Mason Jar Plants

Happy summer everyone!  I hope you are as happy as I am that the end finally came!  I can breathe.  I can relax.  All the dishes in the kitchen are washed for the first time in weeks.  My children like each other again.  Granted we are only three days in, but I am a much happier person than I was last week.  More on our end of the school year later.  For now, I want to show you what I made as end of the year thank you gifts for our preschool parent board.

Last year, my friend Amber was president of the parent board, and, feeling generous, she gave every member of the parent board a pair of flip flops.  Super cute.  Summery.  Useful.  But at $5 apiece (at best) times 25 members of the board, that's a little more money than I wanted to spend.  Plus, I couldn't do flip flops again.  I searched all around and couldn't come up with anything cute for more like $2 per gift.  So I decided I'd make something myself.  Of course I went with my old standby: the mason jar!  This is one of the easiest projects I've ever done, and I think they turned out pretty cute.

Hello, old friend!  I went with a cute, half pint size.  I didn't want something too big to take up too much space.  This little guy is perfect for a kitchen window.

I filled the bottom with a mixture of those decorative shiny glass rock thingys that we purchased and some shiny real rocks that Annalise had in her "treasure box" from preschool.  She just finished fourth grade.  She wasn't too heartbroken to part with some of her treasures.  The rocks at the bottom give you a little bit of a drainage so that the roots don't get too soggy.  (These are technical terms here.  Can you tell I'm a real gardener?)

I didn't want to put too many in; just enough to cover the bottom.  OK, get ready.  Things are about to get really complicated.  Jason bought me six packs of impatiens.  I removed each flower, broke apart the roots a bit and shoved it into the jar.

You see what I mean.  It's a good thing I'm such an experienced gardener and I never, ever kill plants.  Ever.  This took some serious skill.

I gently punched down the soil a bit, just so it all fit in nicely, but really I couldn't have planned that any better.  (And believe me, I really hadn't planned for that to be that easy.)  I didn't even have to use any additional potting soil.

I put my old file folders to use again.  This time I traced a small glass to make circles.  (This part made me yearn a bit for one of those circle punches, I have to admit.)  But I LOVE reusing something I already have, especially something that has literally been sitting in a cabinet for eleven years.

They're not perfect, just like me!

Then I just personalized each one.  And got out my twine, my other old standby.

Here's the finished product!  Cute, isn't it?  And not bad for less than $2 apiece.

And here they are, ready to go to the parent board meeting.  They held up better than I did, and I can attest that, two weeks later, they are still going strong!  Woo hoo!  One of our board members is still on a trip to Spain (lucky duck), so I'm managing to keep hers alive until she returns.  And if I can keep one alive, then surely the others are still kickin'.  At the meeting I was a blubbering mess, as you can imagine.  It's not even my last year there.  I don't even want to think about next year.  Puddles.  It won't be pretty.  I'll have to come up with something really clever to give my girls next year.  They are an awesome board, who deserve a little something pretty.

Free Time

Things have been busy at the Evans house. Between sick kids (and adults), no more nap time for a young boy and our crazy schedule, I haven't had time to write in my blog for over a month! Things are busy, but good. Soccer season has wrapped up for both Annalise and Zachary. They both had a great time and really improved a lot. School and activities have been in full force. But this week we have the joy of having a whole week off of school. Instead of throwing the kids in the car or on a plane, as we often do, we have opted to stay at home for a blissful week of nothingness! Aside from a birthday party this afternoon and a visit from good friends tomorrow, we have nothing on the calendar! We are going to try to take this time to just BE. With all our crazy schedules, we often forget that the most important thing for children is this self-directed play. Right now the kids are outside playing with a friend. I can hear them, but I am ignoring them -- letting them resolve any problems, letting them make up the rules to their games, letting them make a mess. I feel like we haven't had this kind of time since summer. What a blessing it is to have this time.

We have another goal for this week, and that is to start planning our Christmas. Last year, we decided to have a very minimal Christmas. The adults did not exchange gifts with one another, opting instead to give to our favorite charities. The kids made all their gifts, which were a HUGE hit. And, though the kids did get some toys, books and clothes, we also gave the gift of experiences. My parents have really loved this idea. My mom came up with this idea two years ago when she gave Annalise a trip to San Francisco! (How cool is that!? -- a trip with just Grandma to stay at Uncle David's house.) Last year, Annalise loved taking a hike with her Papa and Zachary loved going with him to see the Rose Parade float being built. They also each got to do something special with Grandma and got time with Jason and me as well. It was such a wonderful Christmas... The first one where we spent more on giving to charity than we did on our family and friends, and the first one where we all really embraced the idea of the gift of time. We are hoping to do much of the same this year. I just read an idea in Mothering magazine about making an advent calendar. Instead of a picture or toy or candy, in this advent calendar, each day holds a slip of paper with an activity on it. They can be something simple, like take a walk to look at Christmas lights or play a board game. Some will take some special planning, like go ice skating or get a Christmas tree. I loved this idea. I am hoping to make one of these advent calendars this year.

Annalise and I have also already been scheming about what to give the grandparents. (It will be hard to beat the hand-painted linen napkins she made last year.) We already have a plan and have started to accumulate the materials we need to make her presents. Today we went for a walk on the horse trail to gather pinecones. We had such a great time finding the perfect ones for our project. Zachary loved finding huge ones as well. We decided we'll have to make birdfeeders with those. As we were walking, I just couldn't help but feeling that this was what Christmas was really about. We were having a wonderful time with the process of the present (not stressed out in a mall or typing our credit card information into a computer). Her gifts will be thoughtful, beautiful and heatfelt. I know she will have so much pride in giving and her grandparents will have so much pride in receiving. Last year, as she and I snuggled after a busy Christmas day, I asked her if she had a good Christmas. She said yes, she did, but her favorite part of the day was watching people open the presents she had made for them. As a six year old, she understood the joy in giving. It doesn't get any better than that.