Easy Gravestone Garden Markers

I like adding all kinds of kitschy stuff to my indoor windowsill garden. Since it happens to be October, I thought I'd get into he spirit with some easy gravestone garden markers. These are made with grey craft foam, and I didn't even use a pattern. I just rounded the corners on some rectangular pieces (I like the edges being a little less than smooth, it reminds me of cut stone).


To make some of these for your own indoor (or outdoor) garden you will need:

a sheet of craft foam (or a couple sheets if you are making a lot of these)
pair of scissors
permanent marker

Start by cutting out rectangles and then rounding the corners on one side. I made my rectangles quite long to make sure I had enough to bury near my plants without covering any writing. You could also do regular rectangles or other shapes as you see fit to make more variety and visual interest in your garden.

Next, use your permanent marker to label your garden markers. I still have a basil plant on its last legs in my window box, so sadly this epitaph will be true soon (poor Basil!). You could also label plants not yet growing, or if your garden is done for the year, make some of these to label where you might plant things next year (for an outdoor garden you could get fancy and make some larger gravestone garden markers with cement--draw your epitaphs in the cement with a stick!).

This is a cute and quick craft you can do in just a few minutes and it adds a bit of whimsy to your fall garden :)

Happy October! :)

Propagating Succulent Plants

If you are anything like me, you are kind of into the whole succulent plant/terrarium thing that's been gaining popularity the last few years. These little plants can get expensive if you want a collection, but if you give them room to grow, you can actually propagate them yourself, turning one plant into a whole little family of plants. This big guy above was originally shown in my post about windowsill gardening (believe it or not this is the plant in the white teacup, all grown up!). I gave my plant a much bigger pot, and it really took off, sprouting new "branches" all over the place.

To propagate new plants from your own succulent plant, you start by removing "branches" like the one shown above, or even single leaves or petals from your original plant. When I take off branches like the one above, I also remove the leaves down a fair portion of the stem. You will leave these leaves or stems in a shady dry place for 2-3 days before repotting. The stems and leaves will sort of scab over on the ends you cut, you can then replant them in some soil.

Succulents need good drainage, so make sure to put some rocks in the bottom of your pot before adding your soil. I got a decent sized bag of river rocks at the dollar store, pea gravel works well too (you can even mix some pea gravel in with your soil for additional drainage for your plants).

Fill your pot with soil (I use organic potting soil). Do not add any water to the soil, or water directly after planting. My soil is actually a little damp right out of the package and this slight amount of moisture is more than enough while your plants form new root systems (you shouldn't need to water for a week or more after replanting).

Finally, plant your succulent cutting in the soil and pat firmly. Again, do not water the plant immediately after planting. Check after about a week and if the soil is bone dry, you may add a little water. If you are curious how the plant is coming along, you can remove it from your soil to see if the roots have begun to sprout yet (this is a great project for kids!). I have planted several of these (including some that are just single leaves and I will update you all in a few weeks with their progress! Soon I will have a whole windowsill FULL of succulents for future projects (maybe even to give as gifts this holiday season).

Things I Love- September

Heart shaped yarn bomb I found on a walk through my neighborhood.

It is September already! I'm sure looking forward to weather that isn't quite so HOT, but beyond that there are lots of things I just love right now that I had to share with you. Also, make sure to look around at all the projects that have been going on here in the past couple weeks. There is lots going on this month as well, so make sure to check back or follow me on Bloglovin', feedly, facebook, etc. so you don't miss out on all the fun! Hope you all had a great Labor Day Weekend!

How great are these watercolor paintings from Oh Gosh, Cindy! on etsy? I am partial to the one above from Moonrise Kingdom, but she has lots of other great ones. I think this one will be living with me soon.

I'm also loving this cake plate from H&M. You can shop online there now in the US, and they have some great home goods that the US stores don't seem to stock yet. I may get this for my birthday cake (yay October is coming soon-Happy Birthday to me!). These plates are smaller than a standard cake plate (luckily I have a 6" cake pan that might just come in handy).

Last but not least, my tiny balcony garden is still going strong! This little watermelon should be ready soon and I'm so excited about it! I also have some California Poppies in bloom and several lettuces and basil. Finishing off this garden season strong!

What are you all in love with this month?


I was not compensated for this post by any of the above mentioned shops. I just really like this stuff.

Starting the Garden

Happy belated Earth day everyone (Aren't I just about a day late for everything lately?). I thought a great thing to talk about this time of year would be starting a garden (and May is National Salad Month in the US, so I'm actually getting a little jump start on something!). I'm not an expert gardener by any means, in fact, I grow my entire garden in containers on my front patio or on my windowsills. As such, I am pretty limited in the scale of my garden, and what things I can successfully grow. No matter how large or small of a space you have, anyone can grow a small garden of their very own!

Above you will see a photo of my radish starts. I'm not huge on radishes, but the husband likes them. They are also a great crop to try if you don't have much gardening experience (or if you don't want to spend lots of long term attention on things). Radishes have a pretty short grow time (about a month) and you will get almost instant gratification because they sprout after only a couple of days. It's a great thing to plant if you have kiddos around because they will get to see something happening very quickly and could measure the progress daily.




I am also being rather brave and trying to grow some watermelons this year. I have one large pot with a vine growing right now and the plant is supposed to have personal sized watermelons, not the big guys. So I am hopeful that despite my small area maybe I will get a watermelon or two this year, and if not it's a nice experiment.

I also have visions of a "someday" garden dancing in my head, as someday the hus and I will have a house and yard. If you'd like to check out some of our ideas and lots of helpful info, you can check out my new Gardening board on Pinterest and follow along!

I also have some herbs, flowers, etc that I'm growing this year. Are any of you extra excited about your garden this year? If you need some cute ideas for labeling your garden try these Dinosaur Garden Markers or Glass Garden Markers.