Me in Place

About a week ago, we were talking about butterflies, I said, “Well, you guys remember when we had caterpillars and we kept them and they turned into butterflies and then we released them?”

“No. When did we do that?”

You mean I put up with icky, creepy caterpillars in the house and you don’t even remember? Um, could you go ahead and forget about the time Mommy lost it at the McDonald’s while you’re at it?

Anyway, I decided that we definitely had to experience the butterflies again.

Because I was getting low on entertainment with only three kids, one dog and one cat around. So please meet our new buddies:

They’ve been named Phil, Bill, Jumper, Skipper and Spiderman. We’ll keep you up to date on their development. And if you would like to do your own little caterpillar experiment, go to www.insectlore.com

The SAS Decorator has recently discovered some great SAS (Short Attention Span) decorating helps:

- A glue gun that works! In the past, I’ve owned about three different glue guns. None of them worked. I think that’s because I spent about $1.99 for them. So I finally bit the bullet and bought a $20 one that, amazingly, works really well and makes the crafting experience more of a… well, an experience I’d like to have.

- Moss! This product is so fun and messy and crumbly and natural and cheap.

-Styrofoam forms – the amazing things you can do with Styrofoam. My kids can take Styrofoam packaging and redecorate our house with tiny pellets of Styro fun in about ten minutes. I can buy Styrofoam forms from Michael’s and cut them and shape them into fun little projects without getting one pellet on the floor. That’s the difference between an adult and a child.

Anyway, here are the SAS Decorator’s Spring Edition Projects: Take a Styrofoam cone, cut off a little of the end, stick it in a flower pot and glue and smoosh moss to your heart’s desire. And you get this:

This is the kitchen shelf with my cute new birthday gift glasses from my mom (Dishes and glasses are great SAS ways to decorate!):

And – testing the limits of my SAS decorating patience – I made two wreaths with the same concept (Styrofoam wreath shape, moss, ribbon, cute eggs and tons of glue – I love glue!!)…sold one and kept one for myself:

I’m totally taking this from my mother-in-law, Ruth, who is an AMAZING gardener. When I asked for ideas for a sunny spot, she whipped out a list of ideas. I thought I’d pass them along to you, in case you’re itching to plant!

Sunny  – Full Sun Ideas:

Shorter (for the front of your plot):

Nasturtiums

Sweet Alyssums

Pot Marigolds and Regular Marigolds

Clarkia

China Pinks or Dianthus

California Poppies

Blue Ageratum

Taller: 24″ and up:

Bachelor Buttons

4 O’Clocks

Snapdragons

Zinnias (happiest in mid-summer in the heat)

Bunny Grass

Super Tall for the Back: 

Cosmos

Dahlias (My personal favorite to grow)