Sunday, January 16, 2011

Making a Terrarium

It's always hard for me to take down the holiday decorations and see all the empty spaces around the house.  Add to that, gloomy gray days, and I crave something pretty to look at.  I found the perfect remedy for the winter blahs in this cool, whimsical shop called Artemisia, where you can make your own terrariums.   Artemisia happens to be in Portland, OR, but my daughter found a similar shop in SF, and I think they are all over.
I was captivated by the cute hanging teardrop planters, but they had several sizes and shapes that would work for tabletops.  A friend also goes to Goodwill and recycles old candy glass containers for her terrariums.


If you need a place to de-stress, this shop is so calming.  You feel like you stepped back into another time and place.
They also had these cute moss covered root ball plants that just sit out on a plate or rock.

Also a beautiful dove cooed in the background while I shopped.
Filling your terrarium is the fun part!  You can add colorful sand, rocks, crystals, moss, shells, birds, and Air Plants! Air plants are great, since they come in several sizes and shapes, and only need to be watered once a week. To water, you remove your plants from the terrarium and soak the roots in water for an hour once a week, and then replace-that's it! You can also add miniature Succulents and care for them the same way.   Below, are the ingredients I used for my Terrarium- two Air Plants, a shell, and moss.
This is my finished Terrarium, isn't it cute?
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Monday, January 03, 2011

Happy New Year 2011

It was so cold on the Oregon Coast on New Year's Eve, but we took to the streets anyway, to celebrate the New Year, tearing ourselves away from a cut-throat game of Hearts, and the promise of berry pie!  Our friends Mark and Barb (above), brought the fun glasses and sparklers and we headed to the local Market, The Little Apple, to join about 60 other revellers and walk parade-style down to the ocean.  Did I mention that it was bitter cold, with a piercing east wind making us wish we had added more layers?   
Everyone was in a festive mood- some in fun hats, others wrapped in blankets, others, bundled in layers and waving champagne bottles.  For many years, we had come to the coast to celebrate and found nothing going on except the TV with poor, old Dick Clark doing the countdown in Times Square.  Skipping down Laneda Dr. was a welcome change.
Barb and DH were the center of attention with the sparklers.
Happy 2011!