March 14, 2019 by Born To Organize

Scrap-Happy March: Paper Greens

I’m joining Kate, of Tall Tales from Chiconia, for her monthly scrap-happy blog post. The challenge is to use scraps from other projects to make something useful, beautiful, or both. Several bloggers post once a month showcasing a project made entirely from scraps.

This month I’m using green paper scraps and pages from an old wall calendar.

I started with this pile of paper scraps…

Green just happens to be my favorite color

Assorted pages from an old gardening calendar…

The Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Calendar

And a green Christmas tin.

Swiss Miss chocolate tin

I made three greeting cards…

Card made from scraps of green paper and a calendar cut-out

Calendar page card with vintage ribbon rests near deep purple hyacinth

Tri-fold card

…and about 30 bookmarks. Here’s one made from the center of a calendar page.

Calendar page bookmark with vintage seam binding

I also made a sign for our Little Free Library in honor of St. Patrick’s Day this coming Monday, and I covered a hot chocolate tin to hold the bookmarks.

A bit of four-leaf clover lore in our LFL

Books with green spines and a covered Christmas tin full of bookmarks

All three cards incorporated bits of the calendar and paper scraps. I like creating like this, with a small pile of bits and bobs and no real plan.

I used a small bird drawing from the calendar for the first card

Scraps of green paper

Lovely bird drawing on side of calendar

Bird drawing from calendar

Completed card

The trifold card incorporates the center panel from one of the calendar pages on the cover and on the inside of the card.

Finished trifold card

Inside panel uses calendar cut out of bird

I cut the third flap at an angle and secured at the bottom so you can insert a note or a gift card

Tied closed with a bow

The third card is simply a photograph from a Nature Conservancy calendar, tied with vintage seam binding. I used a die to cut a note of thanks from a green paper scrap.

Photograph from a Nature Conservancy calendar

Into the woods

Completed card

The bookmarks are an eclectic bunch. I used several scraps of green paper, bits of vintage seam binding, Washi tape, and again, parts of my Old Farmer’s Almanac calendar. Lexi, my artistic friend, designed her own Washi tape. You can see it here along with several of her other creations.

I cut the center of the upper left calendar page

…folding it into thirds…

…notched the top and added vintage seam binding.

Here’s another bookmark made from a calendar page

I layered rows of Washi tape across this scrap of green floral

I cut the strips, then rounded off the top

Red Riding Hood Washi tape from a friend, Lexi’s Washi tape on the left

When you’re really tired…just cut strips of pretty paper into 2 x 6 strips

My friend Lexi designed this Washi tape. She sells it on her Etsy site

Tin of green bookmarks with the LFL in the background

The green theme won’t last long in the Little Free Library as books come and go, but it has been fun playing with paper and ideas. Thanks for inspiring me to slow down, Kate, and to take some time to play.

Do you like crafting from scraps? Why not join us for the next round.

Little Free Library with green books and bookmarks

Little Free Library filled with green books, bookmarks and a note about four-leaf clover lore.

It *is* easy being green! (Sorry, Kermit).

From Kate’s blog:

“ScrapHappy is open to anyone using up scraps of anything – no new materials. It can be a quilt block, pincushion, bag or hat, socks or a sculpture. Anything made of scraps is eligible. If your scrap collection is out of control and you’d like to turn them into something beautiful instead of leaving them to collect dust in the cupboard, why not join us on the 15th of each month? You can email Kate at the address on her Contact Me page. You can also contact Gun, via her blog, to join. We welcome new members. You don’t have to worry about making a long-term commitment or even join in every month, just let either of us know a day or so in advance if you’re new and you’ll have something to show, so we can add your link. Regular contributors will receive an email reminder three days before the event.”

July 8, 2014 by Born To Organize

Decoy Pumpkin Fail

Did you hear that long exhale? It’s been one of those weeks in the garden.

A squirrel shredded my garden swing cover.

Gathering nesting material

My decoy pumpkin died…

Decoy pumpkin no more

…and the dreaded squash bugs descended on my beloved pumpkins.

Squash bugs dancing a jig…or something

A bit of history

I spotted a single squash bug on the side of the house in early spring. Thanks to a dry, warm winter, they happily overwintered. Further reading tells me they’re a hardy bunch and can survive under a blanket of snow. In any event, they’re back.

The idea was to plant a decoy pumpkin in the back garden, hoping to draw them away from the other plants. I planted three varieties of pumpkins in EarthBoxes™ on my deck, as far away as possible from the ‘scene of the crime.’

Unfortunately, the irrigation in the decoy box stopped working. Pumpkins are thirsty plants, and by the time I realized, it was too late. Whether or not it would have worked is anyone’s guess, but it’s now a moot point.

A colony of squash bugs are now residing om my beloved deck-top vines.

I’ve learned a thing or two from a handful of sites, but nothing that gave me any hope. Apparently squash bugs need the squash to reproduce. They’ll go in search of other food, but it’s not until they find a squash plant that they set up house. Some of the professional growers plant ‘sacrificial’ crops like pumpkins (what!!!) to defer the damage away from pricier crops in the same family. Imagine choosing cantaloupe over pumpkins. Why I never!!!

After last year’s debacle, I assumed the bugs liked the fruit alone and that I would be safe until then. Nope! They lay eggs on the underside of the leaves.

Damage

According to John Capinera of The University of Florida:

The squash bug causes severe damage to cucurbits because it secretes highly toxic saliva into the plant. The foliage is the primary site of feeding but the fruit is also fed upon. The foliage wilts, becomes blackened, and dies following feeding; this malady is sometimes called “anasa wilt.” Often an entire plant or section of plant perishes while nearby plants remain healthy. The amount of damage occurring on a plant is directly proportional to the density of squash bugs.

The plants look healthy. I’ve been knocking the large bugs off the leaves, but I’ve yet to go in search of the dreaded eggs. The bees are a buzz every day, moving from flower to gorgeous flower. A couple of pieces of fruit have reached the size of a baseball.

Deck-top pumpkin crop

Developing pumpkin

Regardless of the outcome of this year’s crop, it might be time to take a year off between plantings. I know a lot of gardeners rotate crops for this reason. I took a break from growing tomatoes after a nasty tobacco (tomato horn worm) infestation. They’ve been fine ever since.

I’ll keep you posted.

Resources:

The Old Farmer’s Almanac: Squash Bugs

University of Florida: Entomology and Nematology

Living with Insects: Squash Bugs

May 21, 2014 by Born To Organize

Starter Pumpkins

Aren’t these the sweetest?

Starter Pumpkins

My friend Stephanie’s young daughter ‘M’ crafted these for seed starters . She used the base of a water bottle, then decorated each one with colorful duct tape.

Duct Tape Planting Pots

She delivered them with her dad over the weekend and I planted them today. In one of those serendipitous moments, I realized I had an open space in the center of my EarthBoxes® just waiting to be filled. So I tucked my newest pumpkin starter into the opening of the Jack ‘o-lantern box. It already looks right at home.