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.

Car Seat Canopy with Window

I bought this material a while ago to make the Carseat Cover I tried back in April. Needless to say, I didn't get around to making the second cover. And I'd been looking for a tutorial with a window.

And, TA DA! I found one! This comes courtesy of Kat's Out o'the Bag and is almost her tutorial for the Carseat Canopy with Peek-a-Boo Window that Kat made back in February.

I say almost, because she's obviously more talented with the sewing machine than I am, and that's one of the reasons I chose this tutorial. It's a simple project with some flair. I pieced fabric and for the first time did binding, which, following her instructions, was easier than I thought it would be.

Since I used fabric out of my stash, I used one yard of each fabric, so I had to cut out some of Kat's coolness. I used ribbons instead of sewing up those great straps. I think it turned out pretty well!

Items used:
2 coordinating fabrics, 1 yard each (G St. Fabrics)

Items already owned:
Sewing machine, velcro, ribbon, button

Verdict:
In retrospect, I'd have made the binding wider so to avoid those gaps. But I had run out of fabric, and used all of my fabric in those two colors. I think I'm going to put another button at the top of the window, so that I can pin the window open as well as closed. All said and done, this was a great project from a great tutorial. Thanks Kat!

Them's fightin' words.

Oh no they di-int.


This may begin to explain why I have 8 tomato plants and no tomatoes.

Birthday Wreath

I found this project on a 'Great Ideas' post over at Tatertots and Jello - and it really is a fun idea. Since my oldest was about to turn 3, I hopped over to The Silly Pearl for instructions.

First I made the party blowers. Just a heads-up, the blowers have to sit rolled-up overnight. If if wasn't for this, it could have definitely been a 1-hour project. All of my paper was the same size, I have no idea why I got fewer blowers out of the middle paper.

I used a hot glue gun to affix the blowers. I know Silly Pearl says not to because of the stringiness, but... I tried a couple other methods of glueing, and they didn't work. Fabri-Tac worked for the ribbons but not for the paper. Double-sided tape and Elmer's glue didn't work at all. (DST worked for the printed 'Happy Birthday' and the '#3s', but promptly fell off when the door started to open and close, so I took them off, and I think it looks just as good without them.)

Happy Birthday Sophie!

Items used:
1 fat ribbon and one skinny ribbon, Michaels - from the sale bin
3 sheets scrapbooking paper, Michaels - $0.55 each

Items already owned:
Cardboard circle (cut out of an Amazon box)
Straws (originally from the Dollar Store)
Happy Birthday Hat (Party City? From last year)
Fabri-Tac, hot glue gun, Elmer's glue, rubber bands

Verdict: This project was a lot of fun, and really quick! I wish I had used a prettier background ribbon instead of a sale one, because it didn't occur to me that it would show so much.