The Tomato Brigade

Yesterday, I started 30 tomato plants.  Here's the breakdown:

Dwarf tomato plants (to go in greens bed and small pots)
Micro-Tom
Patio F Hybrid
Red Robin
Silvery Fir Tree (new variety this year)

Determinates (to go in large pots on patio)
Russian Persimmon
Lime Green Salad
Mountain Gold VFF
Roma VF (new variety this year)
Manitoba (new variety this year)

Indeterminates (to go in raised beds)
Cherokee Chocolate
Brandywine Sudduth's Strain
Sioux (new variety this year)
Crimson Cushion Beefsteak (from Merrifield Garden Center) (new variety this year)
Red Calabash (new variety this year)
Sun Gold Hybrid (new variety this year)

Ground Cherry / Tomatillo (not technically a tomato, but almost)
Yellow Husk Tomato (new this year)
Cossack Pineapple (new this year)

Now for the real question.  What's up with the water bottles?  Honestly, I've seen this method on several blogs and on Pinterest, but Seattle Sundries does a pretty excellent job of detailing the how-to for the DIY.  I skip the yarn step and make the hole in the bottle cap with a pair of sharp scissors (but I didn't let my kids make the hole).
The self-watering container is especially good for tomatoes because they like to have wet feet.  I keep them in dollar store tupperware until germination, then add the 'bottom' of the pot once they go under the grow lights.

Sophie and Claire's Room: Spongebob Squarepants Edition

Everybody knows that no room in this house can be considered complete without an aquarium.  And the Big Girl Room is no exception.  I used the same gold and white wrapping paper from Target to recover the ugly fake wood on the top, bottom, and light of the tank, using Modpodge to glue and seal.  All interior decorations are from PetSmart.

Note to self: next time use wall paper instead of wrapping paper.  The wrapping paper was really too thin to be applying all that Modpodge, plus chances are it will be getting wet.

Sophie and Claire's Room: Expedit Edition

Now that I've got a couple of big girls, and because we need that baby furniture, we've started redecorating the girls' room from a toddler bed and crib room into a Big Girls with a Bunk Bed room.  Beyond getting the bunk bed, I took out the Target bookshelves and installed the 8-shelf Expedit from Ikea.

Inspiration for the Expedit comes from Lay Baby Lay.  Both the white Expedit and the fabric bins are from Ikea.  I used wallpaper dots from Target.

I saved a panel from the cardboard box the Expedit came in, and wrapped it in gold and white wrapping paper from Target.  I used packing tape to attach it to the back of the bookshelf.  This is the medium rope basket in pink, also from Target.

Hopefully we'll finish this room soon so we can move on to renovating our home office into a nursery!

One Row Handspun Scarf

I'm so glad that I finally finished this scarf for my daughter.  It seems like it took forever, but in all honesty I started several patters then frogged them because I ended up not liking them with the yarn she chose.

I ended up using the One Row Handspun Scarf pattern from The Yarn Harlot, and loved it.  I added a hole for easy wear by a kindergartener.

Items used: 3 skeins Bernat Baby yarn (pink, yellow, purple)

Items already owned: knitting needles, tapestry needle for weaving in ends

Verdict:  This is a super easy, very pretty pattern.  If I'd do it again, I'd make the wrap hole smaller, and make the wide pink stripe thinner.  The scarf is a little long for her, but needed to be that long to make my stripe pattern symmetrical.