TIME FLIES . . .

Time has flown by the past week. Not necessarily in a fun way. Been busy with life stuff. I haven't even had time to really sit and read and comment on all my favorite blogs lately. Got a few things accomplished this week. Mostly more garden work, spending most of my time in the herb garden, and planting some lettuce and spinach.

Some sorting and cleaning of Son No. 3's closets of old clothes.

That'll mean a trip to Good Will . . .

drop off/pick up :o) . . .

Annnddd baseball has started. That will be monopolizing a good deal of our time for the next few months. We've been at the field watching Son No. 3's games three times this week since Saturday. I really don't know how we did it when all three boys were playing at the same time. One year, Son No. 1 played not only high school ball, but Little League, along with the other two boys. I'm pretty sure we felt like we lived at the baseball fields that year!

I did manage to crank out a few projects over the last week. You know when you see a project, and you JUST HAVE to do it???!!! I was like that with these two projects I'm going to share.

The first, I saw over at Jen's blog,

Tatertots and Jello.

She had a guest poster, Kelli from

Random Thoughts of a Supermom

share this (click over to get the tutorial for yourself!) terrific project.

When I saw this project, I just about squealed! I have been wanting one of those elegant monogramed flags for a while, but being the frugal person I am, I couldn't stand the thought of paying the price. They're not cheap.

I'm not sure mine turned out as nice as Kelli's, but I'm super-happy with it.

Then there was this terrarium.

Wish I could take credit for this creation, but I cannot. It's straight out of the April issue of Country Living.

I was determined to make this all myself, but I will have to acknowledge that dear Hubby jumped in to help just a little. Really, I could have done it on my own.

But . . . he's a guy . . .

and small power tools were involved . . .

and, well, I guess he just couldn't help himself!

Below is the list of materials and some step-by-step instructions of the building of this cute little terrarium.

Then, lastly, remember this big, honking jar I scored at the GW?

I finally got around to creating a terrarium out of it.

I'm afraid it's shape doesn't lend too well to being a terrarium, though. The curves of this jar actually make it kind of difficult to see the plants inside. Not to mention hard to photograph.

There's one of my clay stones. It works perfect in there.

Also below, I've listed some tips on putting together a glass terrarium.

No work for the next six days. Hoping to at least start some big projects around the house. Like . . . my bedroom (no, I haven't started that project yet!) . . . painting the kitchen table and chairs . . . more gardening . . . Oye!!! My list is getting too long!

PICTURE FRAME TERRARIUM

Eight picture frames:

four 5x7

two 8x10

two 11x14

Remove glass and glazer points and lightly sand.

(for detailed instructions and step-by-step pictures, click on the magazine pic below to enlarge)

Align 11x14 with an 8x10 frame and drill one hole near top and bottom all the way through the larger frame and halfway through smaller. Screw together. Repeat with other 11x14 and 8x10 frames.

Arrange the two "L's" you've created to form a box, or base of the terrarium.

Place two 5x7 frames face down. Align a 2" mending plate (or whatever size works for the style frames you're using) Drill pilot holes and secure with screws.

I had to put my mending plates on the sides instead of bottoms because of how the frames were constructed.

Align the two sets of 5x7 frames and attach a corner bracket inside each end of the "eave".

After this step, the instructions say to attach "roof" to base with two 1" inch hinges. I did this step, but feel it could be omitted. The top does not really need to have a hinge, in my opinion. The terrarium has no bottom, so it can easily be lifted up and away from the plants when watering is required.

Next, trace the inside of an eave on paper to create a template for cutting out of 1/2" thick plywood. Cut two triangles.

Fit the wood into each end of the roof using predrilled holes and screws.

Fill holes and open gaps with wood filler, and then sand after filler has dried. After several hours, paint and distress as desired.

Replace the glass by adding dollops of hot glue in the corners of the the frames and replace the glass. Then run a bead of hot glue around the the frame outside of the glass "sealing" the glass in place.

GLASS TERRARIUM

Add stone, gravel, marbles, etc., to the bottom of the container for drainage. I used pea gravel from my garden's walkway.

Add a layer of sheet moss to keep the dirt from sifting down into the drainage material.

Fill with potting soil, and add your plants.

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