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Scraptastic Saturdays – a LO at Long Last
It has honestly been ages since I last found time to scrapbook. Seriously, almost two whole months have passed since I created a LO (layout). So, on my birthday I set aside a little time for me, and got back on that. LOL And I’ll admit, it felt really good. Hogging a little time just for me? Yep. Totally worth it.
Here’s what I created:
The kit is called “It’s a Girl Thang” by Totally Twisted Scraps. And the LO is based on a template from a collection called “Rocking the Layouts” by Wyld Web Design.
On our way out the door…
On our way out of my parents place, Lily-Ann showing Jewles where we were parked. I know photos like this may be boring to many… but seeing her from the back always blows my mind a little. Gone are the baby, and even toddler proportions. And when you aren’t distracted by her face, you just see it all the more clearly. She’s very much a little girl now. I don’t know when it happened, but it did.
Damon will sometimes put a diaper on the wee girlie before putting her pajamas on. As soon as he leaves the room she’ll strip down, take off the diaper, then put the pjs back on without it. She’ll then look at me and explain how her Daddy still thinks she’s a baby. Lily will then hand me the diaper and say “I don’t need this”. But, the next time her dad gets her ready for bed, she’ll let him put the diaper on again… and wait until he leaves the room to take it off.
Seriously… could I have a more sweet, more wonderful little girl? Sure. She has her moods too. She’s awfully headstrong and determined (remind you of anyone?)… but she cares a whole lot about those around her. Makes me feel awfully awfully lucky. 🙂
gone are the toddler proportions
10 Steps to a Toilet Paper Tube Starter Garden
Today we’re going to do things a little different. Instead of just sharing a photo with you, I’ve got ten. And the wee girlie and I, will share our steps to making your own starter garden. No need to have a greenhouse, when you have reusable items laying around the house.
Step One:
Gather all your materials! Lily-Ann says you’ll need “toilet paper rolls, toilet paper rolls, toilet paper rolls, toilet paper rolls. And things to put in the toilet paper rolls: DIRT!” But you’ll also need clear containers, scissors, and seeds.
Gather Your Materials
Step Two:
“Cut the tubes!” Roughly in half is perfect.
Cut the Tubes
Step Three:
Show off your tubes! Okay. LOL You caught us. It’s not really a step… but the wee girlie wanted to show off the tubes she helped cut. LOL
Show Off Your Halved Tubes
Step Four:
Lily-Ann, we can’t keep calling these steps if you’re just wanting to share pictures of what you’ve done. Folks are going to stop reading. We need to tell them what to do so they can plant seeds inside too. “Okay momma. Uno mas?” Okay, Kid Kid, one more.
Lily's Pile of Halved Toilet Tubes
Step Five:
“Snip, snip, snip the tubes.”
That’s right, cut (or snip) several slits into the side of each tube half. Cut about half way up the side, and put between four and six slits in each one.
Snip Each Halved Tube Several Times
Step Six:
“Now like this…” Lily-Ann demonstrates in the air how to fold the tubes. “See?”
A Half Tube With the Cut End Folded In
Step Seven:
“I don’t remember… You tell me Mother?” hehehe… Next you put the soil – “DIRT!” – yes, dirt, into each tube. Do this AS you are folding tubes. You need the moisture and weight of the dirt to hold the folded bottoms together. They will just keep popping open otherwise. Trust me, we tried folding a bunch first. LOL It didn’t work.
The Wee Girlie Scoops Dirt Into a Folded Tube
Step Eight:
We’re almost done. “Now Seeds!!!” That’s right. Open a package of seeds, and pick out a seed.
Lily-Ann's Chosen Seeds - Sweet Peas!
Step Nine:
“Put it right in the middle with dirt all around.” Got that? Pop a seed into the middle of each toilet paper tube starter. Just leave it sitting out on the top. As you’ll see from our picture, it doesn’t have to be RIGHT in the middle. A toddlers estimation of “middle” is perfect. 🙂 And honestly? I’m sure if one or two get stuck right on the edge of the roll they’d sprout just fine.
A Seed in Each Starter Tube
Step Ten:
Cover the seeds (if required) with a thin layer of soil, then close the containers and “Go play upstairs!”
Okay, so the process is a little long to hold the rapt attention of a two and a half year old for it’s entirety. But I thought she did pretty good. She helped every step of the way – including uploading my photos AND writing this post. Her exclamation of Go Play was the end though, with it, she lept off the chair and ran off to entertain herself elsewhere.
All Done!
Hope this gives you the courage to try a little repurposing of your own. 🙂 It’s super easy to take household garbage and give it a new life. Even in a project as easy as this one. Toilet paper rolls would have made it into our compost (where the plants would have gotten them eventually anyway) and the flimsy bakery plastic that one occasionally brings home on a whim would have ended up in a landfill. So hold onto them next time and you’ll have a mini-greenhouse for your toilet paper tube starters. Your own little counter top garden.
playing in the yard
Here’s the wee girlie… playing in the yard after our bike ride. 🙂
playing in the yard
Hoppy Easter! (and a lesson)
Here’s our photo of the day… The wee girlie looking awfully cute, leaning on one of our trees, all dressed up and ready to go.
Hoppy Easter!
Now… here’s our lesson.
What NOT to do when your mother has a photo-a-day-blog and attempts to take a picture of you:
heh heh… 😀
Hiding
Sooo… to avoid boredom breakdowns in the car, we often use our imaginations to play little games. Lately, the wee girlie has been having us be a bird family. With her the baby bird, Damon as daddy bird, and me… yep… as mommy bird. So that part isn’t so imaginative. 😉 The cutest part is that she wraps herself up in a blanket and calls it her nest. Today though, the baby bird didn’t just sit in it’s nest – it decided to become a part of the nest. So here’s our little baby bird, or, here isn’t our little baby bird. 😀
"you can't see me!"
First Bounce!
The first bounce of the season!
Wee girlie was BORN to jump on a trampoline. She absolutely lives for it. She didn’t get out in the yard for long, but she did get in the first few bounces of the season… and she was thrilled about it!
Seriously, she’s been using my parents trampoline since before she could walk. She’d be out there crawling around on it, and before that, just sitting on it while we bounced her. She loves it! One day we may have to figure out a way to get her one of her own. 🙂
So while this photo wasn’t the best of todays… it certainly made me smile the biggest. 😀
Woot!
Hotel Waterslide
A friend of my dad’s was staying at a local hotel this weekend, so we headed out for a visit. While there, we took advantage of the hotel’s amenities. Here’s a picture of my two sweethearts – my daughter and her daddy (my husband) – waiting in line for the waterslide.
Three stories up - Daddy & Daughter
Monkey Music
One of Lily-Ann’s favorite toys at her Pop Pop and Grams place. An old wind up monkey who plays the drum, has a cymbal on his head, and wheels around the room like a maniac. It’s seen better days, but she loves it. 🙂
Monkey Music
TD 365 