Forcing Paper Whites

 

 

I can’t believe we are only a few days away from Christmas!

 

The stockings are hung, the gifts are wrapped, the money is spent. :/ (I don’t mean to sound scrooge - like but whew, I’m tired of spending money!)

Around this time of the year I begin to feel an overwhelming urge to see blooms. After all, it’s been a few months since I’ve seen any around here, and nine months since a spring bloom burst from the ground.

On November 15th I planted Paper Whites that I got on clearance at Walmart.

I put gravel in pots..

I placed the bulbs, which had little sprouts already, onto the gravel and filled the pots with water up to the bottom of the bulb.

I placed the pots under the upstairs sky light, so they had plenty of light.

After 15 days, this is what was happening..

As you can see, some were sprouted more than others.

On the 30th day, I took the longest shoots and put them all in one pot. At that time they were just about to bloom. The rest are presently still upstairs under the sky light. Some of them look like they aren’t going to make it, but a few of them are still growing.

Here are the ones I combined in one pot on December 19th, 34 days after planting..

They grew tall enough that I tied a string around them for support.

I like to play around with different backgrounds..

Just seeing the fresh green color and the white blooms brought so much cheer into a room. Notice I used the past tense, “brought.” Sadly, the drawback with these flowers is the smell. They are now in the basement because no one likes the smell of them. I would have put up with it since I liked to see them so much but every time I was gone, they would be moved to a remote location. :(

I want to do some research on this issue. Maybe there is something I could add to the water next time to make them smell better? I would love any feedback if any of you have tried forcing these bulbs.

I will show off some other blooms that are residing in our home. They look just as good and smell amazing! Plus, they came from a pretty awesome person who happens to be my hubby.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

-Mary

2016 Christmas Fair

 

I’ve had a ton of fun getting ready for the upcoming Christmas fair that will be held in our local town of Berlin, Ohio on Saturday, December 17th.

I’ve done fairs in the past, but this is my first time with this particular one, so I can’t tell you too much about it, other than I think there will be around 20 vendors there. We are hoping to have many last minute Christmas shoppers stopping by! It’s also a fund raiser for the Hair for Hope foundation, so it’s definitely going for a good cause..

I thought about simply sharing some photos on my Facebook timeline of some of the things that you will find in my booth, as I have been doing, but then I decided it would be easier to just write a post and publish it here on my blog for those of you that are interested.

Since I have a very limited space, it has been challenging for me to stay small. I’m not used to this way of thinking in the annual Walnut Creek Vintage fair, so I had to continually remind myself to stop making things!

Seriously, I joke about this, but it has posed a problem. I will wildly try to create all the things I have in my mind to make, and end up having six different little projects going on. One morning a few weeks ago, I told myself “today is the day that I will finish all the things I have started, and only then will I start something new” Before lunch time, I had maybe finished one or two items, and once again started a few new ones! At times it almost feels like I have no control! Anyway, it usually, surprisingly, all works out in the end even if it’s a bit last minute.

Just because I rarely share with you my mess ups here on my blog, don’t think they don’t happen, because they do! I even took a few pictures the other day of a few flops..

 

I’ve developed a fascination for mod podge, but I’ve discovered it’s a bit tricky to use. The signs pictured above are an example of mod podge flops. You may not be able to tell in the picture, but let’s just say they will make good fire starter in our wood burning furnace this winter. An inkjet print out doesn’t like mod podge very well.

I did some Christmas gift boxes, where I took old drawers, painted them and filled them with some decorating items that maybe someone would like to buy as a Christmas gift for someone, or for themselves.

 I wanted to do a garden themed box and printed out some images of plants to use for the drawer front. You may not be able to tell from the picture below, but the images look horribly discolored. So here is another flop..

Again, it may be due to the fact that inkjet printers and mod podge don’t mix or just poor quality images, either way, I ended up sanding it down and re-covering it with a nice green contact paper that I thought fit the gardening theme.

  

So, besides some time wasting mess ups now and then, everything went fairly smooth in getting ready for this fair. I set up my table in my workshop, so I would have a better idea of how much space I have and it will help to make it easier when it comes to set up time, to know where everything goes. These pictures aren’t taken in the best of lighting, but hopefully you can kind of see what all I will be selling.

 

I will also have an assortment of succulents and house plants for those of you green thumb people. :)

So as you can see, there are lights, painted jars, coffee filter wreaths, plants, chalk boards, wall scrolls, and much more! I hope to see you Saturday!

Thanks for visiting!

-Mary

2016 Christmas Home Tour

 

This year I was really in the mood to decorate early for Christmas, even though I’m busy getting ready for a craft fair that is in December, meaning I don’t exactly have time for anything extra, but when these moods strike, what’s one to do but give in to them?

I do love these evenings with little lights everywhere and the smell of scented candles burning. Every year when I put up all these decorations, I can’t imagine wanting to take them down again, but come January, that’s what I’ll be doing!

So, now, welcome to our Holiday home…

This picture wall is something I just added. I will be replacing the backgrounds in the frames with seasonal designs as the year goes by.

A few years ago I made the coffee filter trees on the middle shelf and am still using them. For a tutorial on how to make your own click here.

The little twig reindeer made their way out of storage again this year. For a tutorial on how I made them, click here.

I had a vision for the mantle this year, but I wasn’t sure if it would happen, price wise. I wanted a snowy village scene and I soon found out small stuff can be expensive. :( But, thankfully I found these glass buildings at Goodwill for $1 each!

My son helped me fix this up. We used books for the “hills” and placed string lights over them. Then we used quilt batting to cover the lights, and poked holes through the batting to stick the lights into the houses. After everything was set up, we made it snow, using fake snow, of course! It was a bit messy, but an easy clean up and well worth it. I love to see the village lit up in the evening!

Don’t you just want to be little, and stroll through our snowy village? :)

Now, the tree.. this year we invested in a real looking, fake tree, which I love! Though it was a bit pricier than I like to spend, we will have it in the years to come. It is still minus a star on top and gifts at the bottom, but for now it will do..

If you like the wall scroll by the tree, you may want to visit my booth in the upcoming craft fair. I will have several of these available, along with quotes for year round decoration.

I think I will always have some kind of wintery snow globe going on. :) It’s a little hard to see with the reflection but there’s a pickup with a tree on the back, waiting to be taken home in this snow scene.

I still want to make a wreath or two for the Holiday season, and maybe fix the porch up a bit, but for now, this will do! I hope you enjoyed the tour and thanks for visiting!

-Mary