We <3 Butterflies and Pokemon
Long have I admired the blog of an old friend from the Ottawa Valley. Her place is called Twig and Toadstool. What a magical place it is!
If you love nature and being creative, have little ones to entertain or just need something to do with your hands, look no further. Maureen and Shanti are creative geniuses, and they’ll dazzle you day after day, just when you think they had to have exhausted their idea bank.
I am the kind of mom that can be very hands-on with my children but then I need some major quiet time. Since I just finished reading Cutting for Stone and had that right amount of solitude, today was a day for busy hands and feet. The perfect day to make this vase that I saw on Twig and Toadstool and wanted to make ever since!
We took a walk on the nearby hiking trails, climbed a big hill with several dead trees, debated the right and wrong qualities of a stick and tried not to be too grumpy. A thunderstorm is on it’s way and the humidity is out of control today, hence the grumpiness.
Once we got back home, the deck was the best place to work as dirt and stick fragments were flying pretty fast. In the instructions, Shanti suggests holding the sticks on with three rubber bands, but we actually used more and then removed them. It kept the sticks a bit more stable for the kids, especially as they were starting. We did leave three rubber bands on in the final product, just doubled the bottom one up, so our end product only has two rows of raffia instead of three.
There are not really a ton of flowers blooming in our garden right now, but thankfully we had a few obliging echinachea. The white tall phlox is just about to burst, so next week we’ll have a gorgeous white display. Anywho, we are so pleased with the results, and a good time was had by all, despite the humility. What say you?!
My son wasn’t too into the butterflies and instead has dubbed his a Pokemon candle holder and that’s just fine with me.
Thanks for the inspiration, Twig and Toadstool!
cecilia
Kalanna
Holli
Beautiful vase! I have yet to make one of these for my house, (as this was Shanti’s project), but I’ll get around to it one of these days…they are really just so pretty!
(nice too to give your son the freedom to make a Pokemon candle holder…
I used to work in a toy store and Pokemon was all the rage…I understand completely!!!)
xo maureen
Sounds like a great day despite the ridiculous humidity and spending time in nature can’t be beat. (Our heat and humidity have been Out of control too). I love both vases! (Being a gardener and Pokemon lover!) Your Echinachea are so pretty. I don’t know what’s happened to mine. I think they’ve felt the heat and refused to bloom this year! (I’m going heading over to Twig and Toadstool after leaving this comment). As always a great post and thank you for thinking of me!
Hey Maureen, I think it’s the height of this vase that seems so nice to me. That and the natural medium. I’m very happy with it.
Your welcome, Jo. I always think of you now when I photograph flowers. That’s a bummer about your echinacea. You know what I discovered? They are not the greatest cut flower in the world. They wilt fairly fast.