Increase your garden space

Whether you have a sprawling yard, or have a small plot of land there are some things you can do to increase  the amount of area for your green thumb.  The easiest way is to adorn your house with wonderful window boxes.  Not only do you increase the green space, you make your home more beautiful.  After reading about the square foot gardening techniques, I think you could easily put some of Mel's Mix right into your window boxes and enjoy the beautiful crops that will pop up.
The possibilities are endless, but imagine for a moment that you have a small window box planter on one of your kitchen windows.  All summer long you could harvest some herbs right through the window.  During the warm summer nights when the windows are open in the house, the aromas of basil, rosemary and thyme could be blowing in through the kitchen window.  It is a very appealing thought for me.  Another very wonderful idea is to have window boxes for all of your cut flower needs.  You could harvest some of your favorite flowers, perhaps varieties of dahlias in all shades from dark to light.
If you don't have a green thumb, it is okay.  Their are varieties of window boxes that are self watering, so if you forget to water, it is no problem.  If you go on vacation you don't have to bug the neighbor to water your plants because the self watering box will take care of your precious plants.
I think window boxes will be the new rave in gardening. You can have them custom made to fit your window, and with many exterior styles there is bound to be one that fits your homes theme.
I think that window boxes and planters are great for urban living where perhaps your green space is minimal.  Digging in the dirt has its perks, so why not have a little green space just for you.
Another fun idea would be to use windowboxes on a low window or a small planter for a lesson to toddlers on how to garden.  They could have their own garden to manage, and plant as they saw fit.
Indulge your natural side with a little extra space to plant in and reap the benefits of a small garden without changing your yard.

Gardening for all seasons

In Florida we have wonderful gardening seasons... all year!  This spring I am working on putting together  a Square Foot Garden.  I got the book from Amazon and when it arrived I read it from cover to cover.  After reading it I was totally  motivated to get going on my garden.  First, though I had to gather the materials.  Anyone that has a SFG knows that Mel's Mix is not exactly cheap.  So I tried to save a few bucks by finding recycled wood from my Square Foot Garden beds.  While I have not completely finished this task, I am making good progress.  The first place I looked was a local construction site.  I got a few pieces after I spoke with the foreman on site.  I will have to check back in a few days, and hopefully they will be further along, with more scraps.  They were just going to throw them away, and now I can use them for my garden (recycling).  Another way to save money while putting together your square foot garden is to have your own compost pile.  This book was just the motivation I needed to get my compost pile producing great soil for my veggies!  I would love to hear about others experience with composting, and square foot gardens!  Successes and failures I would love to hear your stories of growing veggies.

Bulk listings=Discounts

I tried a listing for multiple coffee sleeves.  I think people liked the ability to buy multiple sleeves for a great discount.  I am thinking about doing more and more multiple listings for the coffee sleeves.
Regular price of a single unique coffee sleeve is $5.00, however, if you purchase the package deal with three or more coffee sleeves you get a dollar off each sleeve!  Now that is a good discount.

I am always up for custom orders, so if you need a certain number of sleeves, just let me know.  I can't guarantee that the fabrics will all be the same.  That is what makes them so unique.  The fabric patterns are from the left over projects, and other pieces of salvaged fabric that would otherwise end up in the landfill.
Using the coffee sleeve is eco friendly in two ways, maybe more.  First you don't have to use a cardboard sleeve, and second, the fabrics are recycled!  So make your daily grind a little more green!  They do make great gifts, and at the discounted price you can get one for everyone in the office!

ACK!

The cat ate my tomato seedlings.  The door to the secret tomato hideaway was left open last night and the cat took the opportunity to eat all my seedlings.  Well, all but five.  I hope they can survive.

The Robots

This was my latest quilt for a friend that is having a baby boy in March!  I love the fabrics, I might just have to make one for Lincoln.  I had to wait until I sent it out to post the pictures, I did not want to ruin the surprise!  The idea from the quilt was from a picture I saw on Flickr.  I love to get ideas from the great quilters of the world!

Shopping Like you are in the Big City

Have you ever wondered where people really shop when they are in the big city?  Now you too can dress like the New Yorkers do.  You can pick up your Carhatt sweatshirt right from a website!  Of course if you are in New York you could always just drop by Dave's and try one on too.  If you live in the south where the weather is much warmer most of the year, you could pick up a few of the Carhatt shirts.  I really like the long sleeve logo t shirt.  I just find it great that you can get anything you want on the web.   Whether it is clothes sold in a shop in New York, or fabric from Japan.  The web gives you access to all these great things without the cost of airfare!

Everything is coming up roses...or tomatoes.

So here they are.  My little heirloom tomato seeds are growing.  Those little green leaves really popped up sooner than I thought they would.  Unfortunately, now the cat has found them, and he had a small snack of fresh green leaves.  I caught him in the act, and will have to watch him more carefully.  I am extremely happy with their progress, and would definitely recommend www.tomatofest.com as a place to get great heirloom variety seeds.

Seeds Started

I got my tomato seeds!  They are officially planted today February 4th.  I started 25 tomato seeds (plus a few extra in each cell).  Eight varieties of tomatoes will be my first experiment.  I hope that I will get a harvest from each plant.
Here are the varieties that I bought from TomatoFest.com.
Hillbilly, Marvel Stripe, Cherokee Purple, Mortgage Lifter, Black Cherry, Blondkopfchen, and Vintage Wine.  The kind folks at tomatofest threw in an extra seed pack of the red peach.  Thanks for the extra pack!  I will keep you posted on the progress of my tomato crop!

Re-Enlisted

I just had a request for custom made cornhole bean bags.  The fabric that I used (in combination with duck cloth) is worn military uniforms.  From the battlefield to the playing field these uniforms have been re-enlisted to make this cornhole game special for a retired military man.  I made these with duckcloth and the uniforms and sewed them with heavy duty thread so that the bean bags can withstand many backyard barbecue parties.  Each bag is filled with two cups of corn, and sewn in a 6 inch square.  I can make more of these if anyone needs custom bags for their own cornhole game.  Contact me here by leaving a comment.

Pots and Pans

I asked Santa for some new pans this year for Christmas, I guess he does check his list twice.  As I did not get any new copper pans.  I wanted something shiny to spruce up the kitchen what better to do that than some functional ruffoni cookware.  For me, I love the look of the copper, it becomes functional art when you display your ruffoni copper around the room.  The sun catches and makes fun reflections on the walls and ceiling.
The ruffoni not only looks good, but heats evenly on low heats for great ease of cooking.  They have the perfect pan for everything you could ever want to cook.  From sauce pans (which I love) to the jello molds that dear husband loves.
Maybe I will be getting the cookware for Valentines, one can only hope!