Magnolia Wreath
Magnolia Wreath
From Holiday Inspirations
For a Southern feel, mix citrus fruits and magnolia leaves.
# Medium-weight floral wire
# 24-inch-diameter grapevine wreath (or smaller, if desired)
# Hot-glue gun and glue sticks
# Clusters of fresh magnolia leaves
# Fresh fruits such as kumquats, clementines (a seedless tangerine-like fruit), pomegranates, apples
# Mixed in-shell nuts
Technorati Tags: magnolia wreath
Mums, the flower we love in its wonderful palette of autumn colors. Chrysanthemums, often called mums transfer well from the pot to your garden. Here are a few tips to make the transition successful.
First of all, for successful naturalizing of mums, buy the ones labeled ‘hardy mums’ rather than the florist mums, which can’t tolerate harsh winters. To distinguish a hardy type mum from the florist mums, hardy type mums form a rosette of leaves at the crown when they stop blooming. If this rosette doesn’t appear, don’t bother setting the plant into the garden.
In extremely cold climates, dig mums up and replant in containers. Winter potted mums in an unheated garage with a grow light, keeping the soil barely moist. Return to the outdoors after the last spring frost.
One last thing to remember is that mums don’t like wet feet. They are best planted in containers or in raised beds where drainage is good. Plant mums in clusters of three to five of the same cultivars for the most color impact.
©Deborah Tukua’s, mum tips were excerpted from her book, Pearls of Garden Wisdom: Time-Saving Tips and Techniques from a Country Home.
Technorati Tags: mums, Chrysanthemums
October is the month to plant spring flowering bulbs anywhere in the continental U.S. and Canada. Bulbs for spring blooming can be planted any time from September through December before the soil freezes. However, the earlier the planting the better to ensure a strong root system before the harshness of winter.
Bulbs should be planted with the tip up. Plant bulbs at the right depth. An easy rule to remember is to plant bulbs as deep down as its foliage grows up! Another helpful and time saving tip is to stack a variety of bulb types when planting in the same hole for variety and to heighten color come spring. For example, plant daffodil bulbs at a depth of 6 inches. Cover with a little soil and in the same hole plant tulips at 4 to 6 inches. Add additional soil and plant smaller bulbs such as crocus or grape hyacinth.
Banking an array of bulbs and rhizomes in the ground now, such as, anemone, iris, tulip, daffodil, narcissus, and fritillaria will yield a beautiful, colorful landscape next spring!
Deborah Tukua, author of Pearls of Garden Wisdom.
Technorati Tags: spring bulbs, bulbs,
If your herb boxes, barrels or gardens are like mine now, there is an abundance of herbs. Since the growing season is winding down, its time to harvest any herbs that you want to use during winter.
Drying is the traditional method of preserving herbs. The ideal time to gather herbs for drying is before the plants begin to flower when the leaves are still green and tender. The younger, tender leaves at the tips of the plants contain the most flavor.
To harvest culinary and medicinal herb leaves, snip springs or the top six inches of each stem. Harvesting herbs for drying should always be done after the morning dew has evaporated.
Paper sack Drying Method~
An easy way to dry herb leaves is to place freshly picked leaves into a paper sack. Don’t pack the leaves too tightly, filling not beyond half full. Write the name of the herb on the front of the bag and the date. Fold the top of the bag down slightly and shake. Store in a dark, dry place and shake the bag at least once a day. In approximately a week, the herbs should be fully dried.
Dried Herb Storage~
To store the dried herbs, firmly pack in a glass jar, label contents and keep out of direct sunlight.
Using this method of drying and storing will help keep scoops of your favorite herbal teas and culinary spices on hand.
©Deborah Tukua, author of Pearls of Garden Wisdom.
www.hollycreekbooks.com
Technorati Tags: harvesting herbs, herbs, dried herbs
There are so many things to like, enjoy and appreciate this time of year. Autumn happens to be my favorite season for many reasons, but here are a few. Then, I’d like to read what you look forward to this fall too.
~ I love the crisp, cooler air in the mornings and at night.
~ I love to sit on the front porch and look across the valley to the vibrant changing leaves of the trees on the hillside.
~Autumn is when I like to decorate inside and out with adorable scarecrows. We even have a trio of scarecrows in the main bathroom.
~ I love baskets brimming with bright, radiant mums.
Deborah Tukua, country author, www.hollycreekbooks.com
Help me keep this list going, by posting what you love about autumn.
Technorati Tags: autumn, scarecrows
Get Organized Now. Tips and ideas to help you get organized.
Getting Organized on a Budget
by Maria Gracia
Getting organized does not have to be an expensive task. You may think that you have to go out and purchase all sorts of organizing baskets, bins, holders and cabinets. In other words, you may think you have to spend lots of money to lead an organized life.
But, the truth is, organizing is a PROCESS, not a PRODUCT. It takes skill, application and motivation. And yes, tools certainly help–but there are many frugal ways of getting and staying organized, without breaking the bank.
1. DE-CLUTTER. Chances are, you have available storage space in your closets and cabinets. But, perhaps they’re currently filled with clutter.
Empty them out this weekend, and dump or donate things you don’t need and no longer want.
It’s the least expensive way to gain lots of storage space.
In fact, you may even consider holding a yard sale or selling your stuff online, and actually making some money!
2. MANAGE YOUR MAGAZINES. First of all, it is very important that you assess your current magazine situation. Most magazines older than a month, can generally be recycled.
If you want to keep a recipe or article that appeared in a certain issue, tear out the page and keep only the article; not the entire magazine.
Next step is to pick up a magazine holder. If you’re on a budget, most office supply stores carry very inexpensive cardboard ones, or make your own out of cereal boxes!
Once the box is full, don’t allow yourself to put another magazine into it until you toss one out.
3. USE CREATIVE STORAGE IDEAS. Need to organize smaller items, such as earrings, or extra buttons, or push pins? Ice cube trays or muffin tins are perfect for keeping everything sorted.
Place some in your drawers, and these smaller items will always be handy.
The cost? Cheap! And readily available at most supermarkets and home stores.
4. ORGANIZE WITH INEXPENSIVE BOXES. While I generally suggest sturdy, plastic, see-through containers for storage, for the budget conscious, that may not be an option.
If this is your situation, you can certainly use good old cardboard boxes. Just make sure you clearly label the contents in each.
5. USE SMALL SHALLOW BOXES AS DIVIDERS. If you have a long, shallow desk drawer, chances are it’s filled with an assortment of paper clips, pens, tacks, loose change, etc.
My first suggestion is to pick up a desk organizing tray. But, if you’d rather save some money, there is a very frugal solution.
Gather small shallow boxes–the type that jewelry or bank checks often come in. Most people have these floating around the house.
Empty out the desk drawer and line up these boxes inside, arranging them so that there are no open spaces. Voila! You now have the perfect sorting system for all of those loose desk items.
By the way, before you put anything back into that drawer, toss out anything you no longer need, or can no longer identify!
6. HOOK IT. Often, wall space is forgotten about. But you can free up so much space in your cabinets, on your dresser, in your garage, and so on, if you always think about how you can use your walls.
The solution is to use hooks–very inexpensive and available at all hardware stores.
Hang your pots, pans and teacups. Hang photo frames. Hang bikes. You get the picture.
7. BABY FOOD JARS CAN COME IN HANDY. Clean out those jars, remove the labels, and you have the perfect storage containers for nails, screws, nuts, bolts, buttons, loose change, paper clips, elastic bands, and so much more!
And the best thing is, they’re see through, which means you can easily identify everything inside at a glance!
8. USE EMPTY FILM CANISTERS TO ORGANIZE. Empty film canisters are perfect for storing pins, buttons, tacks and other small items.
Sort your things into these small organizing wonders, press on the top and stick a blank label around the outside.
Then, label each canister to identify the contents. Finally, store these canisters in a box to keep them all together.
by Maria Gracia - Get Organized Now!
Want to get organized? Get your FREE Get Organized Now! Idea-Pak, filled with tips and ideas to help you organize your home, your office and your life, at the Get Organized Now! Web site
http://www.getorganizednow.com
Technorati Tags: get organized, budget
Get Organized Now. Tips and ideas to help you get organized.
10 Minute Organizing Tricks
by Maria Gracia
Whoever thought you’d be able to get organized in just 10 minutes?! Here are a few simple ideas.
1. 10 MINUTE CHORE BOX: Rather than spending hours organizing, and doing it all yourself, create a 10 minute Chore Box for yourself–and one for each family member, if applicable.
Each person’s box would contain specific chores or tasks that need to be completed. The chores are written on slips of paper, and take a maximum of 10 minutes each to accomplish.
You can gear the tasks towards the person’s abilities (e.g. while older kids can help out with vacuuming, a 3 year old may instead be responsible for putting away his/her toys.)
Each day, as a chore is completed, that slip of paper is placed in a holding envelope until the Chore Box is empty. Then, when empty, the boxes are refilled, and the system starts over again. This also works well at the office!
2. 10 MINUTE PICK-UP: Control the chaos. Schedule a consistent, ‘10 minute Pick-up’ each night. Set a timer to sound an alarm in 10 minutes.
While the clock is ticking, all family members are responsible for clearing out and putting away their belongings from the main family area.
When the timer sounds, you’re all done. Give yourselves a warm round of applause for all you’ve accomplished.
3. 10 MINUTE ‘WHEN I HAVE TIME’ GOALS: One of the oldest phrases in the book is, ‘I’ll do that, when I have the time.’ Problem is, that time never seems to come.
If you REALLY want to do something, the time can generally be found pretty easily. For example, if you just won an all-expenses paid trip to the land of your dreams, you’d probably find time to fit it into your busy schedule without much of a problem.
So, it’s time to begin fitting in those things you want to do, and 10 Minute Goals can help. Schedule 10 minutes a day to catch up on your reading, or to begin learning that foreign language, or to simply spend having fun with your children. Then, work on those goals when the schedule date and time rolls around.
4. 10 MINUTE LUXURIES: Don’t forget to schedule a few 10 Minutes Luxuries per day to do something nice for yourself.
Sometimes the day is so rushed and chaotic, that it’s easy to forget the really important things like family, health, spirituality, personal time and so on.
Take that 10 minute vacation every day. You deserve it!
by Maria Gracia - Get Organized Now!
Want to get organized? Get your FREE Get Organized Now! Idea-Pak, filled with tips and ideas to help you organize your home, your office and your life, at the Get Organized Now! Web site
http://www.getorganizednow.com
Technorati Tags: organized
