The Rainbow Connection
“Why are there so many songs about rainbows and what’s on the other side?”
`Kermit the Frog
Rainbow Collection: Confetti Throw Blanket, Rainbow Stripe Throw, "Hello Gorgeous" Pillow with Rainbow Tassels
The Colors of the Rainbow
Hope and believing in impossible things. That is the message of The Rainbow Connection. Finding yourself and following your dreams until you connect with your rainbow, is what life is about. We love that sentiment and creating Sand and Pine is doing just that, following our dream.
A rainbow’s seven visible colors are red, orange, yellow, blue, green, indigo, and violet. As children, we learned this as Roy G. Biv, a popular acronym memorized in 2nd grade. Later in high school, we were actually taught about the over one million hues contained in a single rainbow beam.
Over the years, those colors have attained meaning and we have tried to incorporate those meanings in all that we do: red, passion and vitality, orange, endurance and perseverance, yellow, happiness and cheer, green, growth and renewal, blue, calmness and serenity, indigo, awareness and intuition, and violet, imagination and creativity.
Rainbow Book Stack, Petite Flower Vase Alice Collection. Petite Flower Vase Felicity Collection (Flower Vase Collections coming soon)
Historical Significance of the Rainbow
Culturally, rainbows have attained historical significance. The list is long, so below are just a few highlights:
The Irish believe a pot of gold is hidden at the end of the rainbow, but if you try to find that end, you might be disappointed. I was 59 years old when my 5 year old granddaughter, Felicity, taught me that rainbows were actually circular. We only see half of the rainbow because we are standing on the ground and can only see what is above the horizon. So, if you try to follow your rainbow until the end, you’ll be travelling for a very long time!
The Bible has God using the rainbow as a covenant to his people that never again will they be destroyed by a great flood.
The Ancient Greeks have a rainbow goddess named Iris, who connects her people to the Gods.
In Hindu legend, the god of thunder and war, Indra uses the rainbow as a bow to shoot arrows of lightning.
For the Chinese, the rainbow is a crack in the sky, made by the goddess Nüwa.
The rainbow will always represent joy and happiness, and for many cultures something more, but whatever the meaning, rainbows just make us smile!
Flying the Colors of the Rainbow
The rainbow has also been used throughout history as the coloration for flags. Below are just a few examples.
The rainbow flag in Italy was first used in a peace march in 1961, and subsequently inspired similar multi-colored flags used in demonstrations against nuclear weapons.
The rainbow flag was popularized as a symbol of the gay community by San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker in 1978 and represents hope and inclusion.
A circular rainbow flag represents the Wu-Wo Tea Ceremony 無我茶會, also known as Wu-Wo Tea Convention and Wuwo Tea Party. It is a style of Chinese tea ceremony that encourages participants to forget about knowledge, wealth, and appearance to establish a group equality without prejudice.
The Rainbow Bridge
As pet lovers, we find this one a little sad but also hopeful and encouraging at the same time! When your pet passes away, the saying is that they are crossing over the “rainbow bridge” to wait for you until you can be reunited.
Don’t worry about Hunter (above). He has a long life ahead and was pressed into service for the purpose of modeling the bandana. See how excited he is?
Styling the Rainbow Room
For this photo shoot, we used Maddie’s home office, her white couch in particular, as our focal point, but any room will do. Just let your love of rainbows shine through!
To bring the look together, we added pops of color with our Rainbow Poms and Curly Twigs. The DIY craft materials and instructions are given below. Enjoy!
Rainbow Poms:
Our rainbow poms were super fun and easy to create!
Materials List:
HEHALI 1000pcs Multicolor Pom Pom Balls, Assorted Sizes & Colors
Mini Glue gun with glue sticks
Using your wire cutters, snip the 14” floral wires in half. Place a dot of glue on the pom and stick the wire through that dot into the pom. If you want your arrangement to look fuller, run your thumb and forefinger along the wire, gently curving as you go. Done! (I said it was easy!)
Rainbow Curly Twigs:
Our rainbow curly twigs gave us some height and color. Placed in any of our basket collections, they are a great addition to any rainbow room!
Materials List:
Take a twig. Leave about 6-8 onches free of paint where you can grasp twig while painting. Dip sponge in paint and brush up along twig. Turn twig 1/4” and repeat. Then take a cardboard box approximately 6” x 24” x 24” (I used a canned drink flat), flip so that the bottom is on top and poke holes at 6 inch intervals. Place the wet twig (unpainted end) into the hole and leave until completely dry. For the look in our photo, create about 8 of these for each color.
Whether you are astonished at natures beauty, looking for your inner kid or just delight in the colorful, we hope you enjoy our rainbow collection and find your rainbow connection!
Now go out and…
Find Your Fancy!