Didn’t Caroline’s post just make you itch to get out in the garden or onto your balcony and plant something?  We put in our veg patch last week and every day (ok, about 5 times a day) I’m out there staring at the soil waiting for things to sprout!

I don’t know about you, but I can’t always use up all the seeds that come in a packet.  After all, who needs 200 heads of lettuce?  Some I’ll be keeping to sow later in the season, some I’d like to pass along to gardening friends.  Since I have a project up my sleeve that will use the seed packets to document the garden season I needed a way to save the extra seeds and it needed to be pretty!  So I came up with some seed envelopes.  Hope you like them!  Click here to download the pdf.

Chelsea Rogers has been cooking and crafting… and not cleaning up for as long as she can remember.  When she’s not making a mess, you can find her on Pretty Lulu and An Abundance of Apricots.

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Hello! I hope this finds you well and getting geared up for some gardening time this weekend.  Things here in the Ladybug world are in a bit of a kerfuffle (scientific term) – we had a neighbor dump debris on top of one of our new veggie garden beds and contaminate the soil with sawdust.  It was not malicious – he thought he was doing us a favor – and we had to explain that the chemicals from pressure treated wood are not something we want to amend the soil with. But to make lemonade out of lemons I’ve decided to give strawbale gardening a try…

Images from Erica Mulherin

I spent a good chunk of today sourcing some straw, and I’ll get going on building and conditioning the garden once the rain stops.  I’m looking forward to seeing how these work for me – I have some really poor soil in areas of my garden, but I want lots of fresh veggies!  I’ll keep you guys posted as to my progress!

Now it is time for me to let you know one of my deep dark secrets….I am the world’s worst seed starter.  Yes, yes, I know how much money I could save by starting seeds, and I can imagine how fulfilling the process must be, but not for me.  I prefer to direct sow seeds into the ground – morning glory, parsley, cosmos, sunflowers, nasturtiums…all of these I grow from seed.  And I put on a grand facade of being happy to buy my seedlings from local organic growers, and I am, of course, but for once I would like to successfully start my tomatoes from seed. This year, however, was not the year.  Spring hit us early and my business needed me more than my seeds did.  So I started late and have, so far, had zero germination.  I have friends with wonderful luck with seeds, and I follow their advice, but I think I need to simply come to terms with the fact that I have a seed black thumb!!

However, what would an organic gardening blog be without seed starting advice, even late in the season.  And what would I be without lots of resources to share with you!  First of all I suggest you ask around in your circle of friends.  See if you can group together to buy and start seeds – sometimes you end up with way more seedlings than one garden can deal with and it is nice to share the bounty.

Below is the basic idea of seed starting:

Seed starting images from Fine Gardening, cow pots from CowPots

Here are some great places to visit for more in depth information on seed starting:

Fine Gardening Magazine – they have several articles and videos about seed starting

Vegetable Gardener -  a new find for me…I’m having fun checking out their tips and ideas

A Way to Garden – Margaret Roach is one of my favorite people and a wonderfully generous gardener.

Organic Gardening – Great resource, with a nice slide show showing the thinning out of seeds

Cornell University – Cornell is a constant resource in my gardening life…from apple tree advice to seed varieties and descriptions…do visit them & see for yourself

Do you have any seed starting tips or hints to share?  Did you overcome your fears of seed starting and now it is old news?  Share with me your secrets, dear readers! It is not too late for me to start some mid season veggies and I promise I will take any advice you can give!!

And now, for the requisite bit of Brit in our weekly chat.  This is becoming a habit I will have to break, before it truly becomes “a thing” I’ll  have to keep up with every week…if only Black Adder gardened…then I would never run out of Brit content to post….

Last week I promised you a project…and so in the spirit of seed starting, I would like to introduce you to Guerrilla Gardening and seed bombs.  I’m an active guerrilla gardener – and while I don’t make seed bombs often anymore, I have recently been re-inspired and have ordered the ingredients to make a whole bunch of them this weekend.

I use native seeds, and this year I will be focusing on native milkweeds to feed the monarch butterflies.

The primary thing to remember when making seed bombs is the ratio of five parts clay to one part seed and one part compost. Mix these together in a large bowl, slowly and carefully add water to combine them, then start to shape the mixture into balls. After about a day of drying they are ready to be thrown into abandoned lots or larger areas of land that has gone to the “weeds”!

Photos Gina Ferazzi/LA Times

I hope this will inspire you to think about areas in your neighborhood you can seed bomb.  It really is a fun way to interact with your environment, and as long as the plants you are bombing are natives, you won’t be doing any harm!

Have you ever guerrilla gardened?  Is there an area in your community that could use some attention?  Let’s meet in the comments and see if we can’t beautify the world, one seed bomb at a time!

Next week I have a fun project to share with you all!  Until then, happy gardening!!!

Caroline Finnegan owns Ladybug Landscaping, a full service organic landscaping company. based in CT. She is a NOFA accredited landcare professional and when not designing gardens can be found rearranging her furniture or out at a flea market finding new goodies. She almost always has dirt under her nails.

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along with my plant frenzies, i had a little time to get crafty as well!  i ran across this article on how to paint your own chalkboard as i was organizing some of my magazines.  i had torn it out and stuck it another magazine over 3 years ago!!  i remembered how much i loved the project, and picked up the necessities on my lowes expedition.

what you need:

- flat latex paint in your desired color

- unsanded tile grout (2 tbls for each 1 cup of paint)

- a roller or brush

- 150 grit sandpaper

- painter’s tape

- chalk

how to:

- for small areas, mix one cup at a time.  stir 2 tbsp of unsanded tile grout into one cup of paint, making sure any clumps dissolve.

- apply the mixture to either a roller or brush and and begin painting your surface.  make sure to coat evenly and thoroughly (mine took about 3 coats).  then, let it dry.

- once dry, sand the surface with your 150 grit sand paper to smooth it.

- to condition, run your chalk complety over the entire surface, and wipe clean.

- enjoy your new chalkboard!

here’s my lonesome door before…

and here it is after!

oh the endless possibilities :: cabinet doors, pantry doors, wall spaces, children’s wall, office desks and more!

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hi dearies!  friday already, huh?  did you have a good week?  i sure enjoyed being back and think that i’m finally getting back in the swing of things!  i’m off to charlotte for a wedding tomorrow then meeting up with the hub for a night together in charleston. i haven’t been in years, so i’m really excited!  and, i have a confession to make.  i finally broke and though i had tried to not get involved, it happened.  last week i started reading twilight.  yup, that’s right, and now i can’t sleep because i can’t get my head out of these books!  i’m on page 176 of eclipse already, and my obsession is in full gear.  yes, i feel like i’m back in highschool, but boy am i loving it! ;)

onto what’s we’re really going to talk about today, a before and after project!

believe it or not, in our last house i used this table as-is for about a year.  under the tv it sat in it’s raw state.  but when we moved, i got the motivation to fix ‘er up!

now, isn’t that better?  here’s what i did:

i painted all the wood with a high gloss ultra white paint (standard at the hardwood store) with a brush, and let it fully dry. then i used one of my favorite gadgets from ikea, attached it to the insides of the table and then clipped the curtain to it (fabric is also from ikea).  within an afternoon, this gal had made a complete turn around!

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hi everyone! please welcome guest poster, belinda from the happy home! i hope you enjoy this diy project, how fun and adorable!

Paper leaves

Your toolkit
1. Coloured and patterned paper. I used some scrapbooking sheets from my stash.
2. Twigs – from the garden or those long willowy brushes you see in the $2 store and wonder what on earth you’d do with.
3. Gee, what could these be? A glue stick and scissors.

Step-by-step
1. Fold the paper in half so when you cut out your shape, the two pieces you’ll be sticking together are exactly the same.
2. Open the two pieces like a book, glue the wrong sides, lay the end of a twig in the centre and stick the pieces back together.
3. Press the pieces together firmly, particularly along the stick to hold it in place.
4. Repeat as often as you like with different sizes, colours and patterns. Cut the ends to slightly different lengths and arrange in a vase.

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please welcome, guest poster: love, natalie

Hi everyone! It is so good to be posting on one of my favorite, favorite blogs today! I have a fun project in store for you! There is no doubt Bonnie and I share a love for thrift store frames and repurposing things. There is so much you can do with frames, and they don’t always have to be used for pictures. Many frames lying around thrift stores do not have glass and are usually dirt, cheap. We’re talking cents here!

This project is a framed jewelry display. It is a beautiful way to show your jewelry. Not only does it work as décor, but keeps your jewelry organized as well. Wouldn’t this make a lovely, handmade gift, maybe along with a pretty pair of earrings? The options are endless. I choose a metallic silver spray paint to give my frame a lift, but there are so many colors to choose from, including matte or gloss to make your jewelry display truly personalized.

To start, wash your frame really well and sand down if needed. The frame I used sucked up the paint very well so I didn’t need to sand it or use a primer. If your frame is glossy, I’d recommend sanding it a little and using a primer if you feel the paint might peal.

1. You’ll need one can of spray paint, the little screws with screw eyes, drill, and fishing line.
2. Mark where you would like your screws. Make sure you have them equally spaced on both sides so the fishing line will be straight. You can drill to start the screw more easily or if your frame is made of soft wood you can screw straight into the wood without a drill. (My frame is oak so it’s really hard.)
3. This is to show you what your screws should look like.
4. Spray away, all sides including the back.
5. Tie the fishing line on the screw eye to the other very tightly.
6. Snip the extra fishing line.
7. Hang your jewelry and enjoy!

If you decide to do this project, I hope you have fun with it! Any frame, any size will work. Your personality will truly come though, especially after you add your jewels! Thank you Bonnie for sharing Going Home to Roost today!

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you’ve probably gathered by now that i’ve got a thing for 1) old frames, 2) white paint & 3) diy projects.  whelp- this one combines all three!  i’ve got old frames all over my house, and i’m estimating that i didn’t spend more than $15 on all of them put together.  it’s amazing what you’ll find if you just do a little thrifting!

i used valspar spray paint (found at most hardware stores) to turn these ol’ frames into some of my favorite pieces around the house.

here’s the how to:

1) give your frames a good cleaning (i used simple green and a dry cloth), and let dry.

2) most frames will benefit greatly if you use a primer like this one (half way down, #65054), which helps the top coat stick better, cover better and go on smoothly.

3) after the primer has dried, spray paint with a high gloss white paint (i used valspar gloss in white).  let dry completely (only takes a few hours!) and your ready to start displaying them.

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have you all been reading young house love?  if you’re looking for design, decor, diy projects and home renovation, this blog is loaded with inspiring projects, useful information and tons of the ‘can-do’ spirit!

pssst! you might want to tune in to ace of base’s ‘the sign‘ to continue with this post!

from gathered inspiration from a recent NYC trip…

the lovely sherry & john whipped these two signs up right on there home computer.  that’s right- and just printed them from their home printer on regular ol’ paper.

after some magic aging techniques and mod podge.. (check this post for step by step instructions).

voila!  two beautiful, chic, diy and totally affordable art pieces!

if you want to check out more of young house love’s delicious diy’s- visit a few of their other homemade art projects: making a magazine monogram, whipping up custom pet art, making free inspiration art, using chalk for freehand wall decor, painting pop art over old art, and creating a bunch of other cheap wall art.

have a lovely weekend!  xoxo, bonnie

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