Brown Thumb

Alright, so Buddy and I have been working on his egg carton garden now for 20 days and there is absolutely nothing growing.  I had hoped that I could overcome my very brown thumb with this simple garden idea but it looks like it isn't going to happen.
I'm a little disappointed that this hasn't turned out like I thought but we're not giving up on the flowers yet.  Buddy and I are still watering them and making sure that they get sunlight.  Maybe just maybe something will grow. 
I am also trying to grow a small pot of chives that I put together at the last MOPS meeting that I attended.  Nothing in that pot is seeming to grow either.  So I am pretty sure it is me not Buddy.  But patiently, patiently, we will wait and see what happens.
I promised honestly and real life with this blog and, in our household, plants don't have much of a chance. 

Egg Carton Garden

Today, Buddy and I started his egg carton garden for spring time.  This is something that we are going to try to keep up with daily and hopefully in about 3-4 weeks, we'll have nice marigold and asylum blooms and fresh parsley.  Buddy has been very interested in our rose bush and comments each day when he spots a new bloom so I thought this would be a hands-on approach to help him understand plants.  It also goes along with his Bible verse, 2 Corinthians 5:17, since I think this qualifies as a new creation.

If you are interested in making an easy spring time 'garden', here is how we made our egg carton plants. 

You'll need:

1 cardboard egg carton

1 small bag of potting soil

1 or more packages of seeds (Be sure to check plant heights...it would be interesting to have a 5 foot plant growing from an egg carton)



Buddy filled each section of the egg carton with the potting soil.  Apparently, he is really excited in this photo!

 I poured the packets of seeds into my hand and he would take a small pinch of seeds and place them in the dirt.  We added another small layer of potting soil on top of each section to cover the seeds.

Buddy watered his new plants and then asked to see the flowers.  This will be a lesson in patience as well.  I recommend helping a little closer with the watering.  Buddy flooded our carton and so I know our three types of seeds, that we carefully placed in three different sections, were probably washed and blended together. Oh well, I think it will still turn out great.

The carton will be placed in a sunny section each day and carefully watered as needed.  I'm looking forward to checking for blooms with Buddy and watching his response.

Peanut Butter Bird Feeder

Peanut Butter Bird feeders are a classic children's craft and Buddy made his bird feeder at school on Thursday.  He was super proud of it and really excited to see the birds.  Buddy and Jon hung it in our only tree in the front yard.  We've had several smaller birds stop in and Buddy can watch them eat from our window.  He tried to go watch outside yesterday but it scared the birds away, of course.    

If you have never made a Peanut Butter Bird Feeder, here's how!

Materials Needed:
1 Pine cone
Yarn or ribbon
Peanut Butter
Birdseed

Tie the yarn or ribbon to the top of the pine cone.  Spread peanut butter all over the pine cone.  There are several ways to do this, but the way that I have found works best is to just glop it on with a knife.  Roll the covered pine cone in birdseed making sure that the entire cone is covered.  Hang in a tree and watch the birds enjoy!

Here is a close up view of the finished bird feeder; notice the birds have already eaten away parts of the peanut butter.

I love the simplicity of this craft and the excitement that it has brought to Buddy!

Spring Cleaning

It is that time of year again...time for spring cleaning!  One thing that has been bothering me lately is the huge amount of stuff that we have accumulated and collected in our house.  So I announced to Jon (to his delight, as this is something he would do every two months!) the other day that I was going to spend the month of April sorting, organizing, and cleaning the house.  Sounds fun right?  I think so, but maybe that is just me.  I'm looking forward to having all of the random 'important' papers filed away and my craft supplies in an organized section.  I'm actually looking forward to dust free blinds, although around here in the desert that won't last long.  I am really looking forward to a more organized bookshelf.  I'm seriously looking forward to taking our huge pile of plastic grocery bags back to the store to be recycled!  The clutter has got to go!  I want little things that junk up our cabinets to have a 'home' so that our home can be a place to relax. 

After I told Jon that I was ready to start spring cleaning, he informed me of his topic of messages with the youth for the next month: "Simplify Your Life - Making Room For Greatness".  It is actually a series dealing with a Spiritual Spring Cleaning.  What a perfect time to be learning and discussing ways to de-clutter our busy lives so that we can focus on following God.  The first message was tonight and I have been thinking about how applicable it is to start examining my sometime chaotic life and determine what bad habits need to go and what good habits need to start taking root. 

Jon's outline for the students had a section that stated:

Jesus had time for...
Deep Relationships
Rest
Influence
Quiet
Greatness
God

How often are those things that Jesus took time for, the very things that our busy and hectic lives squeeze out?  I challenge you to examine your life and take time to "spring clean" your heart.  Let's start saying yes to the things that God values and no to the things that will clutter our minds, lives, and hearts.  He values our relationship with Him (Ephesians 3:17-19), our relationships with people around us (1 Thessalonians 2:8), and our rest and renewal by taking a Sabbath day (Isaiah 58:13-14).  Saying no to people or things and de-cluttering is a hard thing to do but I hope that my Heavenly Father is pleased with my choices in life.

Rag Wreath

Ever since I first saw the Valentine's Wreath from Beautiful Feet, Beautiful Me, I have been wanting to make a rag wreath for our door.  I finally sat down this weekend and started it.  Now those of you who know me, know that I am NOT the craftiest person in the world.  I started making a circle and realized how incredibly hard it is to draw a perfect circle so instead I made an oval.  It still isn't perfect but I'm okay with that. 

Thanks to the scrap bin at the store, I was able to find three cute fabrics and cut them into strips.  Again, notice that I'm not the world's best crafter as my lines are definitely not straight.  That is why I loved this wreath...it is very forgiving of mistakes!

After tying all of the fabric onto the cardboard oval, this was the final result!

A close up of the knots...I like the way they look braided.

Or you can flip the wreath over for a different look.

If I were to do anything over again, I would buy fabric with the design on both sides.  All in all, I was really pleased with the look of my completed wreath!  The best part is, this kind of wreath can be made with any type of fabric for any holiday.  This is a very easy, versatile, and cheap way to make your house a little more colorful!