dead paperwhites

The story behind this, and the beauty of what preceded it, are so much more interesting than this photo (taken with my cell phone). Mary Garner-Mitchell set a gorgeous table that included antique lace placemats and linen napkins held with napkin rings (little clay pots like the one in the photo, bottoms removed). And she embellished each little pot-napkin-ring with a tiny cluster of dead paperwhite flowers. They were the coup d'grace! They were the color of antique lace, the texture of old, thin tissue paper. And it was such a thrill to see their color and texture appreciated, their beauty celebrated in this way! Mary is a genius. I grabbed some of the flowers, dropped them into one of the bottomless pots, and photographed them on Mary's windowsill just to memorialize their beauty. They look sort of sad in this photo, but, trust me, they were gorgeous on those napkins!