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.

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:

Gardening - Fun for the whole family

Gardening with children is rewarding for both them and us. Here on the farm, we garden with 10 kids, both boys and girls, with ages ranging from 16 down to 3 year olds.
We enjoy letting them "help" us plant the veggie patch, (younger childrens' fingers are great with seeds!), pick the ripe veggies, pull weeds, and watering. In the flower patches we plant new varieties and they bring in the most wonderful bouquets our perennials shower us with.
Gardening leads to great conversations and is a great way to teach children many things without it feeling like school. Our little ones have learned their colors, how to count, bug varieties, how a seed grows into a plant, responsibility and the joys of a job well done. But most importantly, we all enjoyed time together as a family! The summer months are not the only time that a garden can be a joy as a family. From the first of January we are often found at the dinner table with seed and flower catalogs planning for our new gardens. The kids are encouraged to give us their top choices of flowers to put in. This year my older girls (16 and 13 year old) are helping their younger sisters (5 and 3 year old) plan the plants they want in their play area. We're putting in herbs for my oldest who is an aspiring chef, my 13 year old loves flowers that are gigantic so we searched for giant varieties. We're putting in a new hibiscus plant this year, so we can make Southern Bell dolls out of the blossoms... just like Granny made the for the older two.
Kids and gardens go together like sunshine and rain. You just can't have one without the other.
The photo here is of my youngest, who was 3 in August of last year. A few days ago we had a warm day and worked outside. At the end of the day, as we were putting our tools away, she grabbed a play shovel and dug up my Yucca plant, which she replanted with "fresh" dirt! When I asked her why she replanted the plant, she simply said "Cause it's spring"! She was very proud of herself... cause she did it all by herself!
She defantly has the gardening bug, my plants may never stay where I put them but I bet that future April Fools Day will be a lot of fun!

Are your tools ready for spring?

Here on the farm, we are all anxious to get out into the sunshine. Winter is about to shed her mantle of cold and wind and change into the warm breezes of spring. Now is the time to get back in touch with our shovels, trowels and hoes. We're making sure the handles are stong and the ends are sharp and ready for use. Hope y'all will be ready for that first warm and sunny afternoon back in our gardens!

Is your ground starting to thaw?

Ours finally is. Now is the time to go through your beds and find any plants that have been pushed above ground level by the winter process of heaving. Re-set those plants at a proper planting depth when your soil is workable to give them their best chance to perform at bloom season. After all, no matter how much we like to dig in the dirt, it’s the blooms that make it all worthwhile!