kattitudes

I talk about this repeatedly, and will probably end up on repeat because I am really getting into this particular subject.

I really think we should be looking at gifting nature to each other!

For some odd reason, we will sew until our fingers bleed, knit until our eyes are tied in knots and craft until we can no longer see straight. But who remembers to plant a simple plant?

This particular planter is a blue conifer with ivy tucked around the base. The conifer can be decorated through the holiday season (as can the ivy actually) but you are still left with a beautiful planted gift that will last for years long after the Christmas season is finished.

Living plants make a house a home. The act of making something live and thrive and nurturing and ensuring its wellbeing is wonderful. And being able to wrap all those wonderful feelings up in a simple elegant planter and give them to your dear friend? Well, that is just priceless.

How often do you stop and admire a beautifully tended planter and think to yourself that you wish you would do that. But how often do we go through with it and actually plant or purchase simple or ornate planted gardens for our own home?

As we work as a nation and as a culture to improve the physical condition of the earth that we share, we are recognizing the effect that we have on this world. One way that we can help the planet around us is to help regrow some of the greenery that our very existence removed.

For example, we are going into the season where literally millions of trees (albeit, most that have indeed been specifically grown and harvested for the occasion) are cut down. Sure, this harvest was planned, but how fun would it be to plant and gift yourself or a friend a small Christmas tree planter for the season ahead?

Natural greenery can only improve a home and it really is a nice touch. I know I personally am in sore need of some living plants around here (the better to kill them off again, my dear). There are so many wonderful nurseries out there that can help you pick out just the right combination of plants to put together if you need some help. Of course, you can also get the same information for free online, and I am all about for free!

So, if you are looking for a fresh gift idea, consider giving the gift of nature. And if you do not have any occasion to give soon, do not forget that you deserve a beautiful and healthy green home just as much as anyone else. Gift one to yourself.

Starting today, you will find a very handy page over there on the right hand side of the blog (it is listed under the pages). I have created a page that lists pretty quick and dirty some of my favorite shopping places online.

It is a first draft, so not all my bookmarks are up there by any means. However, some of the multitudinous places I wander online are up there so that you too can wander in and find some of the remarkable bargains I’m finding.

If you have places that you love, please - by all that is holy - let me know. I am always looking for a new place to shop. Send me a note, leave a comment, and I would love to check it out. I live to comparison shop (must. comparison. shop. It is in my blood).

Keep in mind, these are not places to purchase finished products. These are stores for you to purchase supplies for you to make your own gifts and wonders. This is for you to get your own crafty on.

If I remember correctly, I think this came from Pottery Barn, but it has been so long, my memory has failed me. I do remember looking at that picture and thinking that I could absolutely make this.

We have a jigsaw, and I know that the curves are simple enough that even I could duplicate this pattern. If I go slow enough, I could cut out each of the shapes.

All this would take is a little planning and a lot of patience. If you have a wood worker in the family or access to a jigsaw, there is no reason why you need to pay the money that was being asked for a table like this. I remember the price was just insane. And I kept thinking Oh my goodness, the shapes are so basic, I could do that!

The colors, basic. Painting job, simple to duplicate. Construction, simple with the right nails and/or screws. The whole duplication effort would hinge on getting your hands on a way to cut the shapes. And as long as you could do that, you could make the cutest little tables for someone for Christmas (or really, for any reason under the sun. Why wait for Christmas?).

I am really tempted to try making one of these for my back deck. I could use it as a plant table. I doubt I would paint it pink (in fact, I can guarantee that my Mister would outlaw that particular color on the back deck right now), but I have a fantastic geranium planter that hasn’t died yet (a minor miracle, given my track record with geraniums) that would work perfectly on this.

You can do these. Sometimes all it takes is a good picture to get your engines rumbling. So print out the picture, take it to the fabric store with you to make sure you have enough of the right colors of felt fabric, then sit down with a pair of scissors and have fun.

That’s all these pillows are; just having fun with fabric and thread.

So feel free to explore your silly side with a needle and thread. I have posted so many of these throw pillows in the past. That is because they are such quick and easy projects to keep around. Just print out the photo, put it in a tote bag with your fabric bits and pieces, scissors and your needles and threads. Perfect, you are ready to create.

I’ve had some interesting conversations lately with fun people talking about the end products of our gardens this year. Our discussions all seem to revolve around how they were using up all the ends and bits and pieces of their harvest.

I got to thinking about a series of photos I had saved from who knows how long ago from a suggestion on how to brighten up a dinner party. I thought (particularly since I love peppers, but peppers hate me) this was a great way to use those pesky little garden gems.

If you have a number of leftover peppers (or you are willing to waste the produce to create a really fantastic centerpiece), then consider using them for candle holders. A single cut to open the top of the pepper, then filling it with a small votive candle would serve the purpose well.

Likewise, using the same small glass votive holders (without the candle) to fill with water, you could also use the peppers for a first class flower vase. I suppose you could just fill the pepper cavity directly with water and not fuss with the glass, but I would worry about leakage issues, as I am just built to worry that way.

Wouldn’t these look amazing around a Thanksgiving table later in November? I really loved the concept and since peppers aren’t my favorite, I have few qualms about wasting such a lovely item.

There are six beads on each earrings, working together to make up such a fantastic little flower bloom. If I was not happy with the end result wire wrapping, I would have covered the wrap with a crimp bead cover (incredibly versatile for times such as these).

Look carefully at the next picture, because you can see how a wire wrapped link was used to attach and lower the set of beads containing the leaves. This gives the earrings an extra dimension of beading, placing the leaves naturally below the blossom where they would fall on a plant.

It is not a hard link to make, as long as you can wrap a briolette stone. You are just making one end with a loop, then switching ends and putting the rest of the wire on your pliers to finish the entire link. You can look at the wire on the green leaf and see what basically is the same wire wrap. It is just that to make the link, you do not include the bead - it is all wire.

This is a different set of earrings than I usually show, just because briolette stones have become so incredibly popular that everyone is searching and wants to see how to make them. This set of earrings utilizes the same wire wrap tricks and talents, but you end up with an adorable set of flower blossoms.

The wire wrapping part of these earrings is not difficult, but only gives the appearance of being intimidating. The nice thing about wire is that you can unwrap it and re-wrap it a million times until you get it right or until you get it to the point where you are happy.

And this gives me the opportunity to use up some of those flower shaped beads I have been collecting. I find them so cute, but until now couldn’t find the right vehicle in which to display their charms. Well, now we know.

I have a handful of miracle gardeners in the family; those types that can grow something from nothing. Honestly, they could make a garden grow in Death Valley. Well, this type of earring set would be perfect for her (not to say that men aren’t gardeners, but I am pretty sure most of the he man gardeners out there would prefer not to receive earrings for gifts).

Do you have miracle gardeners in your friends and family group too? Or maybe someone that would like to be a crackpot gardener but just doesn’t have the time, money, skill and most important place to grow them? Then maybe making pair of earrings (and a matching pendant) like this would lift her spirits and give her a special bloom to carry around with her always.

I have talked about this before.

For some odd reason, we will sew until our fingers bleed, knit until our eyes are tied in knots and craft until we can no longer see straight. But who remembers to plant a simple plant?

I love - I adore living plants in my house. They warm up a house. They make a house a home. The act of making something live and thrive and nurturing and ensuring its wellbeing is wonderful. And being able to wrap all those wonderful feelings up in a simple elegant planter and give them to your best friend - well, that is just priceless.

Take a look at your friend’s house the next time you are over. Get a sense of her style. Then the next time you need a gift, find a planter that you think will fit in just right and plant your dear friend a perfect houseplant. Do some research online into different types of plants to see what will work for your gift.

Maybe this would be the time for a small window herb box. Or a single miniature rose bush. My grandmother has the most incredible ability in the world to grow African violets. She has an outrageous collection of miniature violet plants that make me sick with jealousy frankly. That woman can bring any plant back from the dead (and often has brought my plants back from that very condition, I am sad to report). Her abilities literally make me jealous! What I would give to be able to grow things like Grandma. She can make tomatoes grow any time, any where, all the time. (It helps that my Grandma is a miracle worker on earth. The woman can literally do no wrong in my book, ever. She is perfect. Hell, she is Grandma!).

Anyway, main point here is that how often do you stop and admire a beautifully tended planter and think “oh gosh, I wish I would do that” but you never spoil yourself with something that nice? Well, do it! Do it as a wonderful gift. Pick an extravagant planter and plant a mini garden and gift that to someone you love. I guarantee the WOW factor will knock them over. And there is just something about nurturing living plants that brings out our cautious caring side. We want these plants to live and to live forever.

It’s a gift that cannot go wrong. I have a huge planter on the back deck I have been putting off planning, so I’m going to start planning an herb garden back there myself. As I get it done, I’ll report in how it goes. Maybe planting my little herb garden will inspire you to plant one for someone this weekend. Maybe that someone will be you!

Materials Needed:

Foam wreath form
Silk craft roses or dried rose heads in sufficient quantity to fill chosen wreath form
Glue gun and sticks

Prepare roses by clipping off stems, leaving approximately one inch of stem with which to work.

Starting on the inside top of the wreath form, glue roses to form. Place a spot of hot glue to the end of the stem to keep it firmly fixed to the wreath form.

Work around the wreath in a circle, slowly filling the wreath shape with roses, taking care to fill as tightly as possible.

• Medium-size rose petals (you will need about 20 petals per votive candle holder)
• Glass votive candle holders
• Rubber bands
• Glue gun with glue sticks
• Scissors

Secure a row of rose petals to the outside of the glass votive candle holder with a rubber band. Make sure the tops of the petals stick slightly above the rim of the candle holder (see photo for clarification).

Using a dot of glue behind each new petal, secure a second row of petals slightly below the first row (used to cover the rubber band).

Attach a third row slightly below the second row, so that it overhangs at the bottom edge of the candle holder.

Trim the petals at the bottom of the votive, so the candle holder will sit flat on the table.

A single potpourri classically consists of several layers of fragrance. There is the main scent which is what makes a potpourri smell primarily spicy, fresh, floral or more specifically like roses or oranges, for example.

The next scents are the blenders which “ground” the potpourri. These back up the main scent and can consist of things such as wood shavings, dried berries, spices, fruit peel or a few drops of an essential oil that will compliment the main scent. Some oils that make good blenders are frankincense, myrrh, light musk, synthetic ambergris or lemon oils.

Finally, there are the fixatives which preserve the scent of the potpourri. While they do not lend their own scent to the mix, they keep the potpourri smelling fresh and new. The most commonly used fixative is orris root, which is the powdered root of a particular Iris variety. Powdered orris root is widely available.

Using a mixture of herbs, flowers, woods, oils and spices from the same family of scent is a good place to start. You can bulk up your potpourri with pretty unscented objects like pine cones, dried flowers and even sea shells. If your potpourri gets dusty from sitting around, place the potpourri in a muslin sack and shake it for a bit, Add a couple of drops of essential oil, give it a few more shakes and it is as good as new.

One enjoyable potpourri recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:

* 4 ounces coriander
* 4 ounces orris root
* 4 ounces rose petals
* 2 ounces mace
* 1/4 ounce cloves
* 1/4 ounce table salt
* 1/4 ounce oil of lavender
* 1/4 ounce oil of cinnamon
* 1/4 ounce oil of clove
* 1/4 ounce oil of rose
* 1/2 ounce tincture of musk

Mr. Massey’s Favorite Potpourri

The following recipe is Mr. Massey’s favorite potpourri. Mr. Massey is half founder of Caswell-Massey, well-known supplier of scented bath supplies and scents. Caswell-Massey also has mail order where potpourri supplies and oils can be ordered.

To 4 ounces each of coriander, orris root, and rose petals, add 2 ounces of mace, 1/4 ounce each of cloves, table salt, oils or lavender, cinnamon, clove and rose. Include 1/2 ounce tincture of musk.