Making Babies

{ My Glory Blue Hydrangea }

Unfortunately I am referring to plants and not myself. I am totally in love with my Endless Summer hydrangeas, in case you haven't noticed. I want a ton of them in my yard, but I don't have the cash to buy 3 or 4 more plants so I did some research on propagating. Basically you are creating a new plant from the stem of an old one.

I found a couple websites that offered various ways of doing it. One site was way to "technical plant geek" for me and another gave info that wasn't really doable, so I combined what I read and tried it the traditional way- put a cutting into water to make it root. This is my way:

1. Find a stem on your hydrangea that hasn't had a bloom on it yet.

2. Cut the top section of the stem right above the 2nd leaf nodes- so you have one section of leaves on the stem and the very top leaves intact.

3. Put that baby in water, and wait... Forever... for some roots to grow!

4. Change and refresh the water every couple days and put it in a sunny spot in the house, near a window works well.

Keep checking your stem for root growth. Again mine took about 2 weeks to get some good roots growing. Once I had about 1/2 inch of root growth I transferred it to a small pot with a 70/30 mixture of potting soil and sand. Keep your new planting in a semi-shade spot outside and continue to water it. Try to keep it well watered.

So far mine is trucking away. I think I'll pull it up this week and replant it to check the roots. I hope this helps some of you hydrangea-lovin people from having to buy more plants! Let me know if you have some success too! I'll keep you posted on mine.

How-To: Applique Pillow

{ courtesy of designmilk.com }

The guest room bed needed something red. The red striped rug was lonely. I wanted to incorporate red on to the bed, so I decided that a pillow was in the cards. I have been looking on Etsy and at various other sights, but adorable pillows like the one above are very pricey. Cheap-sake on alert! Make it myself I say!

I had some leftover fabric from the outdoor curtains I did for the back porch, so I whipped up a pillowcase. Next I search the web for a bird silhouette. I found this lovely and printed it out.

Then I traced it onto a piece of stiff felt. I chose the stiffened felt because it is easier to cut crisp lines on. Cutting out the bird is next.

To secure the applique to the fabric I used some fusible webbing- a nifty material that uses heat to bond fabric together.

Now that the bird was secured to the fabric I stitched it on with white thread, tracing around the edges. I must say it wasn't the best job, but it was my first time, no too bad.

After I closed the pillowcase, the red bird was reunited with it's bed mates. The pillows behind are actually just pillow inserts from other pillows I had lying around. They had ugly covers so I just took them out and put them on the bed. They have a more natural feel.

The bed now has its red pop and the rest of the room has come together nicely. Head to the next post to see the details!

How-To: Cleaning Your Ceiling Fan

{ Tools of the Trade: Swiffer, Pillow Case }

How does dust collect on a moving surface? I have never understood how ceiling fan blades get so dusty, especially ours since it is always running. Well, somehow it does collect, and ours needed cleaning. I have used many methods to banish the fuzzy stuff: a swiffer, vaccum attachments, and a damp wash cloth. All of these strategies worked, but not as good as the latest way I have just discovered (maybe you already knew, but I am slow sometimes so it's just getting to me) A pillow case! Say what?! Yes, the bed linens make a lovely pocket to catch all those little, height-lovin' bunnies. Here's my breakdown:

Pillow Case Dusting

1. Observe nasty fan blades... gross.

2. Place pillow case (I wouldn't use a white one, just in case) over fan blade, up to the bracket.

3. Using one hand pull pillow case snug around the blade. Then with the other hand pull the pillow case down the blade.

4. Catch any leftovers with a Swiffer duster.

And hello gorgeous!

Total time: 5 minutes

Cost: $0!

Benefits: A less sneezy husband.

Have any cleaning questions? Send me a shout!

Hey Old Timer!

Photos are a must when decorating the home. I bet you can't stand in one single house without seeing a million picture frames full of memories. However it can get stale after a while. Lately turning pictures to black and white is the way to making them more interesting, or blowing them up large like I did with my wedding photos can help break the rut.

But Women's Health Magazine, yes a health magazine, gave a great way to amp up those pictures you have in ALL those frames: make 'em look old! All you have to do it visit this site (if it is in Japanese, click the English link in the top right corner to translate) and you can upload any of your pictures and it will convert them for you. A note: it works best with pictures that have medium tones- if you have a really sunny picture you'll want to up the contrast before or it will look very light and blown out. Here is an example of a picture I took of Erik when we went backpacking:

{ BEFORE }

{AFTER}

It definitely helps make your memories more unique and interesting. So load 'em up, convert 'em, and switch 'em out!