two.little.ladies

Saturday, February 19, 2011

two.little.daffodil. bulbs

Taking advantage of a dry stretch, we put some daffodil bulbs in the ground. We wanted a "cutting garden" in one of our garden beds so we don't have to cut daffodils from our landscaping. This is a great project for kids of all ages. Peyton helped me dig the trenches, place the bulbs in the trenches, cover them up with dirt, pat then water. It took about 25 minutes in all and kept Peyton occupied.

Carefully placing bulbs right side up.

Covering bulbs with dirt.

Project Notes:

~ This is an easy project that requires little gardening experience.
~ Fall (Oct & Nov) is the best time to plant daffodil bulbs but late winter (Jan & Feb) will work as well.

~ Choose a location with decent soil (nice drainage...no clay). Daffodil bulbs tend to rot if they sit in too much water.
~ If you are creating a "cutting garden" plant 6 inches apart in rows. If you are planting around your yard in landscaping, try planting in "bunches" of 3 or 5 bulbs in a one foot circular area. One lone bulb will look lonely by itself. If you are planting in a container you can mix with other spring bulbs or fill it with daffodils spaced about 6 inches apart.

~ Generally speaking, spring bulbs require part sun to full sun but be sure to check the bulb packaging or online before you select a location for your bulbs.

~ Dig your hole or trenches to specified depth for your bulb. Daffodils need about 6-8 inches.

~ Gently place the bulb in the hole point side up.

~ Cover loosely with dirt then gently pat dirt to secure the bulb.

~ Water. Sounds silly being that Oregon has very wet springs. It's important to water just enough that the dirt is compacted around the bulb leaving no air holes. Better yet, plant just before a good rain and you can skip this step.

~ Watch your bulbs grow and enjoy!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

two.little.valentine's

I love projects. Especially ones I can complete fairly quickly with little clean-up. Unfortunately, this project allowed little help from my preschooler but she still enjoyed watching. When Peyton's preschool announced the students would be doing a valentine exchange I immediately thought of an idea I had on the back burner of my brain. My sister-in-law did these as a thank you to attending guests of her daughters birthday party. I knew the second I saw them I would be copying them. And I did:

Supplies Needed:
Heart Shaped Suckers
Valentine Greeting Cards
Paring Knife
Cutting board or cardboard

The suckers were easy for me to find. Peyton begs for them every time we go to Michaels. They cost around 39 cents each. I love these because of the fun long bendy sticks. Any sucker will do, really.

I designed the Valentine card then sent them to Costco for printing. Since Peyton isn't old enough to write on the Valentine's yet I did a generic blue for boys and pink for girls. Printing at Costco only costs $.39 for 4 wallet sized prints! Great value. If you don't have an accommodating computer program you can do one of two things.

1. Us a photo that has plenty of space around your child's face to write a personal greeting. This would work great for older kids. I would probably shoot for a solid background like a light colored wall, house or even the sky. Be creative!

2. You could drop the photo idea all together. Cut out heart shaped pieces of paper in red and have your child write his or her own message. Decorate with a personal drawing or stickers. Again, be creative!

When I got the photos back from Costco I simply used a paring knife (after my first attempt with scissors made the jagged cuts you see above) to cut slits at each end of the photo card. This will allow you to slide the sucker stick through. I found that if you didn't cut them long enough it would bend the photo so make sure you do a good 1/4" cut. Obviously if you cut them too long they wouldn't stay on the stick so don't overdo it. It's also important to cut them centered on each side or they will be crooked. Not bothersome to most but enough to drive me crazy!!

Voila! The project is done. Sorry the photos aren't better. They are much cuter in person and we got tons of compliments from teachers and student's parents. Funny thing, the 3 & 4 year-olds only seemed to care that there was a sucker attached. Kids...love them!

Monday, January 3, 2011

two.little.baskets

Basket, Bucket & Crate Collection

We are trying something new this year. We're doing a basket drive with all our friends and family. Since we all get baskets over the holidays then don't know what to do with them, we decided to start collecting now (just after Christmas). The plan is to fill the collected baskets with gourds in the fall then offer them for sale. They make a lovely addition to your porch or entry way and they last through both Halloween and Thanksgiving. The fun of it for me is getting to see all the unique baskets, wooden crates & galvanized buckets people have had stashed away in storage or were going to toss in the garbage or recycle.

This idea came to me after trying to explain to our three and a half year old daughter, Peyton, why it is so important not to be wasteful. I explained that her dad has to go to work each day so we can pay for things like food, electricity, hot water & all the fun things we get to do. The more wasteful we are the more Dad will have to work to replenish what we have wasted. Reasonable enough for a preschooler, right? Well, it doesn't seem to have made a significant impact on her. She recently informed me that it's okay if she accidentally leaves her lights on, Dad will just work more to pay for it. However, she is readily available to offer me a lecture if I happen to leave a light on when I have left a room.

I think it's time she learns a real lesson in economics. Well, as real as it can get for a preschooler while still making it a fun learning experience for her. Here's phase one...working for money by collecting baskets.

To Be Continued...

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

two.little.ladies.bird.feeder.project

Making Wild Birdseed and Suet Feeders For Gifts

Feeders "Setting" in the Freezer

We got the feeders up just in time for snow.

Grandma sent us these pictures.

The birds seem to enjoy their gifted feeders.

For recipe and how to:

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/birdseed-and-suet-feeders

Project Notes:

Be sure to insert the hanging string straight and

centered or your feeder will hang crooked like ours.

If possible, try to get the string all the way down to the bottom of the feeder. I noticed the birds eat from the top of the feeder down so if your string doesn't go down very far down the feeder will fall to the ground once the birds have eaten down to where the string ends.