Thursday, June 27, 2013

A Succulent Summer

If your schedule is anything like mine, a whole host of events and celebrations crop up in the summertime.  Baby showers, weddings, house-warming parties, birthdays, backyard barbeques, and the list goes on.  By nature I'm a giver, but I often feel like I don't have time to put enough attentiveness into gifts for my gal pals and am left spending more money than my budget allows and feeling guilty for not being more thoughtful. 

Enter the succulent garden, a wonderful little container of color, beauty, and best of all, easy maintenance.  Who wouldn't enjoy one of these in the kitchen window, as a centerpiece for a dining table, or on a summer porch?  Virtually impossible to kill (they won't die while you're on your beach vacation-yay!), these little beauties can put a smile on any recipient's face.  Instead of buying the overpriced, already assembled versions in the garden shop, choose to plant your own and save your pennies.  Just find your favorite galvanized container or ceramic pot, add potting soil and your preferred  combination of sedum, cacti, and aloe and in less than 5 minutes you have a perfect gift that spans a whole variety of occasions. 

I made this garden as an end-of-year class gift for Maddox's teachers.  Both ladies have reported that their plants are thriving and being enjoyed.




By copying dictionary pages with words like educate, teach, mentor, and instruct, I mod podged the pages onto galvanized pails for an extra bit of thoughtfulness.  Think of special words to describe the occasion for your gift and consider doing this too!

Monday, June 24, 2013

Mid-Summer's Eve

Many full moons ago, my very fanciful kindergartner checked out a book about fairies from her school library.  Mind you, this was no Tinkerbell fluff.  This sophisticated chronicle of fairy research and sightings in England during the summer of 1920 has been the object of Maddy's interest and imagination all year.  According to researcher Cicely Mary Barker, the best day to see a fairy is Mid-Summer's Eve, June 23rd.  Thus, before the snow was even off the ground, my little event planner began dreaming up a summer soiree of all things fairy.  Luckily, her classmates shared her enthusiasm.  Mid-Summer's Eve (held last night under a large holly tree in the backyard), did not disappoint.  And although Maddox and her gal pals couldn't definitively say that they had seen a magical winged creature, they sure had fun trying.  

A magical evening, many months in the making.





Baking the day away.
Bite-size woodland fairy treats.

Dedicated fairy researchers.
Craft time.

Wand making is serious business.

Planning their fairy spotting strategy.

Fairy doors

A new use for popsicle sticks

One guest brought a very sophisticated fairy terrarium.

Just when we thought we'd missed them, the camera caught this light on her necklace and on the ground. . .They do exist.