Pretty Planters

I come from a family of green thumbs. My dad was famous for his vegetable garden (corn, tomato, beans, etc.)and my mom was always in the garden (despite her allergies.) We always had many different plants growing all over the house.

I questioned my ability with plants when I first tried to grow some in my old apartment. I blame it on the lack of sunshine (basement apartment.) My current apartment has sunshine all day, and my plants are thriving! I am always on the lookout for some nice planters. The plant pictured below has been sitting in a chinese food plastic container for at least a year. I finally decided to replant it before it died on me.

I got some paint, a terra cotta planter, glue, and some pebbles left over from my fish tank, and got to work. I decided on yellow paint, and applied two coats. I did not paint all of the inside...just enough for the paint to show if the dirt did not completely come to the top of the planter.

After the paint dried, I carefully glued the pebbles to the outside of the planter. You can pretty much glue anything...I almost decorated the planter with some plastic sea shells I found in Michaels. I decided that they might look better on a blue planter, so I will save them for the next time.

I transferred the plant to the new pot, and all was fine until I woke up this morning. For some reason, the pebbles were starting to come off, and the glue that had dried clear last night, looked white as if I just applied it. I used an all-purpose glue, and that might be my mistake. I think that the water in the plant may be seeping through the terra cotta. So, if you are going to try this, research different types of glue so that you don't make the same mistake I made. Now, I have to figure out how to fix this and hopefully save my little plant. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!

-Nordea
nordeasoaperie

Quick & Crafty Tuesday w/Sam

My very good friend, Kristyn is planning to move across the country at the end of the year. We have been friends for 15+ years, and I was crushed when she told me the news in March. I knew this day was coming, but secretly hoped the day would never come.

Anyway, as a last hurrah, she signed up to run the NYC marathon in November. A few weeks ago, she sent out a note asking for help watching her daughter while she trained after work.

I was excited for the opportunity for a little "crafty time" with her 5-year-old daughter Sam. So, I went to one of my favorite stores, Michaels for some fun ideas.

I settled on some blank picture frames that we could decorate. I purchased some puffy stickers, metallic flowers, tiny pom-poms, colorful ribbon, glue, and of course glitter! I also printed out a picture that I had taken of Sam when I met them for dinner a few weeks back.

I arrived at their apartment with my bag of crafty goodness. Kristyn had her sneakers on, and off she went, promising us she would be back in about an hour. Sam & I got to work because her frame was going to be a surprise for her mother once she returned home.

I laid out all of the goods, and Sam and I carefully selected our decorations...cutting ribbon, repositioning pom-poms, gluing flowers until we were satisfied with our picture frames. We were saving the glitter (oooh, glitter!!) for last.



We just about finished with the glitter, when Kristyn came back home. "Oh mom...don't look yet!" We still had to put the picture in the frame! So, we quickly put in the photo, and Sam presented the finished project to her mom.





After a lot of "oohs and ahhs" I said my goodbyes and came home. I probably looked a little crazy on the bus, covered in glitter, but satisfied that I was able to spend some quality time with Sam. She seemed to like the ribbon a lot (little pink owls,) so next time we may try to decorate some headbands or hair clips with ribbon (I just have to figure out how!)

Just a quick idea for a fun Tuesday evening of your own...Happy Crafting!

-Nordea
nordeasoaperie