Terrarium Time!

I'm sure that you have all missed me in my absence.  I'm sure you have all been coming to the site daily hitting refresh.  I'm sure you all weep when, once again, there is nothing new posted.  Well, here I am!  I started graduate school in April, so I've been a bit busy learning how to be a librarian.  A lot more goes into it than the layman (myself included) would think.  But I now have a few craft and DIY projects to share from my "summer" break that I will be posting in the coming weeks.

Up first is probably my favorite DIY so far: my beautiful DIY succulent terrariums!  How did this sudden desire, nay need, for a terrarium come about?  Let me tell you a tale.  I took a trip to NYC in July to see my brother and some friends.  My brother and his girlfriend had a windowsill filled with pretty succulents, at the time I thought nothing of them besides that they were pretty and low maintenance.  Flash forward two days where I'm wandering through NYC with friends.  My good friend, Julie, wanted to stop at a florist to see how much they were selling their pre-made terrariums for.  Here I am thinking "It's a little glass jar and some dirt, how much could it cost?"  Then BOOM!  One-hundred dollars to over two-hundred.  Whoa now, folks.  They're gorgeous, but I'm not shelling out 5 twenties for something I would probably kill in a week.  Our dreams were squashed, but the seed had been planted.

I decided I wanted to attempt to make one of my own.  I found a simple tutorial by Morgan at The Brick House, and got to work hunting for my materials.

This is the much neater set-up for the second terrarium made.

Here's what you need:

Glass bowls or vases

Cactus dirt

Rocks

Succulents

This really was not rocket science.  First, I put down a layer of rocks (bought at the dollar store) for drainage.  My first terrarium I definitely did not put a thick enough layer of rocks, but on my second I put a layer of larger rocks then a layer of smaller rocks, which looks and (I think) will work better.  

The pack is being hunted by a loan wolf.  Look closely!

Next, I spread out a layer of dirt and arranged my plants.  I got my plants at Lowe's on sale for about 3 bucks each.  Make sure you loosen up the roots a bit when you do this.  Finally, I used a fork from my kitchen drawer to spread the dirt out around the plants to make sure they were solidly in there.

My first terrarium (the larger of the two) taught me a few lessons: 1. Don't just pour the dirt in willy-nilly once you've got your plants in there, unless you want the poor plants to spend the rest of their lives with speckles of brown (oops).  2. A thicker layer of rocks on the bottom looks better, and, at a dollar a pack, isn't going to bust the bank.  3. If you have pots that have multiple little plants in them, separate them a little bit instead of clumping them into one corner.

Now, I'm not very good with layouts, so mine aren't beautifully spaced in their new homes, but I made them and I love them.  I also love that our house finally has some green in it!  My child of a husband felt they needed a little something extra, so after a hunt at 3 different stores, I found 2 packs of little dinosaurs to roam free in our succulent jungles.

Breakdown of costs:
Glass containers - $5 and $8
Dirt - $4
Plants - $18
Rocks - $4 (and I have a pack left over)
Dinosaurs - $2
Total - $41

Not bad compared to the $100 for a professional terrarium.  And about 20 minutes to put together.


P.S.  I also found an adorable blue vase the thrift store for our bigger aloe plant!

P.P.S.  Please forgive my horrible photography skills.  I have never and will never claim to be a good photographer, and I have a cheap point-and-shoot camera.

Book Nook Table Stencil

Here's a quick look at how I made my stencil for that Book Nook Table I refurbed a month ago.

First, I found an image on google search that wasn't too intricate.  I knew that I wasn't going to be able to cut out anything too small, so I needed an image that was easily sliced.

I then printed 2 copies of that image onto plain, brown card stock that I had bought at Joann's.  One copy was for spray painting the stem and leaves, the second was for spray painting the flower head.

Apologies for the camera strap hanging down.

After cutting the image out with a hobby knife from Lowe's, I placed the stencil onto my little table and sprayed away!  Seriously easy, and I'm happy with how the image turned out on my table.  Here's the table one more time because I think it's so pretty and you all totally want to see it again.

I'm sorry I didn't take any "in process" stencil making photos.  I got caught up in the moment!

Spring Sun & Greenery

I've been seriously enjoying this glorious spring weather.  I won't be so happy when it's 90 and humid down here, but 80s in March is unheard of in my world.  Because of this spring happiness, I feel the urge to share my joy with those less fortunate than I am, aka you crazy snowed-in Northerners.  My father recently bought us the best spring enjoyment gift ever: an adirondack table and chair patio set from Hayneedle.com.  They had been sitting in our living room in boxes for the past month waiting for me to work up the enthusiasm to stain them.

Boy, am I glad I finally found the enthusiasm button because they are fantastic.  I used Cabot Australian Timber Oil in Natural, and it only took about an hour last Sunday.  I'm no professional, so there are some drip spots and missed spots, but, overall, I am extremely happy with the outcome.

 Yes, my beer cozy is purple with pink fish.  Just bought it this afternoon.  The book is I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith.  I watched the film version a while back and really enjoyed it, and was super excited to find out recently that it was originally a novel!  Just another happy moment in this bright month of March.

On Wednesday, I took a quick jaunt over to Lowe's to find some pretty flowers to adorn the table.  I wanted vibrant yellow and blue flowers, but I wasn't seeing anything blue that made me jump for joy.  I settled on those gorgeous yellow dahlias and some nice white crawling flowers.

Tyson and I have been into plants lately.  Check out the greenery on our front stoop.  The first picture is of our exploding tomato plants and the second picture is of our blueberry bush (which has also exploded since we planted it a few weeks ago) and some fun pink and white flowers.

 We're starting to see tomatoes already!

So you know I'm not lying when I saw they've exploded, here's a picture I took February 27th, the day we planted them.

 Once again, the plants today!

Yay for plants and green and happiness!

Refurb $8 Yard Sale Table

I found this little side table at a local yard sale for $8. Since this was my first sand and repaint job, I was hesitant to buy anything bigger & more expensive. This table looked like the perfect job. Call me, Danny Ocean. I've got the perfect plan and assembled the perfect sidekicks (aka spray paints).

I know what you're thinking, "Are those doilies?" Yes, yes they are. And they were glued down. Why someone thought that was a good idea is beyond me. What good do glued down doilies do? A 90 year old woman must've been afraid her doilies were going to run away. But I digress. I ripped the doilies off, used a knife to peel off the leftover glue, and sanded the whole table down. Here's where I am now:

I had the joy of wearing a mask and attempting to breath on this muggy February Florida day while sanding and spray painting this afternoon. Next up came priming and painting. I've been doing my research on spray painting versus brush painting, and spray painting is the best option to avoid lines (as long as you spray properly). I chose a cream for the table because I thought straight white would be too harsh and wouldn't fit in with my decor. I then created a floral stencil from an image I found online. Click here for the quick run down on how I managed this AMAZING feat. (Pretend you're impressed...pretty please?)

Here's my final product and the spray paints I used:

I actually think it didn't turn out half bad! I couldn't get all of the glue off from the doilies, so the spray paint is a little messed up, but it could be a lot worse. Now all I need to do is learn how to sew and finish reupholstering my favorite reading chair (It's currently in pieces strewn about our back patio), so I can pop this little beauty in my reading nook.



Here's a breakdown of my costs:

Table: $8 (It's probably worth less, but the sale was for a local charity, so I didn't feel right bargaining them down)
Spray Paint: $8 (I used primer & two mini spray paints that I had from my Painted Geese project)
Stencil: $0
Hobby Knife: $3
Mask & Safety Goggles: $9
Lowe's cheap-o Tool belt: $.98

Total Cost: $28.98 (Loving the 10% military discount at Lowe's right about now!)

Now that I'm accumulating various assorted DIY accessories