Label Spring

Recently, I decided to take a stab at gardening. I had tried last year and failed miserably. I attribute it partly to my cat and the other part to the mosquitoes that prevented me from doing doing anything outside. Last years attempt was somewhat lacking, I never really put a lot of effort into it. However, since then our backyard had been redone and I had the perfect place for a garden. The whole yard looks so nice and I didn't want little plastic markers in my garden ruining it. I searched the Internet for ideas for garden markers. I found a great site here with lots of ideas. I really liked the spoons, but don't have any antique spoons.

So, Hubby helped me work out a new idea. At work he cut me little brass tags. We got a little metal stamping set for about $15 at Princess Auto. You just hold it in place and hammer it. I practiced a bit first, but it was really simple.

We bought a big long wooden baseboard for about $12, and I (yes all by myself, with a saw and everything) cut it like this...

I cut along all of the red lines. This way I had a point to stick into the ground and there was very little waste. I tried to get them all the same length. I was relatively successful, however, you wouldn't notice when you push them into the ground anyways.

I sanded the rough edges off, and stained them. I think they would look great painted, or left natural looking as well. Hubby sprayed all the stakes and copper tags with a protective spray, to keep them nicer outside. They definately aren't perfectly coated, but this will allow them to slowly weather. I want them eventually to look a bit antiquey (If thats a word...). He then took some cooper wire and wrapped it around a few times, and hung the tag on it. You can find the wire at any home improvement store.


They look so cute in the garden.

They were easy to do, but a bit time consuming.

On a side note - my garden is doing great. I already harvested my first bit of Rhubarb

I'll keep everyone updated on the progress of my garden!

Happy Gardening Everyone!

Hydrating and Feeding the Guests

This year I did a spring/garden theme. It was Mother's Day and a 2 year old birthday, so I needed it to fit both occassions. Spring could be a girly theme, so I made attempts to make it better for a little boy. One thing I have wanted to try out for a long time is old fashioned lemonade. I looked everywhere for a recipe I liked landed on this one - here. It's sparkling raspberry lemonade. It was festive and fresh, for the hot day we had.

I also spent the week making ice cubes (I only have one ice cube tray). I froze raspberries and lemon in ice. I used fresh lemons and frozen raspberries. My first batch of raspberry ice cubes, I just dropped raspberries in the water and froze it together. The water turned really red from the juice, as they defrosted slightly. The berries became hidden in the cube and didn't have the impact I wanted. I tried half freezing the cubes but, that also did not look perfect. For the last attempt I filled the trays half way with water, took them out, placed the berries on top and poured ice water over it to freeze it the rest of the way. The lemons I just tossed in the water and froze it all together. In the end they both turned out great!

I also wanted some snack foods, but we were having an early dinner and didn't need anything big. I decided on a veggie tray. I just cut up veggies like usual and added dip in the center. It didn't match the theme, so I added gummy worms around and veggies. It made it more fun and was perfect for a 2 year old boy's birthday party.

Everyone left full and hydrated at the end of the day!