10

all day basically - 10:30pm

Feed your soul... by purchasing some sunflowers because nothing says 'summer' like sunflowers!

i fiori will be selling gorgeous sunflowers with all net proceeds going to Notre Dame House, a shelter for youth facing family violence, abuse and poverty. Part of the Good Shepherd group of services, the Notre Dame House is also our good neighbour.

Feed your tummy... the local bakery 'Made for you by Madeleine' will be in the shop with a selection of their fresh baked goods in case you need a snack or two. 

Or just feed your curiosity and come see the 'new digs' at 140 James North... we are settling in nicely.

Village Station Bazaar :: Ferguson Station

Sunday July 12

11am - 4pm

i fiori will be at the Village Station Bazaar on Sunday July 12th with a good selection of really fresh flowers, plants born and raised in Ontario greenhouses, and this month we will feature:

vintage pottery and vases for sale

There is always a good selection of artists, artisans and small businesses represented at the summer bazaars at Ferguson Station,
and we are proud to participate!

Blooms for Africa Garden Tour :: Grimsby 

Saturday July 18

2pm - 9pm

Once again, i fiori will be selling passports to the garden tour, and this year the tour goes to Grimsby.

Passports are $20. 

As always, all proceeds go to the  Stephen Lewis Foundation.

You not only get to see some amazing private gardens, the Grimsby Museum, the Pump House and Peace Garden but you are able to visit the 'Painted Ladies' at Grimsby Beach - an entire neighbourhood of wonderful, whimsical homes and gardens. 

Your passport also includes discounts at many of the acclaimed restaurants and cafes in the Grimsby area.

the geriatric moving crew

More peeks of last Saturday's activities.
I cannot thank the friends who helped me move enough. Affectionately dubbed 'the geriatric moving crew', this team of super humans ranged in age from 55 to 69 years old. Experience is everything - with countless moves and renovation projects in our back pockets, every task was checked off without a hitch.
We started at 9:30 and stopped when everything was more or less finished at 4:30, capping off the day with French 75s and a porchetta dinner in the new shop.

installing the lights

setting up  the cabinets and work surfaces

moving the fridges

moving... everything

let the sorting and arranging begin...

Its time to move!

OK, this is what I like to call a 'liquid' time.
Over the next few days we will move shop from our cosy 128 james street north to the spacious and rather custom shop at 140 james street north. The back and forth rhythm will be fine right up until the sinks and fridges will have to move... and that means that we will be closed next week while everything gets re-connected and sorted.
The new space is magical. The best part is having enough room for flowers without having crowded and bruised petals, and being able to offer the largest selection of Ontario succulents, cactus, ferns (and soon) houseplants.
The hope is to have the space to conduct all workshops in the shop (!), and not to rely on some tricky pilates and yoga contortions simply to get from the front of the shop to the back when carrying a bucket of flowers.
Here is a bit of a peek at the work in progress:

scary floors, scary walls, scariest ceiling... and through everything Gary Buttrum was unflappable

the framing stage

building the walk-in cooler for the flowers (aka Bev's playhouse)

i fiori will be closed Monday May 25 to Friday May 29 while we get everything connected and sorted in the new shop.

Sorry for any inconvenience - please come to visit on Saturday!

Matchbox Heirloom Seeds are now at i fiori!

We have just received out first order from Matchbox Garden & Seed Company!

Matchbox Seeds are now available at i fiori

Matchbox is a small farm and seed company located south of Hamilton in Haldimand County. They produce over 120 varieties of organically produced, open pollinated, heirloom and rare vegetables, herb, flowers, seed and seedlings.

Starting your Seeds - Q&A

Friday April 10 from 7 - 8:30  Hanna Jacobs, owner of Matchbox Garden, will be at i fiori for an informal Q&A on why we need to plant and harvest seeds, when to start your seeds and the secrets of success.

Drop in during Art Crawl - Hanna will be able to answer just about any question you may have regarding starting your garden.



psst... this means that spring is finally here. Its time to get dirty...

Easter weekend

i fiori is ready for spring, ready for Easter!

art crawl + helleborus + Juno week

Downtown Hamilton is buzzing!
Oh, sure, we are hosting the Juno Awards and everywhere you look there will be concerts and sessions with musicians and singers who would normally play much bigger venues (like the opportunity to see Elizabeth Shepherd at Mills Hardware on Friday night...)
This Friday the March Art Crawl will be transformed into a 'music crawl' - many shops, restaurants and bars will be featuring musical guests. It will be a perfect way to kick off spring!
But the biggest buzzworthy news is that this week we have no wind chill factor and a new batch of hellebores in the shop.
Oh, can you beat that?

stunning pink helleborus are ready at i fiori

i fiori + cake & loaf + white elephant = i-heart-you.

Once again 3 local, independent businesses will make your Valentine's decision easy-peasy.
Last year's collaboration was a huge success (we sold out in days). This year - don't wait to pre-book - we have a cut-off date for orders for a good reason: the 'one-stop-shop' combines handcrafted jewelry, hand-made chocolate and of course - a beautiful i fiori bouquet.

Order at : hello@whiteelephantshop.ca

the end of the Valentine myth

I don't really like red roses...

spring flowers and resolutions

Well, we are truly in the last half of January, so time to confess this year's resolutions:

1. Be more thankful.

2. Embrace technology.

3. Drink less wine.

#1 - check
#2 & #3 - seem to be counter-intuitive

Last Sunday saw me wrestling with skype, blackberry, instagram and wordpress while simultaneously trying to chew my way through the cork on a bottle of ripasso...

And that is my apology for being so lax with new posts.

The Christmas season at i fiori was magical and crazy busy. Thank you, thank you. thank you. (see resolution #1) We spent our time with customers and workshops, and creating centrepieces, terrariums and bouquets (and unfortunately less time updating the blog with photos - see resolution #2)
But now we are coasting through January - the weather is not as brutal as last year's, but still I feel the pull, the need for spring bulbs in the house.

sweet little clay 'euro-pots'

amaryllis, narcissus, mixed bulb euro-pots, lemon cypress & heather

great selection of fresh cut tulips are in the shop now!

tulip, tulip, tulip, ranunculus, tulip...
easy and fresh in magnetic test tube vases from Chong Wu

See you in the shop!