Pour it on

My son's preschool put on a Mother's Day Tea yesterday. There was no tea per se, but plenty of lemonade, mini muffins, and corsages made of tissue paper flowers by little fingers.

I convinced my 5-year-old to dress up, which is to say I caved and let him wear sweatpants. (He hasn't worn pants with buttons since he was 2. The best explanation I can get is: Buttons are round and hurt his feelings. Yea, I don' t get it either.)

But I did insist he did wear a plain T-shirt, black to coordinate with his sweats. The Red Sox and Sponge Bob franchises would have to get someone else to handle their advertising for the morning.

The preschool girls, though, are obviously practiced at this tea business. They wore sundresses, pink sweaters, and shoes that did not say "New Balance" on them. They were a pot of pastel flowers let loose.

Individually, they were cute. Together, they were an impressionist's painting: a blur of color that created a perfect picture of young girlhood.

There's a design lesson in all this: We create drama when we repeat elements. A single flower in a vase is pretty. A grouping of five vases with single flowers in them, that'll catch your eye.

Got a collection of some sort, say birdhouses, scattered around a room or your house? Group them together and see how much more of an impact they make. Give it a try!