Glass jar terrarium

So I'd like to say that I've completed my first-ever Pinterest project. But that would be a half-truth. Instead, it is my husband - who doesn't even have a Pinterest account - that can tout this proud accomplishment today. However, I was there - sitting across the table - to lend judgment help and photograph the process, so I think I'll take some credit. I don't think you mind.

Brian has been saying for weeks that he wants to create a glass terrarium for our dining room. I think he got the itch after watching a segment on "Sunday Morning" that featured renowned glass and terrarium artist, Paula Hayes. Her awesome terrariums are on display in multiple art museums throughout the world, and are made of very large custom, hand-blown glass vessels that are tens of thousands of dollars.

Ours? Just $20. Word to your hubby.

Most of the materials were purchased through a kit at Oakland Nursery in Columbus, Ohio... just this morning. So it doesn't take long to get everything in order and get down to making your very own living decoration.

The terrarium kit came with most of what you see here, except for the three plants. It was nice of them to label all of the ingredients. You know, in case you don't know your "rocks" from your "soil."

Next, we simply added each element in the proper order to ensure self-watering and proper filtration inside the terrarium. Thankfully, the kit came with detailed (but very easy) instructions, so we felt confident in diving right in. First step - adding the rocks! And any rocks will do - even pretty tumbled ones from the craft store. We used the ones in the kit.

Well that was Staples' button easy. Next, we piled in a very thin layer of charcoal (filters the water) and then about four inches of soil. You do need to ensure the soil is clean and as organic as possible. You don't want a dirty little moldy world to develop inside there.

Now it's showtime! Make it rain all green up in here. Just one plant was actually cultivated for terrarium use, so it was tiny and fit in nice and snug right off the bat. The other two plants we had to break up, and used about 1/4 of each one. We dug little holes with a spoon, and made sure to pat down the soil between each plant to give them a secure footing in their new home.





After the plants were in, you can see above that we added a bit of dried moss that came with the kit. There were both dark green and lime pieces, which added some nice color to the foliage. Then we mixed in a bit of left-over rock and bark for added dimension and color.

Finally, we added a small amount of water with a baster to get the whole environment 'turned on,' and then put the lid on the jar. Now it's up to all the natural stuff to essentially take care of itself. We just have to watch the level of condensation, and when it seems minimal, add a bit more water. Shouldn't be that frequent.

As Mac would say (er, scream) - ALL DONE! Except we still had about half of our plants left, so we filled in a sad, wiry plant that was nearly dead upstairs, and it seems to have sprung back to life. Feels so good getting some greenery in the house in January!

Not bad for a quick Sunday project. It took us maybe 30 minutes during Mac's nap from start to finish - no big deal in my book. But creating, uploading and posting this entry? Well that took about five hours, in between chasing around that little spitfire 20-month-old. That's one CRAZY deal!

Dude, relax

Just a bit over 10 years ago, during my senior year of college, I lived with five other outspoken ladies. We all had our strengths and weaknesses when it came to running the family household, and if you dare to believe it, my vigor was keeping the asylum home neat and tidy.

However, my super-clean-neat-freakishnish regularly ticked off the other gals. And now I understand why. I mean, who wants to wake up early the day after a raging kegger and start cleaning the smelly tenement swimming in 700+ Natty Light beer cans?

"Oh me, please me! Yeah, let ME do it!!!"

I imagine it was pretty annoying to hear me running the sweeper at 10am when the last of them just went to bed at 6am. Is it too late to say I'm sorry?

Because guess what? I've managed to come a full 180 degrees since those days. I think most women would have turned more toward domesticity, but yeah no I've turned my psychotic cleaning days around and now I totally don’t care! Well I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm some neglectful hoarder who knowingly leaves a mountainous mess in every room, but the random toys and daily drinking glasses and week's worth of work clothes on the floor in our bedroom just don't bother me anymore.

So why am I so indifferent now? I swear on most days it bothers Brian more than me, and that's just weird. I do still get my gung-ho days where my hands can't keep up with my feet and I'm sprinting around the house like the Queen is coming for tea. But most of the time, I don't even see the mess.

And what did I used to hear from my housemates in college? The ones who just sat there drinking Mt. Dew while I tried to clean up around them, frustrated at their lack of concern for the pigsty surrounding them? – "Melissa, you just see it first."

Hmm. True. I did.  But not anymore.

Because now—instead—I see Mac. And how he loves to run around from toy to toy, and try it out for two seconds and then move on to the next one. Why would I pick them up? He's just going to pull them back out of the bins the minute I straighten up. And I work all week, and my time home with him is super precious. So the dishes can wait.

And honestly, no one but me notices the dog hair collecting in the corner, or the pile of laundry in the basement, or the extra leaves in our yard. Or the tiny fingerprints on all the doors about two feet up from the bottom. My mom always waits a day or two to wash them off her back door after a Mac visit. Such pensive little marks.

Folks, the Queen is surely never coming to visit. And any friend or family member who walks through our front door doesn't give two poos about our slight mess...because they have their own at home.

And I promise I won't look if you don't.

This gal learned a little in 2011

OK, strike that—I've learned a helluva a lot this year. Like when I was actually in school again for a few months. And when I had to buck up and learn how to raise an ornery 1-year-old, and decided to switch jobs, and thought it would be fun to put our house on the market for cow plop and chuckles. 

So what exactly did the fabulous year of 2011—my 32^nd year of life—teach me amongst all this chaotic silliness?

1. Don't move around your bedroom furniture by yourself on the first morning of your staycation. Because when you go to bend over and pick up your kid that evening, you'll throw out your back and then pass out at 4am in the kitchen from the pain, landing you in the ER on day #2 of staycation. Staycation ruined.

2. When traveling abroad, turn off your phone and never, ever turn it back on until you are safely back in the US of A, unless you call prior and get on an international plan. Within five minutes of playing on Facebook, I was charged over $50 by our fine friends at Verizon. And believe you me, my roaming was turned off.

3. When traveling abroad, "all-inclusive" does not always apply to the resort's top-shelf alcohol. Oh they will make you think it does, but later a nice lad will bring you a bill for a $108 bottle of craptastically gritty Mexican wine as a night cap. And of course at that point they don't understand a lick of English. ¡qué fastidio!

4. Dog's have a cute way of forewarning you when they are sick. Well, at least their bodily functions do. If your dog's flatulence is surprisingly debilitating for your family for a few days straight, chances are something not-so-pretty is going to happen. So put the pup in a cage or keep her outside until she erupts. You can thank me later.

5. If your kid doesn't like sugar, don’t push it on them at their first birthday party. We all want the cute photo of them diving into the cake and making a huge mess, but the mess they will leave you in the crib at 2 am is just not worth it.

6. If you are given a chance to get back to Athens, Ohio—do like Sir Mix-A-Lot says and jump on it! We traveled to OU for both my sister-in-law's graduation and a friend's wedding, and felt 10 years younger, instantly. Pub, Junction, Pawpurr's—then some sweet D.P. Dough. Oh, oh, yes please.

7. Planning a 10-year college reunion with girlfriends in Vegas is the Best. Idea. Ever. Screaming out Jersey Shore quotes while drinking on the strip? ...Well, that may not be.

8. Now this is a super-duper important one (ladies). Save the food section at Target for last. If you are anything like me, most Target trips take at least 1.5 hours. Thus, if you put a pint of Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie in your cart at oh, say 8:15 pm, by about 9:30 you've got quite the little mess for yourself in the shoe section.

9. No matter how much I try to be a loyal fan, my Ohio sports teams will always disappoint. Except when their players complete front-flips into the end zone.

10. Just as soon as I think Mac has a well-fitting (enough) wardrobe to get him by on weekends and at daycare for a few months, his pants all go Pee Wee Herman Harman on him.

And that's about all I've learned. Plus 1,534,968 other things. But that's the great thing about us human being peeps—we never stop learning. And I will never stop learning to make fun of my dorky self along the way.

Happy New Year 2012, friends! I'll see you on the flip side.