Fake Fall Flowers For My Front Door DIY

I'm not a fan of the Dollar store. I don't like being affronted by all of the plastic fumes reeking from every item off of the shelf and I feel bad when I see every item labelled as disposable.

I try very hard not to be a mindless consumer, and so every purchase I make has to be something I'll use for a long time to come and have very minimal plastic used in it.

With all that said, I have been looking for flowers to "fallify" my spring and summer wreath. I have a Forsythia wreath that I use throughout spring and summer, and looking for the perfect fall coloured flowers to spruce it up with.  I want to be able to take the flowers off and keep reusing the wreath for spring and summer so a glue-gun is my adhesive of choice.

I bought 6 orange hued peonies from the Dollarama. I took 3 of them off of their stems and used a small dot of glue-gun glue to adhere them to the wreath. I then stuck the other 3 into my outdoor urn for a bit of continuity. My outdoor urn is a mishmash of birch branches I bought for 3 dollars, real sweet potato vine I planted in late spring, pussy willow branches I got at Easter time (I just stuck them straight into the soil), and fake forsythia branches.

I'm happy that once spring rolls around, I can yank the flower off and just use the plain forsythia wreath on its own... And here we have it, my final products!

Awesome Autumn: Fall Decor

The weather's been kind of weird lately. Not cold, not warm, but beautifully sunny with a definite chill in the air. It makes me think of sugar n' spice and everything nice and so I'd love to bring in some of the warm colours of cinnamon and pumpkin into the house.
A small change in throw pillows and fresh seasonal flowers in warm shades will make an instant impact to any room, but if you are feeling a little more ambitious, think about changing your light fixtures and side tables to something that look a little more rustic.  I'm not that ambitious this season, so I'll stick to the flowers, pillows and will even make a mean honey, ginger, cinnamon tea that will get the whole house smelling like autumn heaven. The tea is also great for warding off the pesky autumn cold, just look up the recipe here.

Wish Wednesdays: Indoor Wall Planter for Herbs

 

Fresh herbs from the garden always take my dishes from meh to marvelous... so I want to grow fresh herbs all year around in my kitchen. There are a few options to be had, starting with a DIY pallet planter that you can make out of old shipping pallets like these.

As much as I would love to reuse old, discarded wooden shipping pallets, I am worried about some of the pressure treated wood that may contain toxins that you would then bring in to your home.  I could always buy wood slats and make the planter from scratch or another option is to use other ready made wood structures like wine crates or wine holders as vertical containers.

Before hanging any vertical garden, it is best to plant the herbs with the pallet flat on the ground, then water thoroughly and leave the garden horizontal for 2 weeks. That way this will allow the roots to grow and strengthen.

For now, I need to figure out where I can place such a planter. I may have to wait until we have done some renovations to our little house, so this project will have to sit on my wishlist for now.

Fit Fridays: Handstand Progression

I'm so excited! I can finally hold my handstands unsupported and for a longer amount of time! As you may remember from an earlier post, I have been practicing standing in a headstand for some time now, and now I can finally hold it for a few seconds without any support. It's taken me some time to strengthen my shoulders and core to support myself, but I feel so much more stable, even though I end up tumbling down after a few seconds...

My next goal is to try to take a few steps on my hands and in the mean time I'll continue to work on my chin-ups and core to get stronger.

While I was practicing, I caught a great view of the Toronto skyline. Labour day has come and gone and summer is pretty much over. I guess it is time to take my practices indoors, but you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll keep training over the winter and hopefully post a video of me taking a step or two on my hands by next summer... here's hoping.