Terrariums

First off, I wanted to say that I went back here to answer any questions or to just say "thank you" to a suggestion or comment you made! :-) I usually try to go back and do this every few posts, so if you don't get an email from me when you've asked a question in Comments, just go back to those sections to see if I've replied. I always love reading the comments and you guys always link me to fun things.. and I also appreciate your compliments. Thank you!

Also, I'm going to try and write up a tutorial on the digital silhouettes soon. :-) There were lots of people inquiring about how to do them, so I would love to do a tutorial to explain them better. May take me a week or so though.

Also, I have a couple questions for YOU guys.. :-) I have a 4 year old that seems to be growing out of his train obsession (sniff, sniff.. i knew the day would come, but not so fast!) He still likes them, but just doesn't want to play with them... he instead just wants to jump on furniture and in general, bug mommy and daddy. ;-) He's having a hard time entertaining himself these days. BUT we have found that he DOES like the Wii. So it looks like he's entering his video game phase (sigh... another thing that has come too fast. :( Although I don't mind the games he's playing right now. They are pretty tame and fun, and not too super-kinetic.

So i'm curious if any of you with 4-5 year olds could share some things that your boys like to play with? Video games? Games in general? Toys? Activities?

Also, on another random note, I just started subscribing to Marie Claire Idees (i know... SWOON!!! :-) And I'm curious if there are any english translations on the web for those? I LOVE the images of course, but can't read the copy. Lol. Which I of course knew, but thought maybe someone nice has put out a translation for the issues somewhere. I did a quick search but couldn't find anything. I really am in love with that magazine. I can see why so many crafters out there love it. :-)

ALSO, another random question for you: We recently stopped using our pest control service to find something chemical-free. Well we started getting ants. (UGH.) I bought this stuff, and while it works on contact, it doesn't totally keep them away. So I saw this product recommend on this blog that I always read. I just bought some. I hope it works. Was curious if any of you use natural pest control remedies that work for you? I can't stand bugs, and we get ALL KINDS b/c we live in such a wooded area. Thanks in advance for any recs.

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So, to the terrariums. I got the idea for this from this lady, who got the idea from this lady (as I've mentioned). They REALLY were such a fun idea for the kids. They seemed to enjoy them. I think I had even more fun gathering all the supplies for them. I got the instructions on how to make them from here. Very simple. I bought the glass bowls from Michaels (by far the most expensive part of the project. I would definitely recommend buying them at second-hand stores or make sure you have a coupon!) I bought the plants at Home Depot. The instructions said to make sure your plants need to grow in a similar environment, so I got shade or partial shade plants, since I knew these would mostly be kept indoors.

Supposedly terrariums don't have to been watered alot. They are supposed to sort of take care of themselves, but i need to read more on that. I wish I had typed up a little "How To Care For" takeaway sheet that the parents could take with them. Just not enough time. I hope to send an email to the parents this week though. Although, I'm sure they would do just fine on their own. Lol! Personally, I have no green thumb, so an instruction manual would be nice to have with my lack of gardening skills. ;-)

I bought some Thyme and another moss ground cover plant (can't remember the name). I split the plants so I wouldn't have to buy so many plants. This worked out great. I just split them in half with my hands. There might have been a better way to do this, but hopefully their little root systems will survive. ;-)

I bought all of the other supplies at Home Depot, and the miniatures at A. Bel Emporium. Her "Magical Forest" samplers were PERFECT for these! IN LOVE! :-) I had fun with my macro lens on these.

I set up the table with all of the supplies, except for the buckets of pebbles, moss and soil. Those were on the ground and I used beach kid's shovels for them to scoop out everything. They made them on the ground. Worked out well.

I taped a step-by-step on how to make them on the table so that if I wasn't around, the parents could help their kids make them themselves. I found the gnome artwork from istockphoto.

I also made tattoos with this paper that I found on Bella Dia'sCrafty Crow blog (been wanting to mention this blog for SO long! Fantastic craft ideas for kids.) It's paper that you can run thru your ink jet printer that is a waterslide paper! Super cool idea. Loved that I could personalize these for Cam's party. Although I did make one mistake which was obvious when I put them on the kids.. i should've cut out around the images better. I just cut them into squares thinking that the ink part just transfers. Didn't quite look right, but they still stuck. So i cut out some more for Cooper after the party and applied them, and they looked alot better.. more like tattoos. The mushroom artwork is also from istockphoto.com.

Here are some pics of the terrariums along with a super-duper-velveeta-cheezy pic of Coop with his. :-)

Comments

[Stefanie Edwards]

Just wanted to say that I love reading your blog and am inspired every time...so thanks. And for a natural ant killer...grits will do the trick. Just wait for dry weather and place them on the hill...the ants will carry it to the queen who will eat and then drink which will kill her and then the entire community. I also have heard that ants dislike cucumber and that if you place cut up pieces around the places you think they are entering your home that the will stay away. Hope this helps!

[Sharon]

I LOVE the Terrariums! That's such a great "take home"! I've tried to escape the "goodie bags" idea unless it's something they've made or made an effort to get (scagenger hunt, etc.) - those would fit perfectly!

About playtime ... my son is almost 5. I have 1 day off work each week. About a month ago I decided to find a "project" we could do together (without paying for lessons of sorts). He doesn't like to craft (unless it's someone else's craft), so I decided to try drawing. He had shown interest about a year ago. I found this blog, got "special" art books & pencils and I was determined to do 1 lesson a week, together - so we could both improve. Never got past the 1st lesson and I can't keep a pen out of his hand. Try the "blind observation" one with the plate. Maybe if he won't play with trains, you can use them as props to draw :)
http://www.whiteoakschool.com/camp-creek-blog/2008/2/15/art-lesson-blind-contour-drawing.html

[Lanne]

SUCH cute lil Ts! Loved them! I have a four year old who has also moved on from trains (a while ago sadly! and we dont have another little one waiting to play!) We are all about cooking... costumes and secret missions here. I have JUST literally finished typing up todays secret mission. I start with one card . which magically appears from headquarters.. it offers a clue.. i then stash the next card where the answer of the first one was. Ie. .. There is a place which can be filled with water.. but where no fish swim. Hint: Don’t get your clothes dirty looking. The answer is the washing machine. At the end there is a game or a surprise... He seems to then happily play for a while! :) Picture clues work well too and so does putting together his own secret agent hunt. (home magazines rock for pictures.. or catalogues.. It is easy to cut out a bed or a set of drawers or a washing machine etc.

We are also loving costumes (second hand, vintage, masks etc .. I just dont buy the standard costumes.. I dont want to live with Batman just yet!) .. Ikea had some.. we got a pirate hat from a vintage store etc.

Castles and knights and dinosaurs are our big thing... We picked up the Tower of Doom http://www.earlylearningcentre.com.au on sale and it has been a HUGE winner... lots of dinosaurs etc... puppets (got a great set from etsy.. anything with another world to play in..

GOOD LUCK!

[Jessica]

Hi. I love your party ideas. I am a new mother and can't wait until my son is a bit older to try these ideas at his parties. I don't want him to grow up so fast but can't wait as well. Thank you.

[geek+nerd]

Okay - a couple of things. If your son likes to move, does he like to dance??? I'm a dance teacher and I've found that a lot of little guys can't resist bouncing around to some fun music. I'd find some funky CDs and leave him to his devices! If he's interested in this kind of stuff, e-mail me, and I can send you some movement activities you can do together as a family. Secondly, about the bug thing. I don't know if it works for other bugs, but this works for ants. Cut off the ends of cucumbers and sit them in corners of problem areas like your kitchen. They're not aesthetically pleasing, they'll get dry and gnarly, but this works. Something in the skin is poisonous to ants, they'll eat it, go back to their hill, die, the ants will eat the bodies, chain reaction... My mom did this when I was growing up and I swear by it. Thirdly - terrariums=awesome!

[old school acres]

We have a mini trampoline (think exercise trampoline) for our bouncy girl. We use it inside and it's great for rainy days.

[Sarah]

This may be dense...but what kind of moss? Do you find it in the gardening section? I'm apparently moss-ignorant. As far as your son...maybe he's ready to move on to Legos...a very FUN stage. Start with the bigger ones...I think there are some for ages 3.5-5...they're not huge but not super tiny either.

[Kari]

You are so inspiring Danielle! Wow! I LOVE reading your blog. You have some amazing ideas and your photos are beautiful! I wish I had more time to do everything you do.

I have a 4 1/2 year old and he is so into costumes right now. He loves to dress up as super heros using what we have around the house. I have been meaning to find some vintage costumes like Lanne's comment above. My son is also really into Star Wars and loves to dress like Obi Wan and Darth Vader. It's all about the costumes and vintage comic characters right now.

He is also interested in photography. He has the Fisher-Price digital camera that he loves to use and I also give him inexpensive disposable cameras and let him take pictures of whatever he wants. After we get them developed, we talk about what he has taken pictures of and he helps me scrapbook them into albums. It's been great to see what he sees through his eyes and imagination.

[stacy]

Danielle, thanks for such a great blog! I am not a mother (yet) but LOVE kids + am always looking for great activities for my nieces that they can learn something from while also having fun. This past holiday season, I stumbled upon these two great activity books:

Dangerous Book for Boys: http://www.dangerousbookforboys.com/
Daring Book for Girls: http://www.daringbookforgirls.com/

They are a FABULOUS place for ideas on all levels from quick + easy indoor to hands-on outdoor activities. The website also has a link to a pretty quirky video that's kind of fun. My nieces LOVE their book + I let them take turns (there are three of them) picking out an activity when we get together. There's also some great history lessons that go along w/many of the activities! And let me tell you, some GREAT photo opportunities come with it!

To provide assistance w/your Marie Claire Idees, here's how you can translate the page (for this + most other sites) using Google Translate (they think of it all!):
1. Go to www.google.com
2. Type in "Marie Claire Idees" (it should be the first link in the search results titled "mci")
3. Next to "mci" in the search results, there is a link "[Translate this page]"; click on it
4. Voila! The site is now in English!
Note: Some pages translate better than others + a lot of text that might be in a graphic vs. text on the page will not translate either (ie. ads, etc.). But otherwise, you should be set!

Thanks for the temporary tattoo links + info on the terrariums! I was gifted one for Christmas + I LOVE it! Now I can make my own or keep the gift giving going. Also, I have found that a daily "misting" of the leaves w/a spray bottle helps to retain moisture + prevent leaves from drying out w/o overwatering the soil.

Cheers!

[Sarah]

This is not necessarily all natural, but it does not require spraying everything in sight to get rid of ants we use Terro ant baits. Cut one open, leave it on your counter (or whereever the ants are), and within a few days the ants are gone.

However, do NOT freak out the first few days. You will see a lot more ants than you started with as they discover that yummy whatever it is in the traps.

These things are magic and have totally eliminated theneed for spraying in our kitchen.

[Karla]

Wow - great ideas! Love them all. Thank you for providing all the info we need to recreate these ideas as well. I so love your blog - it is such a visual feast that is constantly inspiring me. I do not have kids but do have several young nieces and nephews. They LOVE Wii and in particular the game Rayman's Raving Rabbids - it is a good game for younger kids and is a lot of fun for everyone. We play it with them all of the time. Here is a link to a post with a grainy video clip of everyone playing! http://sugarbeardesigns.blogspot.com/2008/01/and-winner-is.html.
Karla

[Sophie]

I miss the Thomas the Tank engine phase myself...my son is now 9 and well past it all...and the girls (5 and soon to be 3) are just not into wooden trains...we had amazing luck with the Leapster...it's by Leap Frog which in general is a more educational electronic toy company...the cartridges actually teach things...and its portable...my son didn't get a Gameboy DS until he was 8...the Leapster lasted that long...the cartridges go until 3rd grade for the most part...and as an aside - I love your blog and creativity...thanks so much for keeping it up!

[Emily]

My son is also 4 and loves the game Cariboo. We've also been gardening and doing anything outdoors. He's not really crafty, which is a bummer for me. He also loves legos, and lincoln logs, anything you can build with. He would do that all day if he could! He is also into Star Wars and has tons of questions about the movies. Apparently I know nothing about it--far less than I thought I did!

[monica]

Hey! Here are some all-natural ant repellants - cinnamon, catnip and mint. I've actually only tried the ground cinnamon - just sprinkle it on windowsills or wherever they're coming in.. I've also heard the same thing for dried catnip, but haven't tried it. I've heard an all-natural landscaper friend say that planting mint around your house will stop ants from getting near your entryways, plus it smells nice. Good luck. :)

[VioletteCrumble]

Love these! Thanks for all the resources as well as the instructions. I needed to put something green and cute on my covered balcony, and now I know what I want to make. Also, that etsy seller has awesome cupcake toppers, I just bought a bunch.
- Jessica

[gina]

I'm local so some of my ideas are too!

We use Northwest Exterminatings organic service. It's still not 100% organic (and I wonder if it's 100% safer than the traditional) but it seems to be a good compromise. We tried to go without for so long, but with a basement and crawlspace and a wooded lot there was no way... I have made my own 'bait' for ants (borox and karo syrup?) works like a charm. They swarm out and then they bring the poison back to the queen and the nest is gone... It seems that leaks, wet areas are a big attraction, so make sure you don't have any water coming in somewhere. If you want more specifics on the traps let me know.

My 4 1/2 year old is also growing out of trains :( It is just no longer an every day all day long thing. My son loves to play with his leappad or leapster (so much that when the batteries run out I purposely take several days to replace so that he can find something else to do!) and loves to 'imagine' that all of our toys are something they are not. Most often they are piled up into 'machines' that make various things - so I'm looking for building sets. He loves, loves, loves legos - I highly recommend them. They are a bit frustrating at this age when they are brand new, but once they get that they can build anything, then the possibilities are endless. We like the CITY series. He knows they need to be played with up high and picked up to keep away from the baby so even that hasn't been too much of an issue.

The jumping on the furniture drives me batty - but soon it will be too hot and buggy to really enjoy the backyard and burn off that extra energy! Tent building with sheets and blankets using is a good substitute for the random jumping!

I also speak French - but see someone found the translation, so I guess that's more convenient!

I am dying for the digital tutorial - thanks in advance ;)

[Sarah]

WOW! What a plethora of information on your blog! I don't honestly know how you do it, having the time to link back to everything. That's so awesome. I need to be better about doing that, linking back to inspiration. Love your ideas. And everyone else's are neat too.
My husband has always done the bug spray and we never spray inside because I am against the chemicals too. He just sprays a barrier around the perimeter of the house and we rarely have any nasty critters inside. It works great. Then I don't have to worry about the chemicals near my babies inside at least. And we live in North Florida and have a huge wooded tree farm behind us, so I am sure we would get a ton of bugs if we didn't spray outside. love the cucumber idea. I think I heard that on the naturemoms blog or something similar.
For the play time, my son is almost 9 but when he was that age we played alot of board games together and he colored a lot. Really liked just cutting and pasting and gluing things together. A fun thing to do is get the post it big paper. Not sure the exact name, but it's Gigantic post it notes like 8x11 or 11x13, he can draw on those and stick them all over the house. For awhile we had an entire hallway full of the Post it artwork. Block are fun too. Love the natural wooden ones, helps them to use their imagination building things. Have you ever checked out Playmobil toys? http://store.playmobilusa.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-US-Site
They are made in Europe and won a lot of awards and high rated for safety. There are some small pieces to some sets so that might be something he could play quietly with while the baby is sleeping. My son has been playing with the pirate set since he was 4 and still plays with it 5 years later. I am even considering getting him the knights and roman coliseum for his birthday since he plays so well quietly with them. And they last forever!!!
Okay hope that helps! :)

[Katrina]

Wow...your blog is amazing! And what a great idea! I'll have to try this with the kids I sit for in the summer time! Thanks for the great ideas :)

[karen in toronto]

Play / interest suggestions, my boys are 7 and 9:

Lego all the way ... so many themes, it's creative ...

Playmobil - my boys loved the plane and fire trucks.

Brio building toys - kind of like a junior Meccano, but wooden. Here's a link:

http://www.woodentoystore.co.uk/index.php?cPath=39

Hope that helps :)

Karen

[paige]

a tutorial for digi silhouettes....oh happy day!!
love your terrariums...you are insanely too creative.
xo

[Sara Schofield]

Love, love, love your style...love the color that greets me whenever I visit your blog....love your ideas and crafty knack! Thanks for the inspiration! :)Sara

[Anneke]

Kids need to play. Most likely not with a wii or any other computer or tv-related thing! If you think train-time ends to soon and wii-time starts to fast, I'd say: do something about that! Put away the wii and try to bring new elements into his train-play. Play along with him perhaps. Sometimes children need to change their favorites. Maybe that's so for Cooper too, now. Let him explore other things, go outside with him, let him play with creative materials, sand and water. In short: let him find out what his new favorite-thing-to-do will be. I hope it's possible to postpone the wii-era a bit longer and just let him play, really play!

[Bethany]

Okay, so I have never commented on your blog before, but I LOVE it! Seriously! I love how willing you are to share your crafts and give tips! I love your pictures! I love your creativity! I love your love of Etsy! I just love the whole darn thing!! So, that being said, these birthday posts could NOT go without a comment!! The terrariums were SUCH a fabulous idea!! Seriously cool!! I am thinking that would be super fun for a playdate sometime in the near future!! And the cupcakes??? Hello cuteness! I am a lover all of things party planning and am working on the details of my darling daughter's second birthday bash that is coming up in July!! The theme is cupcakes and I am trying to come up with some SUPER fun and creative (and also unique!) ideas! So, if you happen to have any pop on over to my blog and leave me a comment if you don't mind!!

Keep up the fun posts! I love the inspiration!!

[Amy]

What an amazing blog!! I just stumbled upon it today! I just wanted to say that I have a five year old and we are in the same dilemma right now with keeping him busy. I will be interested to read the suggestions on here.

Great pictures!

[amanda bel]

The terrariums turned out so fantastic! I'm just going to have to make some now, too! I can't believe I never thought of adding the miniatures to them, what a perfect touch! (And thank you again for the mention of my little shop, it's much appreciated!)

Just to warn you: My boy (5 1/2 now) went through a Wii phase not too long ago that turned ugly. We saved it by making him a "Wii Card" that he gets at the beginning of every week. Each card has six boxes that represent 1/2 hour increments of computer/video game time. He is allowed to use them all absolutely whenever he wants, but when they are gone, that is IT. No whining, no complaining and no more games. The first Monday he proudly stated that he would play Wii for three hours straight, but as soon as those boxes started getting checked off he got concerned and decided to "save a few for later." Now he really polices himself and sometimes doesn't even fill-up the card in a week!! Shocking! Oh, and Max has always loved playing the kid-games on the Playhouse Disney and PBS Kids websites. They are free, usually educational, and very easy to navigate without help.

As for other fun things to do, Legos are great, and boys love hotwheels tracks (sorta like trains, but "cooler.") Oh, and my Max absolutely LOVED those marble-run sets when he was four, and he will still play with them for hours at a time.