Magnetic Wine Cork Planters

Mar 262012
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This lat­est cre­ation has been made by a mod­ern day Martha, my sis­ter, Colleen. Well, she’s a lot more hip than her, but you get the idea.

It all started when she gave a friend of ours a bot­tle of wine for their 25th wed­ding anniver­sary. She wanted them to be able to have a lit­tle memento from the evening. After the bot­tle was empty, I sneaked the cork in my purse(it’s not steal­ing, because she got it back!). From there my sis­ter worked her bril­liance! The cou­ple she was mak­ing it for love two things in life, wine and gar­den­ing. (yes in that order, jk!) That’s when she remem­bered being inspired by a photo from Piccsy. A mini cork suc­cu­lent planter mag­net. Does it get any cuter? I don’t think so! It’s sen­ti­men­tal, com­pact, prac­ti­cal, green and stylish.


Needed:

  • Corks made from cork not plastic
  • Mag­nets
  • Pot­ting soil
  • Very small suc­cu­lent cuttings
  • Puncher
  • Par­ing knife
  • Glue gun

How to:

  1. CAREFULLY, hol­low out the cen­ter of a wine cork with the puncher and knife until you’ve hol­lowed it out halfway.
  2.  Glue mag­net onto cork.
  3.  Fill the hole with pot­ting soil and add the succulent.
  4.  Use an eye­drop­per to water.
  5. Put on your fridge and enjoy!

WARNING: This might not be a craft for a child or a clumsy adult!

   

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Per­fect For:

  • Host­ess gifts
  • Spe­cial occasions
  • Wine lovers
  • Green lovers
  • Me
  • Thank you gifts
  • Green thumb friends
  • really, any­one!

 

 




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What Is A Plantsphere?

Sep 152011
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A plantsphere (yes, I made that word up) is my lat­est cre­ation. I love this mod­ern twist on a ter­rar­ium.  My inspi­ra­tion for this DIY project comes from designer Shane Pow­ers and his Hang­ing Glass Bub­ble Col­lec­tion at West Elm. You can make this in under 10 min­utes and for less than $6. I repur­posed an empty orna­ment globe by remov­ing the cap then adding sand, embell­ish­ments and the very low main­te­nance air plant, Tillandsia.

Idea:

Plantspheres make a per­fect DIY gift for any­one! (teach­ers, host­ess gift, wed­ding favor, get well soon, etc…) Wrap them up care­fully in some­thing unex­pected like a take out Chi­nese food box or put one nes­tled in a bas­ket filled with rafia. (you can find them at most craft stores like Michaels)

 

 

 

Step by step tuto­r­ial here:

Post by Style­bag­gage con­trib­u­tor — Colleen

 

 

 

 

 

 

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One Simple Way To Care For Your Orchid

Aug 172011
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you’re like me you love the beauty of an indoor orchid plant, but usu­ally kill it within a few weeks. I have the secret to keep­ing them alive thanks to my sister-in-law’s tip. She waters them by using ice cubes!  It’s so sim­ple and so genius. (just like her…wink,wink) It really helps pre­vent over and under water­ing which is often a prob­lem with car­ing for this type of plant. I put her method to the test with my lat­est orchid flower and as you can see from the pho­tos, it’s doing spectacular.

Use two ice cubes once weekly to water your plant if it is approx­i­mately 24″ and under. If it’s larger use three or four cubes depend­ing on the size. Another impor­tant thing to remem­ber is to place the orchid plant in fil­tered sun­light, never in the direct harsh light or com­plete shade.

BONUS TIP:

Would you like your bath­room to feel like a spa? I keep an orchid plant in the shower/bath area. They thrive in humid­ity so those are ideal loca­tions, assum­ing you have fil­tered light com­ing through the bath­room. With the plant in the shower, I never water it because it gets plenty just through the shower steam. If you put your orchid next to the bath­tub, then use the ice cube water­ing tech­nique above.

I promise once you keep an orchid in your shower/bath you’ll have a lit­tle more bounce in your step…it’s just a lit­tle touch of nature to nur­ture your soul.

If you live near a Trader Joes you can always find beau­ti­ful orchid plants to fit almost any budget.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Repurpose Your Old Bbq (with style of course)

Jul 292011
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been promis­ing for a while now to reveal my not so typ­i­cal herb gar­den. Here it is! Repur­pose your old bbq or fire pit into an herb gar­den. Not only is it prac­ti­cal, it’s got a kitchy vibe going on that makes a great con­ver­sa­tional piece. Every­one who sees them loves them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The how to:
  • be sure there are hole open­ings on the bot­tom for water drainage (they prob­a­bly already exist where you dumped the ashes out)
  • then add a shal­low layer of small rocks at the bottom
  • next fill the bbq or fire pit with good pot­ting soil (it’s such a small area and makes a huge dif­fer­ence so splurge on some good stuff)
  • before plant­ing your herbs just set them on top of the soil so you can see what they will look like
  • remem­ber to place taller herb plants in the back and shorter, drapey ones in the front
  • you’re ready to dig and plant away
  • optional: add some organic fertilizer
  • water well
Extras:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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The Backyard Remodel…It’s moving along!

Jun 232011
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fast for­ward and now our per­gola is done! We planted grape vines, one in each cor­ner. They’re really thriv­ing due to our good Cal­i­for­nia weather. We even have our first clus­ter of tiny, baby grapes. (see below photo) Our own “Napa” din­ing room in the back­yard is not too far off…I can’t wait!

phase one photo here

phase two photo here

 

 

 

 

 

 

Try not to look at our junk and mess. We’re not really very neat DIY peo­ple. It’s like, heh, I’ll deal with the mess when it’s all done. Not to men­tion it’s been sooooo hot lately!

 

 

 

Our first grapes! Maybe own­ing a win­ery is in my future…a girl can and should dream!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found these white patio chairs at Home­goods. (my absolute favorite store) They’re so chic, comfy, weath­er­proof and the price was right. They’re not exactly like the ones from my inspi­ra­tion page, but I can see they’re going to work in the end. Okay, so I don’t need the gaz­ing balls but I think they’ll be like the jew­els at the end…I had to have them! Table hunt­ing is over too. Hur­ray! We looked everywhere…it’s really a chal­lenge to find a table for out­side that seats 8 and doesn’t break the bank while still hav­ing the “cool fac­tor”. I think we did it though. It’s being shipped, so it’ll be a surprise…stay tuned!

Com­ing Soon:

–our out­door din­ing table reveal

–my “not so typ­i­cal” herb garden

–Ryan’s gar­den bed (made from scratch)

–new win­dow awnings to match our pergola

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Backyard Makeover…first phase.

Jun 102011
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Beast a.k.a. Our Backyard

This is the begin­ning stage of our back­yard remodel. I’m not going to blog on how to build an out­door patio per­gola since I really don’t know how too. I will blog on the DIY projects that are smaller and doable for almost every­one. The end goal is an amaz­ing out­door din­ing room/patio. I’m so excited on what we’ve done so far I hope you will stay tuned for my updates. I promise you won’t be dis­ap­pointed, only inspired to work on your own out­door space.

If you’d like to see my col­lec­tion of photo inspi­ra­tions for our yard click here.

 

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What to do With Your Wine Corks

May 252011
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How cool is this? Corks for mulch! I’d like to say it was my idea but it wasn’t. My mother in-law Con­nie who has a “neon green thumb” came up with this idea. Her hubby loves to drink wine (in mod­er­a­tion of course!) and she loves to gar­den. Is this the per­fect mar­ry­ing of the two of them or what? Ok, in fair­ness, she likes to drink wine too…haha

Mer­lot mulch recipe–

–save and col­lect wine/champagne corks (even ask friends to put their batch aside for you)

–store them in gro­cery bags or buckets

–when you feel you have enough to fill your planter of choice, fill em’ up

–you can use large planter areas or petite ones

Tip:

–For a great host­ess gift, get a  small planter, can, jar or what­ever cre­ative thing you would like. Then plant an herb or herbs, cover the top of the soil with corks. Add a cute wine phrase on your thank you card, such as “I cook with wine.  Some­times I even add it to the food.”.

More wine cork ideas here.

 



 

 

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