Flowers, Kids & Crafts

Okay, before you go *ugh* and run away, check out the picture first:
No clay, no glitter (unless you want it), and it really does look cute!

This probably looks familiar to most of you. Yes, that's a grapevine wreath with ribbons and flowers. The FUN part is the flowers are real, and fresh! They're the flowers that my dear children bring to me on a (nearly) daily basis. A few weeks ago, I received a flower arrangement that had a couple of those tiny one-flower spike vases in it. I kept them, thinking I'd find a use for them again, and I have. Turns out that you can fit a whole mini-bouquet of the little flowers (violets, dandelions, clover, grape hyacinth) in there.

Of course, you can use them for single flowers of the larger varieties. You'll notice the 3 Dwarf Bearded Iris in there right now.

I actually went out and bought more of the handy little things. I found them at the craft store with the flower arranging stuff.

You'll notice in the picture of mine, there is a paper butterfly, a pinwheel, a few ribbons, and even a rock & shell. This has turned out to be a big hit with my kiddos, and they bring me things for the wreath constantly. My son (5 yo) brought me the rock and shell, along with a stick the other day. We put them all in, but he noticed that the stick didn't stand out very well, so he removed it from the wreath and threw it back outside. My daughter (3 yo) REALLY wanted a butterfly from outside, but I convinced her that killing a butterfly for our wreath might not be the best thing, and she agreed to helping me make one. The pinwheel was just random crafty fun for me, haha!

Along with the spike vases, I purchased a bag of floral spikes with wires on the ends. They're helpful (along with the glue gun) for getting the crafty items onto the wreath. The ribbons didn't require glue, I just used the wire on the spike and stuck them in the wreath.

This wreath changes shape & color every few days. As flowers wilt, I remove them. If several wilt and there aren't new ones ready to replace them, I'll re-arrange the remaining ones so it's somewhat even. Right now, it's only partially decorated (but I dare say artfully). I have more flowers that bloom in summer than spring, so I may be able to keep it nearly filled then. I'm sure as the seasons change, I'll grab a new color or two of ribbon to go with whatever flowers/rocks/veggies/seeds (mini gourds and acorns, anyone?) the kids find to put on it. Honestly, I've got no problem using artificial or dried plants, but I've got a feeling that as long as there's something blooming outside, my kids will make sure I don't have to.

April Bloom Day

I have been absent from the blog for a couple of weeks. I suppose the freezing and raining and snowing in April just had me down. But! Waking up this morning to 45 degree weather, warming up into the 60s this afternoon really helped my mood! What a day for Bloom Day! I wasn't able to get to the Farm today (I live about 60 miles south) but Julie & Mom (GramaHoot) sent pictures so I could make one post instead of 3 separate ones. It felt so good to get outside again. It was a little on the wet side, but it was just solid enough that I didn't sink in the mud. I was able to get all my front beds weeded, and of course ~ I was able to take pictures for BLOOM DAY!

Daffodils were in bloom today at the Farm. They started blooming at my house just before March Bloom Day, and are still blooming today.

You can see the daffodils at my house in the background of the Grape Hyacinth that were open in full glory today!

The Grape Hyacinth were blooming at the Farm as well, and are adorable surrounding the rooster statue!

The white Narcissus blooms were sparkling today at the Farm.

All 3 of us had Creeping Phlox open today. This nice lavender (left) is Mom's, from the Farm.

This paler blue Creeping Phlox (right) is mine. It's been in bloom for about 3 weeks now, and is a little muddy from all the rain that we've had this past week.

Julie's Creeping Phlox (left) is blue as well, and seemingly unaffected by mud. Hmm... maybe my dogs had something to do with my mud splatters.

While I do try to eradicate dandelions, I always leave a few violets (right) in the lawn. They remind me of my Great Grandma, whose shady side yard was full of violets all spring and summer.

Julie also has violets in her yard, and they were blooming today as well. (left) I just love the variety in violet blossoms!

Now, I did say I TRY to eradicate dandelions. But, it just wouldn't be April without a few of these. Actually, I tend to be a little bit fond of dandelions. After all, they're the only flower that my children have free-reign on making into bouquets for me.

Another 'kid-friendly' plant in my yard is the strawberry. I have strawberries in almost every flower bed in my yard. I allow my children to eat them, and it keeps them very close (out of the road) while we're working in the garden. They were VERY excited to see the blossoms on the strawberries this morning!

Isn't this a cutie?! (right) I don't know his name, as he came to me unlabeled from an auction of a nursery that went out of business. The pretty blue flowers are each smaller than a dime, and the whole plant is maybe 3" to 4" tall. If you know his name, please speak up!

Now, this obviously isn't a bloom, (left) but we're just so excited about the peonies this year! We have several new varieties that we haven't seen bloom yet, and they're full and lush already this year. We love 'meeting' the newbies!

Mom's pretty vinca is in bloom today. I love the soothing periwinkle color of this flower!

Despite all the crazy weather and late freezes, the Red Peach tree came through and is in bloom today!

The Red Bud tree (right) is coming along nicely!

The lilac (left) isn't in bloom yet, but has started to bud out quite well.

Also making it through the freezes unscathed are the plum trees, whose pretty white blossoms sing out in the landscape.

This landscape shot (left) that Mom took at the Farm today shows forsythia, crabapple trees, and pear trees all in bloom.

A close-up of the peach blossom taken by Julie on the Farm today. I love how pretty this little blossom is!

Now that you've seen all the blooms we have here at Painted Acres Farm, feel free to leave your comments, and make sure to go visit Carol at MayDreams Gardens for much more Bloom Day fun!

Spring Cleanup

This weekend has been beautiful in our little corner of the planet! Although the forecast said we'd have thunderstorms, they ended up holding off and we had plenty of sunshine. Today, the temperature was up to 74 F, and we were able to get much of our spring cleanup accomplished. I noticed that my rose bush has gone from buds to leaves in the last few days!

My daffodils, which had been in bud last weekend, were in glorious full bloom today! My son even picked one just for me.

My cannas, which curiously enough winter over here in Missouri, are starting to put up shoots.

My hostas are also up - this one has leaves, several other types are only nubs. The pink stick is just a popsicle stick colored with a marker. My 4-yr old son helped me mark all the flowers so he will know not to pick them when he helps me with the weeding.

I found a volunteer hollyhock next to the fence. I think he'll be staying - I'll have to remind Jeremy not to hit it with the string trimmer!

And, here are the peonies! Just zooming right into spring, starting to unfurl just the tiniest bit!

And, lastly: I filled and started my fountain! I just love the sound of the running water coming through the open windows in the spring time. When the weather turns hot enough to force me to turn on the air conditioner, I really miss this sound. And the sound of the windchimes. Here's a close-up.

Newspaper Pots

I saw this video tutorial on eHow teaching how to make seed-starting pots from newspaper earlier today and decided to give it a try!




Instead of a drinking glass, I used an old empty prescription pill bottle - about 1.5 inches diameter. Accordingly, I only used half a sheet of newspaper instead of a whole one. Here are my results! Although making as many pots as I wanted proved to be a bit tedious, I was surprised at how well they stayed together. They were quite wobbly while empty, though.

Once they were filled with soil and watered in, I was able to straighten them up nicely, and they seem to be sturdy enough to do the trick! I'll let you know how they turn out. Here's a close-up:

Bloom Day - March 2009

As I was looking around in my yard for any sign of something in bloom, I began to give up hope. As I mentioned earlier, I have daffodil in bud, but that seemed to be the closest I could get. As I was cutting back the "winter interest", resigned to the fact that I would have nothing to offer until April, my 3 year old daughter came running over to me, eyes shining, with a viola! She was so excited to find a flower again, she was bouncing! Needless to say, I got very excited about this as well, and had her show me where she found it. She brought me to the place and lucky enough, there was one more, which you can see in the photograph. I then came inside and called Julie (my sister, who lives on "The" farm), asking her to find blooms up there for our Bloom Day post. She thought she would be unable to find a bloom, due to the freeze we had a few days ago. However, she was wrong too. I came in at dark to find her email with a picture of a lovely yellow crocus! So, until April, HAPPY BLOOM DAY, EVERYBODY!!