Happy Surprise: Jade Plant!

So, when I went to plant the dogwood I posted about yesterday, I discovered a beautiful jade plant growing in the yard! How did that happen?

Well, whenever I had dead houseplants, I dumped the dirt into the potential-flowerbed I mentioned yesterday. After Andy removed the pond liner and some of the ickiness that had been accumulating there, I wanted to fill in the hole left behind. I didn't have any soil on hand, so I just dumped houseplant remains whenever I had them. (Not that I kill lots of houseplants, but I had a group of succulents that I just couldn't keep alive!) 

Fast forward several months, and a jade plant was growing outside!

I threw out a dead plant and it somehow revived itself. Amazing!

I planted it in a green planter and I'm keeping it outside right now since it previously died inside.


I was so giddy when I found it. It was part of a group of succulents I bought around my 30th birthday last year. I passed them out as favors at my party and it's fun to see them alive at friends' houses, but I wasn't able to keep any of my own alive. I'm happy to have this one!

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$2 Dogwood!

On the side of our house, there was a little man-made pond when I bought the house 7 years ago. It didn't have any fish or anything, and I never really did anything with it. When we were thinking about selling our house, Andy cleaned it up and removed the lining and since then, it's just been sitting there looking like a nice little potential flower bed.

I was at Aldi earlier this summer and saw a Dogwood tree on clearance for $2. TWO DOLLARS for a whole tree. A little tree, but still a whole tree! Of course, it looked awful and dead, which is why it was on clearance. I took a risk on it since it was only $2 and brought it home to attempt to nurse it back to health. It lived on our little porch landing for awhile with a few other plants:


I wasn't sure it would live, but I watered it faithfully and all of a sudden, I noticed that the leaves were green and it looked really healthy! I finally got around to planting it in the little former-pond-potential-flowerbed area this weekend and I'm so excited to watch it grow and thrive!


Ignore all the weeds. ha! It looks a little droopy but I'm thinking that might be due to initial shock of being planted and I'm hoping that with sun and water, it will perk right back up.

Buying clearance (or yard or estate sale) plants is a lot like buying vintage -- giving something a second chance and giving it a new life. I love saving money, but I love rescuing things (plants, whales, etc) even more!

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What a difference a year - make that 2 months - makes!

Last year, my mom brought me hens and chicks planted in a planter she made from reclaimed wood. The hens and chicks were from my great-aunt's garden in Michigan. After she passed away in November of 2011, her family dug up the hens and chicks from her yard before selling the house. I am so, so, so thankful they did that! The hens and chicks get to stay in the family which is very special since they originated from my great-grandmother's garden in Louisville.


We used hens and chicks from her yard in our wedding. She was too ill to make it down to Nashville for our wedding, so it was very special to me to have her there in spirit. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to keep ANY of the plants from our wedding alive...so when my mom brought me this new batch, I knew it was a second chance. I decided to let them live outside. I knew they could survive Michigan winters (my cousin Mary Beth even had to wait for snow to thaw in order to dig them up for us to use in the wedding!) so I figured they could make it through mild Nashville winters. And boy, oh boy, have they!!

Just 2 months ago, I took this photo:


(Note all the weeds above--hilariously, shamrocks keep growing in my hens & chicks planter--I have potted shamrocks sitting on the porch... so the bees are doing their job which makes my job of keeping the planter weeded more difficult!)

Fast forward 2 months...NOW...they are HUGE.


Can you believe they've grown so much in just 2 months?? They live outside next to our porch in the original planter that my mom made and I let the rain take care of them for the most part, but I water them when it's especially dry and/or hot.

The are gorgeous and they mean the WORLD to me. They have such a rich history in my family and they are so special to me. Now that they're almost outgrowing the planter, should I re-plant some of them? Should they go in the ground? Or other planters? Any green thumbs out there have some advice? Oh and one note- they're not succulents - I killed the first batch by treating them like succulents, unfortunately!

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Things I Love: Buying Secondhand Plants

I love plants! I have been doing pretty well keeping them alive lately, which means I want to buy more and more and more.

I found a really cheap way to get plants is to buy them secondhand! Lots of times, you can find plants at yard sales and estate sales if you keep your eyes peeled for them! 

Last year, I bought this tree at a yard sale of a guy who was moving away. He had it for 10 years! I kept it inside this whole past year but it didn't seem very happy, so I moved it outside this spring. I re-potted it a few weeks ago and I'm keeping an eye on it and hoping it flourishes!!


A few weeks ago, I was at a Family Tree Estate Sale and discovered a little plant outside on the covered porch. I brought it in and asked if plants were for sale and Melissa said, "Sure!" I bought it for $2 and she pointed out that it had a tag on it that labeled it as "easy care." Then she said, "It must be easy care because no one has lived here for 2 years!" WOW! It's doing really well after I re-potted it--I'm still looking for a nice vintage planter for it.


Plants are normally out in the yard or on porches at sales, so be sure to look around if you are interested in buying them!

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Happy Halloween!

I hope you guys are safe out there. Not sure how many readers I have from the northeast but I'm praying for everyone up there. The damage is so devastating to see - I'm watching the fires in New Jersey right now. So, so sad.

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Happy Halloween! I like Halloween but I LOVE fall. There's nothing better than the sun shining brightly with a brisk chill in the air. Fall is the BEST. I'm actually really sad that today is the last day of October!

I didn't dress up for Halloween this year (will I ever be able to top last year? Probably not!) because I assisted a wedding planner on Saturday, when most of the parties were. Tonight, we're going to hang out with family to be with Ollie on his first Halloween. :)

I wanted to get the most out of October that I could and I think we did a pretty good job. We went to Oktoberfest and to the farmer's market to get a pumpkin and mums, we went to the Smoky Mountains, I went to Glendale, and we had some friends over to carve pumpkins, watch football, and eat chili this weekend.

I carved a little pumpkin along with my friends Emily and her new fiance Spencer! (Congrats! Still so over-the-moon excited for you guys)! Emily and Spencer are both really artistic and their pumpkins reflect that! I was cold and impatient and my pumpkin reflects THAT. :)

First: Emily and Spencer's:


They both totally free-handed those. Impressive, huh???

Our porch is not the best - ignore the fact that it is too small and needs to be re-painted.... but here is my happy little fall scene along with my dinky little jack-o-lantern. :)

I tried to make a scary pumpkin but the eyes looked more flirty than frightening, so I decided to just carve a cute girl pumpkin!

The wooden box on the porch holds my hens & chicks! My mom made the planter for me and planted hens and chicks that came from my great-aunt's house. The plants originated in my great-grandmother's garden in Louisville but when her daughter moved to Michigan, she took some with her and over the decades, they grew and grew. My cousin Marybeth dug some up for us so we could use them in our wedding last year, which meant the world to me.

When my great-aunt passed away last fall, her family made sure to dig up the hens and chicks before selling her house. They passed them out to the rest of the family. I love having them and I'm constantly scared something is going to happen to them. They survived Michigan winters (Marybeth had to wait for the SNOW to melt in March so she could dig them up!) so I'm praying they survive our mild winters.

I love them! They make me so happy and make me feel connected to my dear Michigan family.

Wherever you are, I hope you have a safe and happy Halloween.

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DIY: Simple Decorated Trays

Looking for a really simple project?? Here's one!!

I picked up a few trays at Goodwill awhile ago, not sure what I was going to do with them. They ended up being really handy to hold some of my plants on my stairs! I knew that I wanted to update them, though, so I broke out the craft paint.

The smaller tray had an image that still showed through after several coats of paint (I could have used primer, I suppose!) so I decided to use some new duct tape I recently bought to cover the bottom of the tray. (This tray holds tiny plastic pots with holes in the bottom for drainage, so I think it will be easier to wipe down now that there's duct tape on the bottom!).

And now they hold some of my succulent pots!

Don't pass by an old tray next time you see it at the thrift store - it could be really handy and cute once it's painted!

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Scenes from our Living Room

Here's a little bit of our living room! On the left is the new bookshelf I mentioned awhile ago. I found it in Louisville over Christmas for only $10 (!!!) and bought it from the son of the man who built it. We didn't have room in my car to bring it back with us, so my mom brought it down in February when she went to Blissdom.... but she didn't have the legs... and neither did I. We spent a few months looking at our houses for the legs and could never find them. The shelves sat in our dining room, taking up room, until we could find the legs.

One day, my mom called, saying "Hallelujah!" She found the legs! They were in a random rubbermaid tub in her spare room. I was sooo happy! She mailed them to me, which was so sweet, and I put them on immediately! We had some other shelves in this space that I did NOT love so I moved these in right away and got to styling them. They fit much better with our decor!

Edited to add: On the top left of the shelf is our wedding invitation framed, sitting atop my Design*Sponge book along with a mini globe I got from my craft/home decor swap along with really cute handmade ornaments our friend Emily gave me a few years ago - a gnome and an owl! She knows me so well. On the right side of the top shelf is one of my terrariums plus a brassy owl (I can't remember where the brassy owl is from!) and my favorite estate sale lamp!

Below that, we have my grandfather's Bible, a sweet trinket box imprinted with the word "Believe" that my friend Kelee gave me and on top of that, a yellow gnome bowl I bought in Boston several years ago. It says "Leon a l'accordion." (I wish I knew how to do accent marks!) It has a little image of a gnome playing the accordion. It reminded me of Amelie and was so whimsical, I had to have it as my souvenir from that trip! I keep our souvenir pressed pennies in it now. :) Next to that is a photo of my mom when she was a kid, one of our engagement photos, and a Mary Poppins book with my mammaw's Brownie camera.


Below that, we have a record that Andy painted our wedding date on, a bird illustration I found in a vintage book I once bought, a photo of me & Andy when we went home to Louisville for Thanksgiving for the first time, a Lego heart Andy designed for me for our first Valentine's Day, my mom's senior photo, and some special books including photo albums.

In the right photo is a little tv stand (or plant stand?) that I got at an estate sale when I went on my marathon spree awhile ago. The family running the sale said it was a tv stand but it seems more like a plant stand to me, so that's how I'm using it! I love it. It sits in front of the stairs but we rarely use those stairs - upstairs is the guestroom and my craft/storage space. I love having some green in that corner!

Edited to add: The frame holds a vintage Nashville puzzle I found at one of my favorite thrift stores. I had no idea if it had all the pieces when I bought it, but I was so excited to find out! I brought it home and Andy opened it right away to start putting it together. We spent all evening with the puzzle and were thrilled to discover that it DID have all the pieces! Since Andy grew up here, it was fun to hear him talk about how the city has changed based on the locations illustrated on the map.


The basket on the bottom shelf is a Liberty of London tote from Target. It holds magazines that I'm saving or have yet to read. The plants are a variety - the lime planter used to live on our dining room table but it's been over in this corner getting sunshine for awhile now. The bird clock was a gift from my friend Dawn years ago!

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Crazy Plant Lady

Remember when I said I was in danger of becoming a crazy plant lady?

Here's a little insight into my plant madness right now. :) Here are the stairs I mentioned that were built right in front of a window.

The succulents in the pink and brown planters are all from the esty seller SanPedroCactus. The white and teal planters both have hens and chicks that we used in our wedding (succulents that originated in my great-grandmother's garden many decades ago!). The chalky looking planter is from my friend Emily who gave me a cutting from one of her plants and then finally, one of my terrariums.

I recently discovered a blog called Wit & Whistle and I loved her tips for keeping plants alive. She and I use the same Miracle-Gro fertilizer so I'm glad I'm in good company there! She also says she talks to her plants... I haven't started talking to them very much, but I do try to greet them when I pop around the corner to see them!

Have a great weekend!!

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...And Succulents!

Not only did I order terrarium plants online, but I also ordered succulents! I was looking for an excuse to buy a ton of succulents and I thought my birthday would be a great opportunity. :) I found a great family nursery on etsy called SANPEDROCACTUS. I decided to buy their package of 20 succulents and they arrived in perfect condition!

They arrived in little 2 inch pots and I transferred them to cute containers I found on clearance at Target. (They were in the $1 section but on clearance for 70% off so they were 30 cents each!)

I picked up some pebbles to fill in at the bottom to help with drainage then planted them with cactus soil. I took them to my little birthday get-together and decorated the space with them and then encouraged people to take them home at the end of the night.

I loved the way they looked arranged in a grid!

I did keep some for our house and any that had little growths, I cut them off and planted them in some of the little 2 inch pots. I hope to grow some of them into full plants!

If you're looking for bang for your buck, I would recommend buying them in bulk on etsy or ebay. They are so much cheaper than buying them individually at Home Depot or a nursery.

They make me so happy! I think I'm in danger of becoming a crazy plant lady!!

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Making Terrariums!

Still following up on my thirty before 30 list, I vowed to "get and keep alive more plants." I had been wanting to make a terrarium for awhile, so I picked up a cute glass container thanks to the Hobby Lobby card I won from my good friend Danavee. I began scheming what to put in the terrarium, but realized that although bloggers put succulents in closed terrariums, they will not stay alive in that environment.

(Can we talk real quick about how fake blog photoshoots can be? Sure, succulents look really cute in closed terrariums but everything I read said they will die with that kind of moisture.)

I visited our local nursery and asked what plants would work in a closed terrarium and they only suggested moss and ferns. I wasn't loving that idea, so I kept researching. I discovered that "baby tears" (pilea) worked well. I found TerrariumHouse on Etsy, a shop that had both really cute moss AND baby tears in her shop. I ordered one of each!

They arrived the following week in really great shape. I hoped to fit them both in my small glass jar but I definitely underestimated their size! Only the baby tears would fit in my glass jar so I went hunting for another container. In January, I tried making my own laundry detergent and bought a big "fancy" jar (from Wal-mart) to hold it. When I ran out, I decided I didn't really want to continue making my own (plus, we got Lucy and I didn't really feel like the homemade stuff was getting dog-ness out of our laundry) so I then put her treats in the jar. That wasn't actually efficient, so the jar went upstairs to my "craft" room to await its next purpose.... It is now a terrarium!

Because I was slightly obsessed with making terrariums, I had been collecting both terrarium accessories (deer, toadstool, etc) and terrarium tutorials on Pinterest.

I layered pebbles/gravel, then activated charcoal, then potting soil. I spritzed them with water then put the lid on. They developed condensation on the glass, so I removed the lids for a little while and then put them back on. I think they are so fun!

The bigger one (with the cupcake moss and the deer) lives on our stairs. I think sometime in the 90s whoever owned this house finished the attic and built a staircase in front of the living room window. Strange, right? The stairs partially block the window... but the stairs also make a great plant stand and the window gets great light. The smaller terrarium lives on my "new" shelf that I will post about soon! Gotta get all my 30 updates in!

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