It's Almost Spring

It's Almost Spring....and here's a little idea for keeping track of Gardening and Yard stuff...Buy a package of Oxford Classic Ruled Index Cards....Spiral Bound....5" x 8".....these are available at most office supply stores although I first looked at Walmart. Our Walmart had the smaller sized cards spiral bound but not the large ones. The spiral binding is across the top and you open the cards up just like a little notebook but the pages are a bit sturdier...

If you'd like and I'd suggest it decorate the cover of this little notecard set with something spring-like. I believe that when things are pretty we tend tos use them more and they bring joy into our lives. Then use the first card in the set to create a little title page....use some inspirational quotations and other "fun" things....

This is going to be your outside...to do list, master chore list, garden journal etc...all rolled into one...and unless you are an avid gardener and journal keeper...50 cards should be plenty for the whole season.

Start by creating a card for each outdoor space that you hope to care for or create in this season. For example: Front Flower Bed by porch, Patio, Beds behind the Garage, Rock Bed, Fairy Garden, etc. At the top of the card write the outdoor space name and then on that card write a list of things that you need/want to accomplish with that particular area. Be sure to include routine chores also...like weed the bed, mulch etc...In the end the card should contain plans/dreams for that area as well as the to dos that are necessary for upkeep. This becomes your to do list and master card for that particular space. Right now I have seven or eight such areas....haven't decided if I am going to replant one area beside the patio or let it return to its natural state.

Now let's say I end up with 8 Area Cards.....Following those 8 cards I will create 8-16 reference cards one for each area...they will be labeled Front Flower Bed Notes, Patio Notes etc. The purpose of these cards are to record information about the type of plants I try in those beds this year. I am working toward perrenials but I also have some annuals too...so instead of keeping all those little stakes...I write the info on these cards...if you have a big bed or big list...allow two cards for each bed. If you like you can create a little map of each bed and label the plants as they are located in that bed.

The next section will be my Gardening Journal....thoughts, notes, ideas, etc about the season as it unfolds....some may just be inspirational...some may be important for remembering next year. At the very back of the notecard book I will reserve 3-5 cards for a section called Things I Want to Try Next Year....Then when I come across a certain plant I'd like to try out...or a friend suggests one...I'll jot a note to myself in this little section....or perhaps this year it is too late to thin out some plantings but I know next year I will HAVE to do it....those notes go in this section also.

This is just my little take on outdoor planning...so if the Spring bug is biting you already....maybe you will want to set one up also...When I get a minute....I'll post a picture of the little creation!!

Just Ginger: Fairy Valentine Bag

As promised I will be sharing some Just Ginger items with you. These items will be things that I discover and/or make that are fairly simple and inexpensive yet ...cute...well at least I think they are cute. LOL. Above is a package of Martha Stewart ribbon that I picked up at Walmart. The reason I wanted to show it to you is this. I first picked up an assorted pack of ribbon in the craft/scrapbook area. It had four valentine ribbons in the package and each ribbon was a yard long...so it was 4 yards for $2.97....then I just happened to see some this Valentine ribbon hanging on a back end cap. In this package you get 5 types of ribbon...and each one has 4 yards of it for a total of 20 yards of ribbon for $3.97. WOW...that's a much better deal!

Next here's a pack of peppermint coffee/tea/hot chocolate spoons I picked up after Christmas at Kohls. On clearance for 70% off so the total cost of the spoons was $2.10. There are 8 spoons in the package and each are individually wrapped at about a cost of 26 cents a spoon. They are not specifically Christmasy which is why I grabbed them and they certainly have a long shelf life. I've used two of the spoons already!!!!

So here is the stuffed Fairy Valentine Bag. It's stuffed with the items pictured below and is intended for the daughter of one of the girls at work. She is "into" fairies and since I had the stuff and wanted to play around with a project...this was the perfect opportunity!

Here are the details of the items.

• Multi-colored heart mini tote bag purchased last year after Valentine's Day: 25 cents,
• Fancy Red draw string bag with feathers purchased after Christmas 12 cents.
• To the right of that is a little altered book. It is a blank book that I found at Dollar General called Angels in Disguise. They were 2 for a dollar. I used some heart paper and stickers to make it a little Valentine Fairy Book!
• Below that you see the strings for the tea bags. I added the tiny hears. You can also do one larger heart but I didn't have a large heart punch so I just used the tiny one I had!
• To the left of the tea bags is a red candy stirring sppon that I added ribbons to
• Last a star wand that I also embellished with ribbon. The wands came in a four pack in the Valentine section of Walmart for $2.00. So the wands are 50 cents each.
• Last I printed the Fairy Tea poem and put it on some card stock with a heart!

I tucked the three tea bags and card with the poem into the little red bag before inserting it into the tote. Then I just tucked in the other items and viola...a cute inexpensive original Valentine's gift. TOTAL COST is about $2.20 (figuring in a few cents for the ribbon and tea bags). Hope you enjoy it and are inspired to create some fun little gifts yourself!

Semi Homemade

I love the whole concept behind Sandra Lee's Semi Home Made....here's the Site: Semi Home Made. The idea that in today's busy world we may not be able to go back to the "make it yourself era" but we can still have really nice things with a bit of creativity. And while I would love to be able to make everything HOME MADE....I know that's just not going to happen....so I like the whole idea behind it.

Then of course one thing leads to another and I thought hmmmm that might be a great adventure to document here at Month by Month for 2009. What I'm think it I will find little objects and projects that fit in that semi home made category and share them with you here at Month by Month....Some may be great ideas I discover while browsing the internet (goodness knows there's tons of them) and some will come from my own creativity. I hope to include in this Month by Month feature...flea market finds (flea market opens here March 1st)....any way....items picked up for next to nothing and transformed in to decor or gifts...etc...as well as great dolllar store and other store finds...

I'm not sure what to call the new feature yet but I was thinking about Just Ginger...even though I already have a blog called that...LOL...we'll we will see. Later this week be watching for the first installment.