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DIY Unicorn Planters With Magical Cactus Horns
DIY Unicorn Cactus Planters
I used to think that unicorns were mythical creatures that were only heard of, but never seen. However lately, they have been taking over our house….primarily our daughter’s room. It’s apparently a unicorn playground. The most recent inhabitants are these sweet unicorn planters…complete with magical cactus horns.
Ok, so maybe these unicorns didn’t just appear, but we made them. This was such a fun project! Our daughter was able to create it by herself and there is such a huge variety of ways to decorate them so they are just like real unicorns – magical and unique!
Just like you can decorate each pot uniquely, the different cacti, oh sorry, unicorn horns that you can get are also super unique. This was one of our daughter’s favorite parts I think. We went through all of the cactus plants searching for the perfect ones! (And bonus: I’ve heard that cactus plants are hard to kill…which means yay! No green thumb required!)
Want to make your own DIY Unicorn Planter? Here’s how!
DIY Unicorn Planter Supplies:
- 1 terra cotta pot and base
- White acrylic paint
- Black acrylic paint
- Paint brushes – one for details and one general painting one
- Glitter – I prefer the extra fine glitter
- Decorations – We used glitter tulle and silk flowers. Rhinestones would be super fun too!
- Hot glue gun
- Glue
- Foam Sheets – 1 white and 1 pink
- Potting Soil
- Cactus
- Sealer (optional but recommended)
DIY Unicorn Planter Instructions:
Paint your pot and base white. While the paint is still dry, sprinkle it with glitter. Paint dries SUPER fast on terra cotta so you will have to work in small sections. Once everything is glittered, spray with your sealer if you are using one. Set aside until it is dry.
The fun part! Decide how you are going to decorate.
We did one with just tulle and one with tulle and flowers.
If you are going to use flowers, smaller flowers are the easiest to work with!
Rhinestones would be another fun idea to try! Hot glue your decorations on.
Using a fine tip brush, paint on the unicorn’s eyes and lashes. Cut out two ear shapes of white foam. Out of the pink foam, cut out two inner ears and glue to the center of the white foam ears.
Hot glue your ears to the inside of the pot where desired.
Once the glue is dry, fill the pot with potting soil and add your cactus horn. Be careful! Don’t get poked!
Ta da! Aren’t they adorable? Super magical!
If you make one, be sure to let us know! I totally want to see! Don’t forget to pin our DIY Unicorn Planters!
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Easy Gardening Tips We Love #MomsCheckIn
It’s time! Spring is here and everyone is getting their gardens ready! Are you? Here are some easy gardening tips that we love! Share your best garden tip! #MomsCheckIn
One of my favorite things about summer is growing our vegetable garden. The kids enjoy watching things go from a seed to real food, and I love being able to walk out the backdoor, grab some goodies out of the garden, and throw together dinner. Nothing better than a ripe garden tomato! And if you don’t have a green thumb, check out our lollipop garden. That’s an easy little project we had so much fun with! Looking for more tips? Here are lots of tips that we use!
– Lindsay is the mom of 2 and author of See Mom Click. She shares great deals, Disney happenings and recipes. You can follow her on Twitter here!
I’ll be honest — I don’t have a green thumb. But I do love beautiful flowers and plants! I’ve learned that it’s ok to have a small garden with hearty plants. A big part of the joy for me is just watching Sam enjoy helping out and being outdoors. I’ll leave the big gardens to the pros and enjoy what’s growing in our backyard!
– Stephanie is the mom to Sam and the author of Spaceships and Laser Beams. If you ever need party ideas her site is the place to visit! Specializing in all things boy, it’s full of inspiration! Follow her on Twitter here!
So – just being honest here….a full fledged garden didn’t work for us. We just weren’t disciplined enough to keep it weeded and watered, so we’re opting for small container gardens. They’re so much easier to keep up with. Here’s our beginner guide on container gardening! It’s perfect for favorite produce like tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, peppers, and especially herbs.
– Jenni is the mom of one and the author of Sweet Pennies From Heaven. A hearth and home website, Sweet Pennies From Heaven focuses on recipes, crafts and creating a comfortable home. Follow her on Twitter here!
We love gardening! And by we, I really do mean we! I try to make it fun for Josh. Did you know you can regrow some vegetables? It’s been a fun science experiment. Our favorite to regrow so far has been avocados! As far as myself, we live in an apartment so we don’t have a yard. But I do have an Aerogarden that we have set up in our kitchen. It lets me grow herbs, vegetables and even flowers all year around!
– Amanda is the mom to Joshua and owns It’s a Fabulous Life. If you are looking for a one stop place for all things mom, It’s a Fabulous Life is it! Full of recipes, fashion, DIY projects, recipes and parenting articles it’s the place for all of Mom’s favorites to come together! Follow her on Twitter here!
Do you plant a garden? What is your best tip?
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Candy Sprout Dirt Cupcakes – A Perfect Earth Day Treat!
Earth Day is April 22nd and today I’m sharing these adorable Candy Sprout Dirt Cupcakes that are sure to make for a fun treat! This is a super easy and cute dessert to make. Served in mini terra-cotta pots they look just like the real thing!
These cupcakes would also be great for a gardening party!
You will need:
- Box of chocolate cake mix
- Chocolate frosting
- Oreos
- Green Taffy or Green Air Heads
First you will need to make the cupcakes according to the box directions. Let the cupcakes cool completely. Place a cupcake in the wrapper into a mini terra-cotta pot.
Crush some Oreo cookies and put on top of the cupcakes. It’s looking like dirt all ready!
Now comes the fun part! Using the taffy or the airheads cut out leaves, blades of grass, or other sprouts. Leave room for you to push them into the cupcakes.
Add to your cupcakes and ta da!
You have some adorable Earth Day treats!
Looking for some Earth Day books?
Here are some fun ideas that would go along well with these cupcakes.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.
6 Kitchen Scraps Your Garden Will Love
There isn’t much more satisfying than a garden. Whether you grow flowers, herbs, vegetables or a mix of all of the above, starting something from a seed (or a seedling!) and nurturing it until it grows. When you take good care of your plants, your plants will give back to you!
One of the best ways to take care of your plants is to keep them nourished and well fed. And you don’t have to look past your own kitchen for some of your plants favorite things! Here is a list of 6 things you can find in your kitchen hat your plants will love!
1. Egg Shells
Egg shells are a key ingredient to any compost pile. Egg shells are made of calcium and will help nourish your garden’s soil. Make sure that you rinse your egg shells clean. To help the decomposition along, it’s better if you crush the eggs shells up.
2. Citrus peels
Most citrus peels (with the exception of limes) can be great for your garden! Placing citrus peels around your plants can help repel pests such as mosquitos and aphids. But they not only repeal certain insects, but they also attract another. Butterflies!
3. Pulp
No, not wood pulp. But if you juice at home be sure to share with your plants! You only juice healthy and whole foods, why not give some of that back to your garden?
4. Coffee Grounds
I love coffee. You love coffee. PLANTS love coffee! Coffee grounds are filled with nitrogen, vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates and all kinds of good stuff! If you use paper filters, you can even add the whole paper filter to your compost pile. If you don’t have a compost pile, just add your coffee grounds right to the soil!
5. Loose Tea Bags
Plants love coffee, but they also are pretty fond of tea. Again, if you have a compost pile you can add the whole tea bag (just be sure to remove any staples!). If you do not have a compost pile just open the tea bags and spread on the soil.
6. Banana Peels
Don’t throw those banana peels out! Add them to your compost pile! Banana peels are full of nitrogen and can help your plants grow! Just chop the peel up to help it decompose faster.
And as a bonus, while you won’t find it in your kitchen, yard waste such as grass clippings or leaves are great for your garden and compost pile. No need to bag it up and set it out for the trash! Instead spread it around your garden and let your plants enjoy the benefits!
Looking for a few products to help you get started composting? Here are a few favorites!
This Epica 1 Gallon Stainless Steel Compost Pail is a favorite! But not just mine! It’s gotten over 1,100 reviews on Amazon and has 5 out of 5 stars!
The Oggi Eco-Liner Compost Pail liners are perfect. These will help reduce odor and help keep your counter tops clean.
Let It Rot is a great book to help you learn everything you need to know about composting!
Compost: A Family Guide To Making Soil from Scraps is a great way for kids to get involved and learn all about composting. It’s full of games, stickers, and more! Very fun for the kids!
Avocados – Everything You Need To Know
Avocados are one of those things that used to intimidate me. How do you tell when avocados are ripe? How do you cut avocados? Heck, is an avocado a fruit or a vegetable? Avocados were just not something I was familiar with. Except for the fact that guacamole is delicious.
So for all of you who stand in the produce aisle confused this is for you! Avocados and everything you need to know!
First of all. Is an avocado a fruit or a vegetable?
Avocados are fruits! (Random fact: They are also called an alligator pear.)
How can you tell when an avocado is ripe?
Hold the avocado in the palm of your hand. Gently squeeze. If it is ripe it will be firm but also yield to gentle pressure.
Make sure you avoid fruit with dark blemishes on the skin or over soft fruit.
How do you ripen avocados?
Avocados don’t take long to ripen. Simply place the avocado in a plain brown bag and store at room temperature. It will be ripe in a few days (2-5).
I don’t have 2-5 days!
Put an apple or banana in the bag with the avocado to speed up the process!
Do NOT use the microwave to speed up the process!
Alright. It’s ripe. How do I cut an avocado?
Cutting an avocado is pretty easy! Cut in half lengthwise around the seed. The turn it a quarter, and cut in half again. Remove the seed, but don’t throw it away! Then, starting at one end peel of the skin.
Why don’t I throw the seed away?
Because you can use it to regrow an avocado plant! Pretty awesome huh? Find out how here.
What do I do with my leftover avocado?
If you have any avocado leftover it is really easy to store. If it is uncut, store them in the refrigerator. If you have already cut it, sprinkle it with lemon, lime or white vinegar. Wrap it in plastic wrap or place it in an air tight container.
And just for any of you trivia people out there…
Did you know that California produces 90% of the nation’s avocados and 40% of all of those are grown in San Diego County.
43% of all US households buy avocados.
So there you go! Next time you are at the store craving some guacamole there is no need to be intimidated! Go ahead and pick up a few!
How To Replant Your Avocado Pit
Did you know that you can replant your avocado pit and out will grow a new plant? Pretty cool, huh? It’s really easy to do!
So the process is really easy. All you will need is a dish (like a custard dish or an old jar) and toothpicks. Oh and a little patience. It will take a few weeks to get started!
So after you have cut your avocado (learn the right way to cut it here) insert 4 toothpicks into the avocado pit. You will want to put the toothpicks into the center.
Fill your dish with water.
Then, balancing the toothpicks on the rim of your cup or jar, put the avocado so the bottom half is submerged into the water.
Place in a sunny spot. You will want to watch it. Every couple days you will need to add more water.
In a few weeks you will begin to see the pit begin to split open. Then, in a few more weeks your stem will shoot up. Then again, a few more weeks will yield leaves.
You will want to transplant into soil when your stem is about 7 to 8 inches tall. Prune the top few leaves. When you plant your avocado (you will need about a 10 inch pot), plant root side down and leave the top half of the pit exposed. Slowly add a little water. Keep your plant in a sunny spot!
Here are a few tips for growing a healthy avocado plant:
* You can plant your avocado plant outdoors, but they like warm sunny weather. If it gets below 45 make sure you can bring it indoors.
* Keep the soil moist, but be sure not to over water it. If the leaves begin to turn yellow that is a sign it is over watered.
* Now, before you go planting and expecting to harvest your own avocados in your backyard. You should know that this will probably NOT produce avocados unless you graft a fruit bearing tree onto your plant. And I am not an expert on that so you will have to do a little research. But this WILL give you a really nice plant and also be a fun project to do with the kids! 🙂
Don’t forget to pin!
Decorating with Succulents
I love having plants growing in our house. If I could, I would be growing a rain forest in here. 🙂 I’ve shared with you our celery plants, lettuce, and green onions. We also have garlic growing as well as a few house plants, some African Violets, and always a bouquet of fresh flowers. Right now my current obsession is succulents!
Succulents are really easy to grow and so many of them have such awesome ‘stories’.
This group of succulents I have planted in a clear hurricane (a short one – I bought it for $3.99 at TJ Maxx). The green and red plant is called Pork and Beans (also known as Jelly Beans).
Don’t they look cool?
I have a lot of milk glass. This giant one just screamed out to be planted in! Now since these aren’t planters make sure to some rocks in before the soil to help with drainage. (Succulents don’t require a lot of water.)
Here is what are planted in that giant Milk Glass. The bottom right succulent one of my favorites. It feels like plastic. And when you look down onto it you will see that it is actually translucent to help with photosynthesis.
These pretty ones I have in a planter in our window sill. They are a gorgeous pink color. You probably have noticed the pebbles on top. They are there to help keep the soil moist longer as well as they look pretty!
Here is another milk glass succulent. I love this one! This plant is actually a main staple for the African Elephant’s diet! How neat is that!
Here are some tips for planting succulents:
1. Use soil made specifically for cactus and succulent plants. Succulents are really easy plants to take care of but they do need the right soil. You can find it at any garden store.
2. Light and direct light are 2 different things! As long as your plant gets sunlight it’s ok if they aren’t in direct sun all day!
3. Don’t over water or over fertilize. Like I said easy going plants! 🙂
4. Get creative with your planters. I had a milk glass collection and so I used it! Just add a few rocks in the bottom to help with drainage and you will be good to go!
Succulents make a great impact at a small price! The small ones cost me just $2.50 and the larger ones were $4.00 each at Walmart. I got bags of rocks at the Dollar Tree. Cheap, pretty and they last!
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How to Store Green Onions (And an update on our Romaine Lettuce!)
Since we are all re-growing our own green onions (right?) I thought I would show you how I store them. This is great if you are growing them like us or if you simply can’t use all the onions that you come in the bunch. It’s very simple. Just cut the onions and place them in an empty and cleaned out water bottle (or in our case Gatorade). Then just put in the freezer. When you need some green onions you just simply shake out the desired amount and put the bottle back in the freezer.
I wanted to show you some updated pictures on our romaine lettuce that we have been regrowing!
Want to compare them?
The left is from when we originally posted (on day 4) and the right is 2 days (2 DAYS!) later on day 6!
Day 4
Day 6!
This has been one of our favorites to grow! I like to garden but re-planting our scraps is my favorite. I like the fact it grows so quickly (instant gratification). The only problem? I’m a little spoiled and when we start planting our seeds I’m going to have to learn to be patient! 🙂
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Re-Planting Your Kitchen Scraps: How to Re-Grow Romaine Lettuce
If you have been keeping up with our Re-Planting Your Kitchen Scrap series here is a new one to add to your list! Romaine lettuce.
It’s very simple to do. Just cut about 3 inches from the base. Stick them in a cup of water and place on a counter or in a window.
These photos were taken 4 days after they were ‘planted’ in the water.
I will transplant these in a container probably in another 4-5 days when there is a little more growth. I’ll be sure to update you with photos!
You can check out how to re-plant green onions here.
You can also check out how to re-plant celery here.
Re-Grow your veggies – How to replant your kitchen scraps: Re-Growing Celery
Celery is one of those veggies that I love because I can throw it in all kinds of stuff and no one even knows it’s there. I especially love to put it in spaghetti and pizza sauces! Did you know that you can replant your celery? It’s not quite the instant gratification like the green onions but it still grows fairly quickly.
Cut the celery stalks leaving the base. Then put the base of the celery in a dish filled with water. The celery drinks a lot of water so you will have to keep adding water fairly frequently. Your celery will start to grow from the center. Keep the celery base in the water until you start to get stalks forming and leaves. The photo above was taken about a week and a half after it was put in the water.
Once your celery has started to grow you will be ready to plant.
So here is our celery plant about 2 weeks old. You will want to keep it well watered! Soon our little plant will be shooting up! Celery plants are neat looking plants as they grow. This makes a really great project to do with the kids! I will make sure to keep you updated as our celery plant grows!
Check out how to re-grow your own green onions here.
Check out how to re-grow romaine lettuce.