Tussie-Mussies: The Victorian Art of Expressing Yourself in the Language of Flowers

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Summary: Expresses my feelings more sincerely than words!
Review: Hi Readers! I think my book, Tussie-Mussies, will enable you to quickly and easily make beautiful, fresh flower messages on any subject for your friends and dear ones. Made of flowers and herbs from the florist/ grocer, or from your own garden, you can tailor-make tussie- mussies expressing friendship, congratulations, sympathy, get well, birthday, etc. I've made them to console after a miscarriage, to congratulate for a successful diet, and to encourage a high school graduate. They're particularly great for new baby showers-- all the good wishes for the baby can be included. And they're exactly the right size for a hospital sick tray. In the book there's a How To section, plus a Glossary of dozens of plants & their meanings, carefully researched from 19th C. language of flower books. Everyone who's ever seen a fresh tussie-mussie is enchanted; they look beautiful and smell fresh and fragrant; they last a week in water. Hope you try making one soon! Best wishes, GAL P.S. I prefer to use waxed florist tape to hold my tussie-mussie together, and I always use real lace and double-sided satin ribbons (instead of paper doilies which tear if wet). My 2-acre home garden provides all the flowers & herbs I need to send nearly any message; in the winter I add florist roses!

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Summary: Excellent information and a wonderful pictorial book.
Review: I have read this book and use it as a ref guide in our work shop. We manufacture tussies. The only wrong thing about this book is it does not have a glossery of where one can purchase the things they would need to make these wonderful tussies. As in WHERE could you purchase the holders? or who makes holders like this? Also where can you purchase special ribbons. and so on. We make these as our job, but for the home garden person who perhaps would like to dabble into this as a gift making idea will not find much in the way of suppliers. Anyone can use lace and doilies, but the real EYECATCHERS are the hand casted resin containers! Too bad they didnt say or give a list of suppliers. Other Than that.... it is a well photographed book.

Rating:
Summary: Inspiring and enchanting!
Review: I have used this delightful book for reference and inspiration countless times since buying it several years ago. It's paid for itself and then some! Tussie-mussies never fail to provide a gracious touch to the giving of flowers. Anyone can merely present flowers, but to customize the bouquet to the recipient or occasion? Truly impressive and touching! I once attended a luncheon honoring a well-known philanthropist. The hostess spent a fortune on catering for the event and decorated the banquet table with an enormous [$] floral arrangement of spring flowers. The well-traveled multimillionairess was cordial but a trifle bored (been there/done that)until I presented my tussie-mussie, assembled just for her, with a hand-lettered scroll listing the flowers and their definitions. She was astonished and fascinated. That's all she talked about afterwards--the table arrangement could have been dandilions and crab grass. Even if you don't actually make up a tussie-mussie from real flowers, Laufer's book has other terrific uses. I used it to design a bouquet in watercolors for my aunt's memorial service program. You will relish this book!

Rating:
Summary: Inspiring and enchanting!
Review: I have used this delightful book for reference and inspiration countless times since buying it several years ago. It's paid for itself and then some! Tussie-mussies never fail to provide a gracious touch to the giving of flowers. Anyone can merely present flowers, but to customize the bouquet to the recipient or occasion? Truly impressive and touching! I once attended a luncheon honoring a well-known philanthropist. The hostess spent a fortune on catering for the event and decorated the banquet table with an enormous [$] floral arrangement of spring flowers. The well-traveled multimillionairess was cordial but a trifle bored (been there/done that)until I presented my tussie-mussie, assembled just for her, with a hand-lettered scroll listing the flowers and their definitions. She was astonished and fascinated. That's all she talked about afterwards--the table arrangement could have been dandilions and crab grass. Even if you don't actually make up a tussie-mussie from real flowers, Laufer's book has other terrific uses. I used it to design a bouquet in watercolors for my aunt's memorial service program. You will relish this book!

Rating:
Summary: Tussie Mussies!
Review: My friend and I used this book as a source for a program for my garden club. We did this in January when our gardens were bare, or so we thought. After looking, we were able to find lots of things that were useful as well as meaningful. With a few dollars worth of flowers from the grocery store we made several examples from the book (with a few substitutions). We were delighted at how beautifully they turned out. I talked about the language of flowers and then showed everybody our samples. We had assembled a variety of ingredients and then each of our 15 members created her own Tussie Mussie. Each one turned out differently and each was charming. I cannot wait for a reason to make another one. We had a hoot of a time. My only complaint with the book was that there were not enough sources of materials such as holders, etc. Thank you for such a beautiful book.