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!

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!