Fabulous fern

My brother is turning out to be quite the horticulturalist. Even though he lives amongst the high rises of downtown Detroit, he's cultivated quite an indoor oasis in terms of house plants. He has a beautiful collection of succulents and ferns that thrive under his care; every time I visit him I gaze in envy at his "garden."

So earlier this summer, when I visited my brother, he surprised me with a garden of my own, grown from cuttings of his plants! I was thrilled (as you can imagine) and couldn't wait to get back to NYC to plant them.

Of course, getting them here to the city meant somehow getting them into my luggage, which was no easy task. Luckily my brother is quite brilliant, and grew one of my cuttings in a sandwich bag, which made slipping it into my carry-on surprisingly simple.

See? I wasn't kidding! And while this sandwich bag was meant as a temporary solution, by the time the plant made it to my apartment, it was surviving so well that I didn't feel the urge to replant it. This went on for a couple of weeks, and then I started feeling really guilty that this poor little guy was struggling (quite successfully, I might add) in a plastic bag with no soil.

However, I also knew that he would only grow bigger, and I didn't want to invest a lot of money into a planter that he would outgrow in a few short months.

Enter: my recycling.

That's right- I did what any creative/cheap person would do: I looked around my apartment to see what I could re-purpose into a temporary planter that I wouldn't mind ruining in the process. Of course, this 'miracle' planter had to fulfill several requirements: I wanted something that I could drill/poke holes into to create drainage (so no glass/ceramic), and I wanted something that wouldn't rust/decompose (no cardboard, etc.). So I eventually turned to a can that until quite recently enclosed a handful of artichoke hearts.

The first step of my planter transformation had to do with the can itself. After I had removed the label and washed it with soap and water, I made my drainage holes. Using a can opener I inherited from my grandparents' kitchen, I punched 4 holes in the bottom of the can.

Since my can at one point had held a liquid substance, it was lined with a plastic-y coating, so I was pretty sure the can wouldn't rust from the inside. However, those little holes I poked and the exposed edge at the top seemed more susceptible to water and rust. So I grabbed a bottle of nail polish in a color I no longer wear...

And proceeded to seal the edges of the exposed can. (As you can see from this somewhat blurry photo, I painted the edge around the top of the can as well as the punched holes.) It's not the best paint job I've ever accomplished, but since most of it would be covered in soil, I decided not to sweat it!

Now, my brother's beautiful fern couldn't be planted in an ugly, old can! So I grabbed some paint, a foam brush, and sandpaper in order to transform my new planter.

I sanded the can a bit, so that my layers of white paint would adhere. I used regular craft paint (acrylic), but I'm sure there are special paints out there for metal surfaces that would be even better for a project like this. Once the base coat of white was dry, I used an old cork to dab abstract red dots all over the can.

And once the dots had dried, I planted that poor fern in as much soil as the can would hold...

And put it on display in a prominent corner of my little kitchen!

While it's not the most 'elegant' planter I've ever seen, it fits my aesthetic (and budget) quite well! And I think my little fern is much happier with his new home!

Thank you for stopping by- I hope you have a great day! (And SBV- thanks again for the plant!

Visiting the Thumb

I know I left you hanging over the weekend, so I'll end your suspense! The other day my mom and I traveled to the 'Thumb' of Michigan (and those pictures I shared last week were of Lake Huron). My grandfather was born and raised in that part of the state, and I'd always wanted to visit. So we met up with my great-aunt (my grandfather's sister) and my cousin (her daughter) to visit a few special locations. You see, while my grandpa moved away when he married my grandma, my great-aunt raised her family in the same town where she grew up, so I was excited to have her show us around and tell us stories about growing up with my grandpa.

Our first stop on the tour of Deckerville/Sanilac/etc. was the Greenwood Cemetery.

I hadn't been to see these particular graves before, so I was excited to visit some of my ancestors.

There were cousins...

My great-great grandma...

My great-great grandfather...

As well as my great-grandparents.

I never had a chance to meet my great-grandpa Omer, but from the stories I've heard he sounds like a great man.

He's here in the middle, with my grandpa on the right and my Uncle George on the left. We love this photo in our family- don't they all look so similar?

I also saw the marker for my Aunt Shirley.

My great-grandparents had 7 children total, but Shirley passed away far too young.

Here's my great-grandparents (on the right) with their children. My grandpa is the one on the left!

Another grave that we visited my my great-grandma.

I have a very fuzzy memory of my great-grandma (she passed when I was really young), but she was quite a lady. Not only was she an incredible cook, but she was also amazingly sweet!

My mom says you can tell how much she was adored based upon the number of people in our family who are named after her. I think there are 4 people who have the name Mary, while I'm honored to share her middle name of Hannah.

She was obviously well-loved!

Here's a picture of my great-grandma and I!

The next stop on our tour was the house my great-aunt and her family lived in. My mom has the funniest stories about visiting her cousins (my aunt's children) at this house in the country. From licking the cows' salt-licks in the pasture to running into the electric fence forehead first, I was excited to see the land where all those stories took place. Of course things are much different now (hello paved roads), but it was fun having everyone point out the various landmarks that still remain.

And finally, we also saw the Dairy Bar.

During the Depression, my grandmother's parents moved to the Thumb (from the Detroit-area) and ran a Dairy Bar.

My grandma

My grandpa used to visit the Dairy Bar to eat... and flirt with my grandma.

My grandpa

As you can imagine, the building is quite different than it was back then.

But just seeing a building where my grandparents used to spend time before they were married was really special!

My grandparents on their wedding day

We had a wonderful visit with our family members, sharing stories and memories. I'm so thankful that I had the opportunity to learn more about my grandpa's life and family. Thanks for joining me on this visit to the Thumb- I hope you had a great weekend!

A look at the lake

The other day...

My mom and I took a day trip together.

We drove for a couple of hours...

To meet up with some special people...

To look around a special place.

Our trip happened to coincide with a beautiful day...

(For which we were exceedingly thankful!

But because I'm feeling "impish", I'm going to wait until next week to tell you all about where we went, who we saw, and what we did!

So until then, I hope you have a GREAT weekend, and I'll see you on Monday!

Fourth of July: Part II (the people)

Yesterday I posted photos of all the treats we enjoyed at our recent Fourth of July celebration, and today I'd like to share photos of the people!

July 4th isn't just the nation's birthday... in our family, we celebrate my grandma's half-birthday, too!

You see, my grandma was born too close to Christmas for her liking. So years ago, we started celebrating her half-birthday to ensure that she had a proper party... and the tradition continues today! So while most of our little get together was all about the red, white and blue, we also took some time to open presents and sing happy birthday.

Of course, we also had plenty of fun!

In fact, this little guy was having a ton of fun at one point!

My mom was playing hide-and-seek with him...

By crouching behind a chair and jumping out again...

He thought it was hysterical... which made all of us crack up, too!

As you can imagine, the day wasn't complete without a bunch of photographs...

From EMVR with her little cutie...

To BTV and SS...

My dad and I...

And BTV with my grandma, we all posed for a few shots.

My brother even indulged me by re-creating a photo I took a couple years ago...

I got a similar shot of him doing a jump with my grandpa, which I love it... and now I have a matching pair!

But before we all headed home, we stopped for a few portraits. Here's the whole group...

My uncle and his family...

My dad with our family...

And four generations (my grandma, her son, her granddaughter, and her great-grandson).

As I'm sure you've gleaned by now, our family likes to have a good time. As I was looking through our group photos trying to find one where everyone was looking at the camera, I came across these pics.

And I absolutely cracked up when I saw them. From my cousin goofing off in the background, my aunt trying to salvage a lovely photo, and my grandma looking a little annoyed, I feel like they say so much about our family: there's always a lot going on, and everyone is usually having a good time!

So happy half-birthday Grams! We sure had fun celebrating with you!

Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a great day!