An Artful Adventure

Terrarium Update

 
I am happy to say that my terrarium is doing good!  As you can see my favorite little clump of moss mentioned a few post back is still alive and adorable!

I have taken most of the peat moss out, and added real moss that I gathered on my vacation in NC.

I have enjoyed the green inside so much that I have decided to get some more plant babies.

One of my favorites is the tiny little Orchid!

I also put a little more of the moss I got in NC is this cute Apothecary Jar.

On vacation I also found this awesome vintage tool box that I love!  I knew I wanted it for my coffee table.

The cubbies are perfect for more plant babies!  Also my son will put his crayons, cars, or other little goodies inside.  It's so cute cause he will look at me and say "car cubbie?" as he puts his cars inside.  So cute!

 

Jolie a' Paris

I know it has been awhile since I blogged!  We have been dealing with some life challenges, illnesses, etc. over the last few months.  So for those of you that have not heard from me recent, I am so sorry. 

I had a moment to sit down and decided to share with you some photos from a Paris themed craft party I attended last weekend.

The party was done for the group of girls in the art group Pretty and Vintage Things that I started.  Our sweet hosted was Molly Knox.  What a talented, motivated caring individual this women is!  Boy when she has a vision, she really REALLY has a vision.  Her party was themed around Paris at night.  I helped her out a little.  We wanted it to be a comfortable setting so we focused on comfy girly things like vintage nighties, and encouraged everyone to embellish a pair of slippers.

Her house was decorated lovely with a lace garland, and a tea cart full of crafting goodies to play with.

Everywhere you looked was pretty gold glittered stars, antique shades of peach, gold, and light blue.

Even Molly's precious pup was dressed for the party!

Molly had yummy cheese, crackers, fruit, and chicken salad on croissants for us.  She also made a super yummy punch which was to die for delicious!

I made orange flavored cupcakes with buttercream.  The roses on top I made with gumpaste.  They where hand painted and then covered with gold shimmer.

I also made French macaroons for the first time!  I made them in light pale peach, and a darker peach color.  They had lemon buttercream (my favorite) and regular buttercream inside.

 
It was fun to watch them bake, anxiously waiting to see if they would develop feet (the ruffly part on the bottom of each cookie).  To my satisfaction, they did!

Molly also had Champagne for us!

Our craft project was sweetly embellished paper cones.  Everyone's was lovely!

Every thing was so pretty, even the crafty mess full of color.

I did not get home until 1am in the morning!  We had lots of fun.  Thanks so very much Molly for a fabulous time!  It's so wonderful to have such a wonderful group of ladies close to home to create with.

I have started a blog Pretty and Vintage Things to share some of the things the group does.  You can check it out HERE.

 

Three Tier Terrarium

 
I thought I would do a quick post to share with you something I recently created.  Since I am wanting to have a outdoors feel inside my house, I thought it would only make sense to have plants!  This is new for me, so I did a little research on good houseplants.  While I was researching I stumbled upon terrariums.  I was so intrigued by this and just had to give it a try.  I loved the idea of having my own little garden indoors with moss!

(before)

I got this cake stand last year as a prize for my booth at a Paris sale I went to.  I love it, but I did not want to commit to doing anything with it at first.  The silver pieces displayed inside of it where just cheap finds for a couple dollars at a thrift store.  I loved their tarnished appearance and loved how they looked with the rusty look of the cake stand.

When I saw all the pictures of lovely terrariums, I knew exactly what I wanted to do, and this was for sure the project ment for this stand.  Because I have never done this before, I am nervous about how it will do with such shallow layers.  BUT you never know until you try!  The nice thing about moss is it does not need much soil to grow.  So I think that will do ok, but I also stuck a couple ferns inside.  I will just have to cross my fingers and wait and see.  So far it has been 4 days and so far so good.  As a matter of fact, I think this light green growth on the fern below is new!

I found some moss right in my own yard!  I should have been patient and put it aside in a sealed container for a few weeks, BUT being as impatient as I am, I just could not wait that long!   I also purchased this fuzzy moss online and I LOVE it!  Nothing like this grows in Florida!

As much as I love the fuzzy moss (unsure of the official name lol), I still love this stuff the most (below).

I loved this bright green clump of moss.  I have been opening the terrarium every now and then and misting the moss.  I heard online that moss likes to be misted.  The beaded water drops just add to the sweet feel of it all.  I keep thinking maybe if I keep it open every now and then a fairy will move in.

I want to wait a little while, and then I would like to try a few in Apothecary jars.  I just love the looks of them!  And perhaps if the fern does not do good in the cake stand it will work better in the jars. 

Then after I play around with Terrariums for awhile I want to try growing some Paperwhites!  Supposedly these are fairly easy to grow and are a great indoors plant.  I would just love these beauties around the house!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a lovely creative weekend. I am off to chase the little one!

 

Birthday Treasury Shadowbox Swap

Awhile back I signed up for a Birthday Shadowbox swap that Amy Powers was hosting.  We had to decorate a Tim Holtz shadow box for our partner.  I was so excited to find out I had Debi from Life in my Studio as my partner!

Unfortunately with being sick, and then terrible Florida raining weather and cloudy days, I was not able to get any photos to share sooner.  BUT today the weather seemed alright for the moment, so I quickly snapped a few photos to share of this lovely creation.

I was so excited when Debi's box arrived!  I could not believe how pretty she wrapped everything!  Even the box it arrived in!

  She did so many cute things!  I loved the sprinkles in the tiny bottles, and the adorable cakes and candles!  And the ballerina was glittered!  So so sweet!

Thanks so so much Debi!

Here is the box I made for Debi.

I painted the boxes different shades of light pink, aqua, and white.

Some of the boxes I glittered, and some I did not.  I made a little cake on a stand out of vintage buttons.

The little present was wrapped with a piece of vintage wrapping paper.

I gave it little feet from vintage wooden spools, and a satin pink ribbon at the top.  I thought this way it could be stood up, or be hung on a wall.

This was so much fun!  Someday I would like to make another.

 

SAVE THE DATE!

I am so excited to announce I will have the privilege of teaching at another fabulous event hosted by Karen Hillman! 

Karen Paige Hillman Presents

Queen of Arts, 2012

An Art Filled Celebration of Valentines Day beauty!

Save the dates!  February 11th and 12th 2012

 

Join us for a weekend of regal treats and an array of  handmade projects "FIT FOR A QUEEN " including  a romantic vintage style tote bag, an embellished jewel and lace crown, a beautiful chandelier crystal Queen necklace,  a shabby sweet mosaic wall plaque and more!

I am so excited that the weekend will even be complete with a fabulous altered heart chocolate box swap!

The event will be held at the home of Karen Hillman in Plantation, Florida, this will be an attention to detail weekend filled with dining delights and wonderful surprises!  

Space is limited to 20 creative women!  So keep an eye out because sign ups and complete details are coming soon!  I hope to see you there!