Crochet Flowers

My mom started making these darling flowers for her granddaughters last spring. Since then I have had so many people ask me where I got them! I have thought many times that I should just learn how to do it myself so I can sell them or give them to friends!

Well this week my mom has been visiting to take care of my sister and her new baby, and we decided to tackle the project! My mom calls skills like this 'heritage arts' and I have long thought I need to make sure they get passed down the generations. She also taught me how to cross stitch when I was about 12 and we did some pretty fancy pieces together. There is just something special about making things with your own hands.

Here's my beginner stitches... not too hard once you get the hang of it!

The flowers really are precious on little girls, although I have seen them on "big" girls a lot lately too! They are also darling on hats and headbands.

I really like them on piggy tails.

I have only made one by myself (the pink one at top), but I hope to get better and faster!
What do you think, would you buy one?

Neighbor Treats

Ahhh, that time of year again... baking Christmas goodies! That's what has been on my mind the last few days... what to make for the neighbors?

Last year I made yummy white chocolate popcorn with mint M&M's. Just melt some white chocolate or almond bark (about 3 bricks), pour over a freshly popped bag of microwave popcorn, and mix in some M&M's!

This year I am considering the Almond Toffee Crunch my mom taught me how to make. Although I'm a little concerned that it won't make it out the front door before I eat it all. Anything toffee flavored is my very favorite!!!

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp light corn syrup
1/2 cup ground almonds

Place first 4 ingredients in a heavy pot with a lid on. Bring to a boil on high, covered, without stirring. Once mixture is boiling, remove lid, add almonds, and begin stirring quickly. Continue stirring rapidly until toffee thickens, darkens, then begins to smoke. Allow to smike for 10-15 seconds, then pour immediately onto a foil-lined baking sheet. Spread out and allow to cool. You can spread melted chocolate over toffee once it is cooled. Allow to cool completely, invert, peel off tin foil, and crack. If covered in chocolate, allow to cure for6 hours before cracking.


These Giant Ginger cookies (source) have also been a favorite at our house lately. Mike says they are the best cookies he has ever had, which is saying a lot considering he loves my snickerdoodles and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies too! I think they would be cute tied with pretty ribbon. We also love them with vanilla ice cream smooshed in between.

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups shortening
2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup molasses
3/4 cup coarse sugar, or granulated sugar

In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt; set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat shortening with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds to soften. Gradually add the 2 cups granulated sugar. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and molasses. Beat in as much of the flour mixture as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour mixture. Shape dough into 2-inch balls using 1/4 cup dough. Roll balls in the 3/4 cup coarse or granulated sugar. Place about 2-1/2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 12 to 14 minutes or until cookies are light brown and puffed. (Do not overbake or cookies will not be chewy.) Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.

What's baking in your kitchen? DO share!

Festive Centerpieces

I haven't done anything flowery or crafty this week so I took a look back in the Christmas archives. I love hosting Christmas get-togethers if only because decorating for them is so much fun! My favorite centerpieces include live flowers, but there are lots of pretty things you can do even with a few ornaments.

One time (in the years before kids!) my friend Bethany and I hosted a little dinner and made this fancy centerpiece. I still had a floral wholesale license back then, so I took a trip to the flower cooler and picked up evergreens, red callas, and berries. Floral foam held everything in place in a small vase within the larger vase filled with ornaments.

Another year a friend asked me to do a large centerpiece for a party she hosted for her husband's work. She actually just found the flowers at Costco: white callas, red glads, red berries, and greenery. (Sometimes you can special order things from the Costco florists--check with your local store.) I love the height and simplicity... stunning.

I also love these handy nesting vases... all you need is a few roses, some greenery, and small ornaments and you have a sparkly little display.

Continuing the ornament theme, it's pretty enough to just fill clear vases with shiny ornaments or berries and call it good!

I found these other sweet and simple ornament centerpiece ideas here. Use whatever you have--candles, cake plates, crystal bowls... the sky is the limit!

Happy hosting!

Snowflakes

"Under the microscope, I found that snowflakes were miracles of beauty; and it seemed a shame that this beauty should not be seen and appreciated by others. Every crystal was a masterpiece of design and no one design was ever repeated. When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind." - Wilson A. Bentley

When was the last time you made snowflakes? I grew up making snowflakes with my mom (the master snowflake cutter) to decorate our windows at Christmas time. I have such fond memories of it! I think it's time to continue the tradition, so we are playing with snowflakes over here today. I love how even the simplest cuts make something beautiful.

For our daily advent surprise we did a craft: W for Winter with iridescent confetti snowflakes.


Cassi from a wonderful craft blog I follow recently posted this incredible history and tutorial on snowflakes, and gave me permission to pass it on.


You really ought to try Make-A-Flake! It is so much fun!

Free Gardening Advice!

Here is my first official Q & A session! I know only my mom and sisters read this blog (hi guys!) but in the case that anyone else does, I would love to try to answer your questions about green things.

My friend, Tina in Pennsylvania, asked:

"So we have an apple tree but it, along with the whole yard, has been neglected for years. It did grow apples this year, but they were very small and the cores seemed rotted almost immediately. They almost sounded hollow when I tapped on the cores. So, my question is, can it be fixed, and do I need to call an expert? I'm thinking it's overcrowded. Can that happen? And if I trim it myself, can I ruin it? Could it have some sort of bug or infection? Does that kind of thing happen? And finally, if I call someone, should I do it now or in the spring? I'd love to have apples and make apple sauce next year."

My answer:

From what I have seen, it’s pretty hard to grow apples organically. Most people who have apples trees spray for insects and diseases, because, yes, they do commonly happen! I would say spraying usually happens in the spring. Your best bet would be to contact a professional for the spraying, but you can learn to do the pruning yourself! It's not hard!

Also, most people don’t know about an awesome FREE information source—your local university Cooperative Extension service and Master Gardeners. They are trained volunteers who are familiar with the horticultural region and growing conditions. They have tons of information and resources at their fingertips and they are there just to help you! They may even have a list of professional arborists to get you started.

Here are some links I found just from perusing the Penn State Cooperative Extension website:

Contact a Master Gardener directly (click on your county to get numbers)

Complete guide to growing apples! (click on pome fruits)

Tree Fruit Resources

You may wonder, why such a plug for cooperative extension? Well, I'll toot my own horn for a moment... (although again, mom and sisters already know this! Hi guys! :)

I'm a Master Gardener! Or was, when we lived in Nevada. To be certified in Utah I would have to take a few more classes and start over with my volunteer hours.


In the fall of '07 I began a course through the University of Reno Extension Service to become a Master Gardener. It sounds like a flashy title, but really it's just a name for a person who volunteers to teach and 'extend' education to the community. I took a 70-hour classroom course (mostly a super quick review of my hort education) and then had a year to complete 50 hours of volunteer service to become certified. After graduating from the coursework in December, my volunteer hours were put on hold to prepare for and welcome little Maddie! But starting in April I began participating a couple of times a month on various projects. Most of my time was spent on the Master Gardener help line (call in to get your gardening questions answered today!) and also as a leader for the Junior Master Gardener program that met 2x a month. The kids enjoyed growing pumpkins, planting herbs, and learning about compost. It was a rewarding way to serve the community and stay connected to the green industry.

For those of you living here in Utah, here are the contact numbers for the Utah State Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners. More info on their website here.

Here is another great cooperative extension website:

"Gardening and landscaping is extremely popular in urban areas and, in many ways, the public's main connection with agriculture and the natural world around them. Extension offers an extensive catalog of publications on every aspect of landscaping and gardening. We have demonstration gardens in several areas around the state where you can see plants and landscaping techniques before you try them at your home. Underlying all of our gardening programs is conserving water - Utah's most precious resource."

Happy gardening!

Bearded Iris

My mom came to visit this weekend and brought a little gift from her yard. She has the most beautiful bearded iris... I remember loving them when I was little because they have little fuzzy beards that looked like colorful caterpillars. And when you examine the petals up close they have a opalescent sheen that sparkles in the sunlight.

Who would think that iris grow from this funny looking thing? It's called a rhizome, and for this little lesson I broke out my plant propagation book from school- 880 pages of mind numbing instructions on how to grow plants! So here is a basic description of what we're working with:

"A rhizome is a specialized stem structure in which the main axis of the plant grow horizontally, or just below the ground surface. The lateral stem is composed of nodes and internodes. Adventitious roots and lateral growing points develop in the vicinity of the node. Upright-growing, above-ground shoots and flowering stems (culms) are produced terminally. The rhizome is thick, fleshy, and shortened in relation to length. It appears as a many-branched clump made up of short, individual section. It is determinate; that is, each clump terminates in a flowering stalk, growth continuing only from lateral branches. Rhizomes grow by elongation of the growing points produced at the end of terminal and lateral branches. Length also increases by growth in the intercalary meristems in the lower part of the internodes."

Get all that? Told you it was mind-numbing! Basically, rhizomes are underground stems, and the off-shoots can be broken apart and re-planted. This is known as division. Let's move on to the practical part of our tutorial.

Step 1. Chose the location. Iris prefer a sunny, well-drained position in the landscape. They need at least a half day of sunlight.

Step 2. Prepare the soil. Soil should be cultivated 12 to 18 inches deep and amended with organic matter. The bed I chose was covered with that nasty weed barrier stuff, so I had to rip it all out and start from scratch. I turned the soil and added the last of my potting soil/organic matter and turned it in the best I could. Every little bit helps!


Step 3. Lay out plant material. The rhizomes should be spaced 12 to 18 inches apart.


Step 4. Plant! Dig a hole about 6 inches deep and wide enough to fit the roots of the rhizome. Build a small mound of soil in the middle, set the rhizome on top and spread the roots down around it. This assures that the roots are deep enough, while keeping the rhizome itself in reach of the sun's rays. They should not be planted too deep! The growing point (where the green begins) should be at surface level when planted. Firm the soil around the roots and water in.


Step 5. Long for beautiful blooms next June!

(Photo courtesy of plantanswers.com)

That's all for today's gardening adventure. It might be the last for this year... but I will try to keep things interesting with indoor projects! Oh, and I thought you might like to see my side-kicks! (pj's and all)

A Pact

I finally cleaned out my beds today. The breeze was fresh, the sun was warm, and the soil was dark.

As I worked, we (the soil and I) made a pact that next year was going to be a lot of fun.