time to get planting...

in my mind i have a green thumb, and a beautiful, cottagey garden... one where i can go out and cut fresh flowers, arrange them in mason jars about the house and call it happy...

 

my reality is that i can't keep up with all of it... i often forget where things are planted... my markers disappear after long, frozen winters... tulips sprout leaves instead of blooms... i'm constantly saying, "is that a plant or a weed?"

 

hostas are my new bff's... they never fail or disappoint...

 

container planting is somewhat manageable... but even that can be a little overwhelming to me... shade, sun, colors, heights... i usually go with the tried and true impatiens... much like the hosta... they're pretty hardy... but this year, i'd like to mix it up, if even a little...

 

so... my friend cara has been telling me about lutz greenhouse for a while... every spring {over the last several years} i tell myself that it's where i'm heading to buy my plants... if i'm being completely honest, i've planted zero in my flower boxes that hang in the front of our house for the past few springs... and last year i managed to plant only in our containers on our patio area...

 

i have high hopes this spring... to cozy up the place... flowers add a much needed splash of color {especially to our dark-ish, english tudor home...}

 

off to lutz i went, a little road trip of sorts... i thought i'd pick up a quick gift for my mom {she who has the green thumb}... and scope out the place...

i'm so happy that i did!

 

i started off in their little gift shop...

so quaint...

 the type of place that makes you want to go home and plant... you feel inspired to pretty up your yard...

are you loving succulents these days? from what i hear, they're all the rage... i didn't quite get it until i saw these... they're actually really pretty in person...

 unique colors and shapes...

 

they have the cutest selection of fairy garden items... 

 container fairy gardens ready to go...

 or a neat collection of mosses and miniature fairy plants, to make your own haven...

 lots of textures...

 charming little houses...

 miniature peat pots full of treasures...

 herbs...

a greenhouse with the right amount of chippiness and character...

there's color...

 lots and lots of color...

 i had the best time looking around... so much pretty at every turn...

 this is the gem that came home with me... my mom loves it...

 

i met heather, who was very helpful in steering me in the right direction for my flower boxes this year... i'm heading back this week and i'll be sure to show you what i pick out... stay tuned!

 

xo

angie

fun with salt dough...

we woke up yesterday morning to MORE snow... 

the amount of snow that we've had in ohio this year hasn't been so bad... however the duration of its stay is getting beyond ridiculous...  i'm really over it... i need some sunshine in my life...

the girls actually had a snow day yesterday... yep... march 25th and a snow day... so... of course, the morning started off with "what are we going to do today?"

there were plenty of things i could have been... and should have been doing but i took some time and made up a batch of salt dough... {i remember making christmas ornaments out of that dough when i was little with my mom and grandma... little trees and candy canes... it was a fun memory...}

we went through our cookie cutters and decided flowers would be cute to make so that's just what we did...

here is the recipe for salt dough that we used:

1 cup of flour

1/2 cup of salt

1/2 cup of water

once the dough was kneaded well, i rolled it out to approximately 1/4" thick...

we then began stamping the flower shapes into the dough...

we used the medium and small flower cutters that we had...

see that straw in the photo above?  we used that to cut out a little hole at the top of each of the flowers... {i forgot to take a photo of that step... oops...}

we lined a baking sheet with tin foil and placed our flower cut-outs on it...

and placed them into the oven which was preheated to 250 degrees...

we let them bake for 2 hours...

once they were out and completely cool... the girls had fun painting them...

they used 2 shades of aqua, green, red, pink and white... {the same colors of the washi tape bunting that i made for across our fireplace...}

{love messes like this... that table has seen many projects... can ya tell?...}

{adding some details...}

{fun colors...}

{the whole bunch...}

{a close-up...}

these were super fun to make... i'm not quite sure what we'll do with them yet... i'm thinking either string them into a garland... or maybe hang them from bakers twine or ribbon from some branches... maybe in the milk bottles on our mantel once our tulips are gone...

have a happy day~

angie


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