My Terrarium(!)

I did it! I made my own little terrarium! It was a pretty brainlessly easy project, and it adds a lot of life and character to our dining room. A win-win.

                    

I only needed:

  - A glass container from thrift store for $3.

  - Sand from sandbox.

  - Rocks from our property.

  - Potting soil. (I had on hand since my other indoor plants promptly died.)

  - 2 little succulents from Home Depot for $2.50 and moss from our property.

I passed up the activated charcoal because I read moss can do some of the same odor and moisture absorbing functions. Also, I followed the "terrariums for amateurs" advice and did no lid. Without the humidity build-up, charcoal isn't a necessity. We'll see if I regret it. If so I'll hightail it over to a pet store and pick some up.

These are supposed to last for years...with my black thumb, we'll see about that. But I'm hopeful :)

Items I'm Eyeing

1. Must-have wall shelf for boys' room

New friend, Kailee, had the boys over for a playdate this week. You bet I walked away immediately looking up their wall shelf on IKEA's website. ($14.99!) They use it for children's books in their boys room. Kind of in love with it.

2. Fresh DIY terrarium

I bought a fantastic clear glass...jar? pot?...container at a favorite thrift store and I'm kind of dying to have it become a terrerium centerpiece for my kitchen table. Note: I'm not dying to make it, just to have it. You remember my problem.

Thankfully, there is a quick and dirty, nondaunting tutorial out there on blog Gussy Sews. (And a few others on my Decorative Touch board.) So when I get up my 9 month pregnant gumption, it'll be easy breezy.

3. Clearly adorable kitchen table runner

I'm also envisioning a cute table runner under this gorgeous flora centerpiece. Thanks to Inspired by Charm for this no-sew burlap one with gold polka dots idea and great tutorial!

4. DIY Photo Coasters

For our living room. And--sssshhhhh--possibly our Christmas gift to grandparents, : ::whispered tones:: easy DIY Coasters with Instagram pictures using, more or less, Modgepodge. Thanks Click It Up a Notch!

(Photos all from corresponding blogs that I linked too. Except for the wall shelf, which I snagged at Kailee's house, with her consent of course.)

Peterson Bucks

For our management system at home the boys have usually earned fuzzies or marbles for positive behaviors. When the jar is full some grand reward. (Meaning like a $1 Frosty.) Over time, this has lost its novelty and our latest system has instead been nagging many kindly reminders.  

I've been inspired by Crystal before; she's a go-get 'em, always-getting-a-new-project-done type. Last time I went over I snapped a shot of their new job chart:

They earn "family bucks" to eventually buy something from "the family store". This sounded fun and basic enough that even I could keep up on it. 

I couldn't quite recreate that lovely dark framed magnet board, but I came up with something that works for me as a nice alternative I think.

At Michaels I bought this square dark corkboard set of 3 ($9) and some little teal paper bags in the invitation section ($2). I printed off some $1s and $5s in bulk, "laminated" each bag with packing tape for endurance and taped the job labels on each pouch. Pretty simple.

Each time they do a job/positive behavior they get a Peterson Buck. The golden star indicates they get double bucks for that category for the week. The jobs/behavior will change every few weeks--hopefully--as behaviors like "staying in bed until 6:30am" or "clearing the table" become routine. 

Right now Seth needs $25 and Noah has $12 to earn a reward. On Saturday mornings we count our bucks. We (with Seth at least) analyze where he got the most bucks ("Extra Peterson Bucks" for good manners) and where he got the least that he can improve for next week ("Trying New Food"). We open up the Peterson Store-- small Sterilite box of $1 toys, treats or coupons and they each choose one. Later on I'll stratify prices but for now we're keeping it simple. And it's been really fun. 

My Style Room

Two interior decorator friends, Janelle and Crystal, and my artistic sister-in-law, Anna, have a gift of making beautiful spaces. They've long inspired me to find my own style. 

After some perusings through style books, many trips to local thrift stores, and a few lucky yard sale/Craigslist finds our living room is starting to come together. It feels good to have a nice space! 

[Photo of Ben and I discussing/envisioning what else the room needs.]

White chair: IKEA, from fav consignment store Pennies for Change

Tree stump end table: Pennies for Change

Pillow: Target

Curtains: Target

Vintage looking birds print: Christmas Tree Shoppe

 Basket, Oval mirror, Japanesey yellow vase, ceramic dove: fav thrift store, Durham Rescue Mission

Tree branch: outside my house

Stacking stones: from beach just north of Ecola Point, Oregon

Grove photo: printed with permission from online

New Yorker print: street corner in New York

Two white vases: thrift stores

Little stone owl: from grandma

Ceramic bowl: wedding gift from artist

Leaves: outside house in NY, outside house in NC

Lamp: yard sale

 Tree ring rug: IKEA, from Craigslist

 Painting and gaudy gold frame: fav thrift store

Sofa: Crate and Barrel, from friend's yard sale

Pillows: long ago

Probably my favorite piece: the white glass dove