Valentine’s Plantable Seed Paper Hearts DIY

I saw the video on how to make your own seed paper hearts on facebook and just had to try it out right away.
cover food processor with a towel
Once i dug through the baking closet to find my heart shape cookie cutters and through the paper closet for red paper, I was on my way.  Fast forward and here is my tutorial so that you won’t have to clean up your cabinets and kitchen like i did (or maybe your blender/food processor seals better!)

seeds added to paper mushUse 1 cup of paper pieces to 1 cup of warm water, let sit for a minute or two inside food processor.  Then cover food processor with towel and pulse until there is mush.
Add about a teaspoon each of 4-5 different types of seeds and blend them into the mush, I used a fork.  A smaller amount Creating the heartof seeds will go a long way, I was way too generous with my first batch.

Use a screen or a piece of cheesecloth as base, add a tablespoon of mush, then press down firmly.  Wait about 30 seconds or so and pull up the cookie cutter.

Paper Seed Heart

Let dry naturally for about 12 hours and the paper hearts are ready. Glue to cards and/or attach to chopsticks and insert into a plant.

Click here for my printable pdf gift card #1. I sometimes run a glue stick around the edge of the printed heart and sprinkle a little glitter on the gold colored background. Click here to download card #2, same inside.

foldable card

Card #1

foldable instruction sheet

Card #2

Paint Class

So I have been thinking about painting some of the —eeewww brown— furniture in our house for some time.  I am not someone to whom design and matching colors comes naturally so ii have been following Pinterest boards and paint groups on facebook for some time.
Finally, I was ready to take the plunge and try out some painting techniques on an olf board.  I started -per the info I learned from the paint groups- by going to some ACE hardware stores and buying sample paints (on sale 1.99) in the colors I liked, plaster of paris powder, sandpaper, wipe on finish coat, and java gel.

I think it was my good luck to see the ad for the painting class at Redbriar Antiques when i was out shopping.  ‘bring a piece of furniture and leave with it finished’. I signed on the dotted line!

So rather then trying out painting on a scrap board, I jumped in head first and painted this gossip bench.

gossip bench

before

gossip bench

getting ready to paint

gossip bench

painting!

gossip bench

java gel top, purple and cream paint

gossip bench

home again – all finished

Turn old bottles into plant markers

Some ideas are just asking to be shared more! When I saw a post from Lorilee at Cackleberry Cottage about using wine bottles as row markers in the garden, I immediately thought about giving new life to all types of old bottles by recycling them into iris and daylily plant markers.
Being short on empty wine bottles, I used an empty beer bottle instead.  I wrote the name of my plant on the bottle with a pink, waterproof chalk pen, nail polish and a black paint pen.  Maybe I am a bit compulsive? I do like the pink chalk pen the best but only time will tell which method has the most staying power.  To help the bottle stay put, I pushed a 40D nail into the ground and anchored the bottle upside down over the nail head.

Bottle used as Plant Marker