Real Easter Grass Instructions

Every year I love to plant wheat grass for easter baskets. I choose to grow wheat over other grass seeds because the blades of grass are bigger and they last the perfect amount of time. Plus, if my kid accidently eats the grass...oh well..they are just being overly healthy. I know of some people that juice it, eat it or pay big money to have it put in a smoothie along with other things as well but, I just like the look of it and it's really fun to have for Easter.

The first thing I start with is a basket or container. If it is a basket and isn't water tight, I line it with a simple plastic shopping bag. I cut the top off because my basket wasn't tall enough and fold the edges of the bag down so they are below the edge of the basket. You don't want to see the bag hanging out of the basket so, fold them inside.

This is the wheat. I take it right out of my storage bucket and put as much wheat as I need and then fill the container with water. I soak it for minimum of a few hours (four or five) to letting it soak overnight. Soaking helps the wheat to sprout.I fill the basket with potting soil up to the edge of the plastic bag. The potting soil needs to be moist so I use a spray bottle to wet the soil so it doesn't dry out the wheat.I spread the wheat evenly across the top of the soil. You want every peice of wheat to be able to touch the dirt and also be able to get sunshine. So, I use enough to spread evenly and heavy because I like a full basket of grass. Every peice of wheat will be a blade of grass.I cover my basket with saran wrap to help keep the moisture in. I put my basket in my window sill or anywhere that gets good light and keep the saran wrap on so it doesn't dry out. It is very important to keep the wheat moist the first day or two. I really "baby" it for a couple of days. It needs to be spritz with water at least three times the first day or two and once it's sprouted every other day or so. I take the saran wrap off once it's sprouted.

This is what the wheat looks like after three to four days. The wheat is still visible and the green is about an inch long. I take the saran wrap off once it's sprouted and it will grow very quickly from now on. It grows so quickly that it actually will need a "haircut" or to be "mowed" after seven to ten days.

So I take my old scissors or my kitchen shears and "mow" the grass. I love that it smells like freshly cut lawn. It definetely reminds me of spring!

You'll have to cut it...then it will the grow tall enough to hide the eggs and bunnies....and you'll have to "mow" it again!! It should last a few weeks if you keep it watered and trimmed. I only water the pail or basket when it feels light. If I pick up the basket and it feels heavy...I don't water it that day and will wait until tomorrow. These are metal pails that I planted with wheat grass for my centerpeice at my table. The baskets I have around the house to bring a touch of spring all around. I allow the kids to play with the pics (bunnies and eggs on wires and sticks) and rearrange them whenever they want. It's really fun to have a centerpeice that the kids can actually touch and play with.

So, I hope this helps any of you that want to plant your own basket of fun easter grass!!

Happy Spring!!

Easter Grass

Well, I've had a few people ask me about when I am starting my "real" easter grass. These are the picture's of the baskets of grass I grew last year. The reason there are so many is because they were used for centerpeices for an event.

I will be starting my easter grass on this Thursday the 18th and anyone is welcome to come and learn. I will be starting at 10 a.m. and all you need to bring is a basket/container and some potting soil. I will provide the seed and the instruction. So, all of you that have called and asked when I am starting....it'll be this thursday and anyone is welcome to come.

I definetely am looking forward to spring this year and need a little happiness around the house. Bring on Spring!!

Spring Ladder

I changed my ladder in the living room for spring. I have loved my winter/snowflake ladder but, wanted a change and am looking forward to spring this year. Easter is early this year being the first sunday in April so, I wanted to be able to enjoy this as long as possible so I changed my ladder last week to BRING ON SPRING!!

The ladder was actually one long ladder that I cut in half to get home and has ended up being the best thing that happened to the ladder. I almost gave half of the ladder to my sister but, ended up keeping it. Can't remember why she didn't take it...oh well, I am glad to have both parts because the one ladder leaning against the wall creates the perfect way to continue the vine and decorations down the side.

I love the different colors and designs of the eggs because it creates a unique, ecletic look.

When I find an egg I love, I pick it up to add to the ladder. Unique fun eggs add to the look of the ladder and make it all the more fun and "springy".

This is a picture of the ladder in the evening. The string of lights help light up the ladder and create a fun mood in the evening.

I know this picture looks like the eggs are illuminated but, it is just the sparkle on the outside of the eggs that makes them look like they light up. The string of lights make it just as fun during the evening as during the day.

I bought some of these eggs after easter on clearance last year. Some of the eggs were simple plaster eggs that I painted and decorated. The eggs all coordinate with pastel colors and are hung with fun ribbon. The greenery is a boxwood and I added a garland with fun colors this year to tie all the colors together. My ladder is definetely bringing a little SPRING to my living room!

Polka Dot Tall Chair

This chair I found in the clearance section of an antique store many months ago. My children love taller chairs because they don't have to sit on their knees at the dining room table. I wanted a really fun kids chair that would match my kitchen. So, I first spray painted the chair candy apple green. This is the color of my walls in the kitchen and I thought it would be fun to have an accent chair that matches. I wanted to add some whimsy to the chair because it is a kid's chair. So, I decided on polka dots. I wanted the polka dots to be green and yet the base color of the chair was green so I had to put on my thinking cap to come up with an option. I found these round stickers in the office section of walmart and bought them to create my polka dots.So, this is like trying to create a reverse polka dot. What will be left will be the green polka dot after it has been painted with ivory paint. If that makes any sense... LOL. I just peeled and stuck the stickers where I wanted a polka dot to show up. Then painted over all the stickers with an ivory color. Then I waited until the paint was tacky and peeled up the stickers. This was a little time intensive but, when I see an idea in my head...I do anything to acheive the look I see in my head. It really didn't take too long and I only had a few touch ups where it bled a little...probaby where I didn't run my finger over the sticker completely.

Then I added a few (actually ALOT) layers of sealer. I knew this would be a chair that my children sat AND ate on...so it needed some protecting. The kids love the chair and it's becoming the new favorite chair.

This chair has been a fun addition to our kitchen chairs. The kids love the heighth...just right!!

What's been going on

I just wanted to update this blog. I am sorry that I haven't been posting. I have been personally been going through something really hard. We lost our son. He was born February 15th and was buried on the 20th. We have known for some time that we were dealing with a pregnancy that wouldn't have the happy outcome and therefore I haven't been doing projects like I usually do. It has been all consuming to just get the daily tasks done. I just wanted to let everyone know that there were a couple of projects that I did while during all this and I will post those soon. Usually, I love doing projects and it is a source of happiness.I completed a few recently and I will post those. I also just changed my ladder today for easter/spring to bring some happiness to our home and I will take some pictures and post soon. I just wanted to let people know what has been going on and promise to post those things I have done.
Cassy