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June 21, 2016 by Jenn Crookston

Hi there! I’m so glad you stopped by today!

Are you looking for an easy (and nearly free!) way to mark your veggies in the garden? I have a simple idea for you! Because if you’re like me, you probably won’t remember what you planted and where it went…but these DIY garden stakes will keep you organized and excited to see what veggies you’ve got coming.

This year we built some raised garden boxes to grow our veggies, and I can’t wait to see them overflowing with produce! And I’ll know exactly what I have since these DIY garden stakes are so easy to see and read.

I was working on another project recently, and I mentioned it to the employee at my local paint counter. She passed me a handful of stir sticks and said, “I think these might work for your project!” And she was right! Since then, when I’ve got a project to create, I consider what free items I can use. For my DIY Garden Stakes, I headed back to the paint counter and requested some paint stir sticks. I love how obvious it is that I’m not the only person who asks for stir sticks but no paint…without batting an eye, they just pass them over!

DIY Garden Markers

Lay paint sticks out on wax paper (the paint doesn’t stick to the wax paper, making it easier to flip the sticks over).
Paint with an exterior paint, for added durability (it’ll take a few thin coats to cover the stamped print on sticks, but if you don’t care about the back side being painted, you can get away with one coat).
When the paint is dry, use outdoor vinyl and a vinyl cutter (like a Cricut machine) to cut out the names of each of your plants, and attach them to one end of the stir stick.
If you don’t have a vinyl cutter, use a Sharpie to write the veggie names.
Use as is, or cut the ends of your paint stir sticks to a point, to look more like a stake. I didn’t need to do this since my soil was soft enough to push my markers in without a point.

I love how they look in the garden! The bright white with the easy-to-read black print makes me smile each time I walk out to the garden.

Looking for even more garden marker inspiration? Click the image below to see 10 cute, easy and inexpensive ideas!

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June 15, 2016 by Sydney Anderson

Make this DIY Kid-Friendly Bug Spray at home with our quick and easy recipe!

Is your favorite part of summer spending those lazy evenings out in the yard, watching the kids play and talking to friends or family? Mine too! Avoid making other “friends” while you’re enjoying your summer nights…bugs!

Conventional bug sprays are filled with yucky chemicals that we don’t in our kids’ growing bodies (or our own bodies, for that matter!). They not only absorb through the skin, but it’s hard to avoid inhaling them while applying the sprays. We certainly don’t want to do nothing and get bitten…so what’s a mom to do? Make her own, of course!

There are lots of different recipes for making your own bug spray because they are so easy to customize to the bugs you want to avoid. Different bugs dislike different scents, so add what you need in order to avoid those bites! Here are a few essential oils that are good to keep these bugs away:

Mosquitoes—lavender, eucalyptus, citronella

Flies—lavender, peppermint, rosemary

Ticks—lavender, lemongrass, eucalyptus

Some essential oils aren’t safe for kids, so I’ve only included oils in this spray that are safe for everyone…lavender and lemon. Both are fresh scents, safe for kids and good for keeping away mosquitoes and ticks! And if you want to add some plants to your yard to help repel mosquitoes, click HERE!

DIY Kid-Friendly Bug Spray

Supplies:

Spray Bottle
Label (you can print your FREE copy here)
1 oz witch hazel
1 oz distilled water
5 drops lavender essential oil
5 drops lemon essential oil

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in spray bottle and shake well to combine.
Shake well before each use.

Notes:

I put my Bug Spray in a 2 oz travel size spray bottle. They are inexpensive and small enough to carry in a purse or diaper bag!

Now that you’re protected from the bugs check out these fun (and FREE) outdoor activities:

Nature Bingo

Color Scavenger Hunt

June 14, 2016 by Jenn Crookston

Hi there, I’m so glad you stopped by!

Did you start your porch pot or window boxes early in the Spring? Are you ready to refresh your plants that may look a little past their prime, and get some warm-weather flowers in there? Then you’ve come to the right place! I’m sharing some of my favorites flowers to freshen up my pots.

This year I started my flower pots and window boxes early (you can see how my window boxes started here and how my pots started here). I loved finding plants and flowers that brightened up my porch while we still had unpredictable weather with snow and cold snaps.

Now that we’re in to summer, it’s time to add warm-weather plants to my pots and window boxes…plants that will do well in the heat of Utah summers.

I’m sharing 10 gorgeous flowers that do well in the heat and will really make your pots and window boxes stand out this summer!

Warm-Weather Plants for Porch Pots:

Petunias
Hawaiian Mahalo
Bacopa Snowtopia White
Pentas
Lantana
Million Bells
Sweet Potato Vine (gorgeous for spilling over pots)
Lobelia
Bidens (usually just comes in yellow, this year Western Gardens has it in red and orange too!)
Portulaca

Click NEXT for photos of each of these flowers, so you can see what they look like before you go to the nursery!

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June 10, 2016 by Jenn Crookston

Do you love planning out your garden? Do you eagerly anticipate all the delicious food you’ll be enjoying after all the hard work of caring for a garden? This is one of the highlights of Spring at our house!

But there always seems to be one downfall.

Life gets crazy and everyone gets busy, and no one wants to help. It turns into a bit of a Henny Penny situation…everyone wants to enjoy the delicious garden produce as long as I do all the work! And I bet it’s not just our family.

Over the years, I’ve come up with 5 tips to get kids gardening. These are easy tips for busy families, and they’ll help your garden look its best all summer long!

These 5 tips should help cover a variety of children’s personalities as well as their daily mood, and it’s nice to have a surprise in your back pocket if yesterday’s plan doesn’t work today!

5 Tips to get Kids Gardening

1. Get them their own tools

Everything is more fun if you’ve got your own supplies (bonus points if they’re cute and they match!). It’s also easier for kids to work with tools that fit them, and when it’s easier they’re a lot more likely to want to help!

(photo source)

2. Let Them Choose What You Grow

If they’re excited about the food you’re going to grow, chances are they’ll be excited about working in the garden to keep their plants healthy and growing strong. You can even give them a section of the garden to be in charge of. If they do all their own weeding and watering and harvesting, they’ll have a great sense of accomplishment!

3. Involve Friends

I know this might sound strange. What kid wants to go somewhere else and do chores? I’ve found that when kids are working with their friends, they don’t seem to mind the work. It can be fun if they’re working together, and popsicles are the perfect payment on a hot summer day!

4. Let Them Earn Money

If your child is driven by money, offer to let them have a produce stand with the extra veggies! We always seem to have a plethora of certain veggies (zucchini comes to mind!). Your produce stand can be as easy as some baskets set out on the curb, a folding table, or something as cute as this⬇︎

(photo source)

5. Work With Them

I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t matter if it’s a job inside the house or out in the yard, our children work harder and more happily when we’re working with them. I like to set aside about 30 minutes several mornings each week to work with my kids, weeding and cleaning up the garden area. This allows the kids to ask questions and get guidance and when we’re all working together, the work gets done quickly.
What tips do you have for getting kids to help you in the garden? Let me know in a comment below!

June 7, 2016 by Sydney Anderson

Hi there, thanks for stopping by today!

Do you love camping with your family in the summer? Roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over a fire with the people you enjoy most? Me too!

Some of my favorite memories are of camping in the mountains, at the lake, in the desert, and even in the backyard! I can’t wait to make the same memories with my boys…but since I’m 20+ weeks pregnant, sleeping on the ground isn’t very appealing.

So we’re bringing my favorite part of camping right to our front porch—campfires!

There’s nothing better than sitting around a camp fire, roasting hot dogs, making s’mores and just spending time together, laughing and telling stories. Currently we live in a great little townhome community— without a backyard—so building a fire pit was out of the question.

I couldn’t let that stop me!

I took matters into my own hands and made a mini fire pit out of a terra cotta pot for our front porch! I took my husband, who is definitely the brains of our family, into Western Gardens and he picked out this terra cotta pot with holes in the bottom. The holes allow more oxygen to enter the pot (just like on a charcoal grill), which will let the fire burn longer.

Longer lasting fires are perfect for those summer nights when the kids are playing, grown ups are chatting and you want to be able to make more s’mores when you get that craving (which happens a lot when you’re pregnant!).

Click NEXT to get the simple instructions!

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June 4, 2016 by Heather Leister

Hi there, thanks for stopping by!

Do you love beautiful flowers? Do you also love NOT spending a lot of time in the garden to keep them beautiful? Then I have the perfect answer for you! 10 low-maintenance perennials that will thrive in your yard and produce beautiful foliage and blooms all season long.

Between kids, job, house, husband (and everything else that falls through the cracks), I don’t have time for high-maintenance anything in my life right now. Especially in my yard! Plants have to meet two requirements before they go in the ground here.

They must be a perennial
They must be low maintenance

I’ve learned over the years that anything else won’t survive my crazy schedule and sometimes inattentive care.

At one point or another I have had each of the following plants in my yard, and they have all thrived.

10 Low-Maintenance Perennials:

1. Coneflower – A hardy flowering perennial, the Coneflower will bloom from early summer to fall. The Coneflower does well in drought conditions and will grow to approximately three feet tall.

2. Iris – The Iris is a multiplying wonder! Its bulbs will increase each year, and you will quickly end up with a mass of gorgeous flowers on tall green stalks. Once they are established, Irises require little care, and bulbs can be split and replanted in other areas of your yard.

3. Chrysanthemum – Chrysanthemums are an easy-to-grow perennial that will provide fall color in your yard. There are several different types of Mums, so make sure to select a garden variety mum that is suitable for your zone.

4. Sedum – Sedum is a wonderfully reliable groundcover. It can withstand heat, disease, and drought – and still continue to grow and spread. I currently have Sedum in a rock wall and it is thriving, even without a dedicated water source. As it spreads, divide it every few years, replanting it in different areas of your yard or gifting it to friends.

5. Yarrow – Yarrow is an extremely hardy perennial, and does well in cold, heat, and drought conditions. This plant is also deer resistant, so I have planted it throughout my yard! If deer are a problem in your yard, then don’t miss my favorite 10 deer-resistant plants!

6. Daylily – The Daylily is a workhorse of a perennial. These plants will reward you year after year with luscious green foliage and bright yellow flowers. Daylilies require little attention, and they are predictable plants that can also be divided and replanted as they spread. One of the best gifts that I ever received was a bag of Daylily plants that had been divided from mature plants in a friend’s backyard.

7. Coralbells – Coralbells are a showy, yet very low maintenance plant. They do well in a location that is partially shaded. This plant has unusual foliage and tiny bell-shaped flowers that bloom on tall, thin spikes. Coralbells spread well, and the flowers shoots give it height.

8. Hosta – Hosta thrives in the shade, and comes in a variety of sizes. I’m partial to Hosta with large, bright green leafs and I love having plants that come back bigger and better each year. My last yard was filled with Hostas, but I have had less success with them in my current yard, because the local deer enjoy them as a snack. Hostas are very easy to grow, but be mindful of pests that will damage the plants.9. Russian Sage – Russian Sage has light colored, silver foliage and spiky lavender flowers that will cover the leaves from late spring until autumn. This perennial prefers dry conditions, making it a plant that is definitely low maintenance. 10. Peony –When I planted my first Peony bush, I was surprised that such a resilient plant could produce such gorgeous flowers. Peony blossoms appear late spring to early summer and their beauty is tough to beat. Peonies comes back year after year, with bigger, showier flowers, and it requires minimal care, making this my favorite perennial!

Do you have any of these perennials in your yard? Which is your favorite? Tell us in the comments below!

Image Credits:
Peony, Hostas, Yarrow, Sedum, Coneflower: Pixabay
Russian Sage, Coralbells, Daylily, Chrysanthemum, Iris: Flickr

June 4, 2016 by Jenn Crookston

Looking to update your 4th of July BBQ decor? Try this fun layered look with paper fans, banners and garlands!

Plus, I’m sharing sources for everything you see here so you can recreate this patriotic look for your BBQ.

4th of July BBQ Decor

Paper Fans and Confetti (My Mind’s Eye)
Stars & Stripes and Flag Banner and Red, White, and Blue Pails (Target Dollar Spot)
Table Skirt, Blue and Silver Star Garland (Zurchers Party Store)
RWB Balls in the vase and Fountain Type vase decor (Hobby Lobby)
Lightbox and Letters (Heidi Swapp)

What’s great Red, White & Blue decor without a barbecue to go with it? Nothing beats an “All American” menu for a fun family get together!

4th of July Menu

Hamburgers (don’t forget the avocado for an amazing burger!)
Hotdogs
Steak
Chicken

Green Salad
Potato Salad
Chips (lots of varieties)
Fresh Fruit (watermelon is a must!)
Veggie Tray

Punch
Soda

Strawberry Shortcake
RWB Fresh Fruit topped Sugar Cookies
Funnel Cakes
Homemade Frostys

I mixed and matched the paper fans from three different decor lines at My Mind’s Eye: 4th of July, Red and Blue. They may have come from different lines, but they all coordinate perfectly! (For a great deal, shop right after the holiday, if you can wait that long! You’ll have to wait for nearly a year before you can use it, but the wait will be worth it if you’re patient!)

Don’t be afraid to use some height in your decor for added dimension. And if you feel like more layers would be better, add as many as you want. The most important design element is that you love it, so have fun with it and make it your own!

Have a safe and happy Fourth of July, with beautiful decor and lots of great food!

May 31, 2016 by Heather Leister

Welcome, I’m so glad you’re here!

Are you looking for an inexpensive way to light up your yard at night? Look no further! These easy DIY Solar Lanterns can be created with a quick trip to the dollar store. They’re simple to make and add a fun element to your landscape.

All it takes is a few simple supplies and a few minutes of your time. This is a project that kids love to help with too! (or is it just my kids that enjoy taking things apart? 😉)

For this project you’ll need some empty mason jars (or other small decorative jars), inexpensive solar lights, canning jar rings (optional, but they do give them a nicer finished look), and some hot glue.

Start with the mason (or other small decorative jar…I’ve used both and they work equally well). The key is to choose a jar with a small opening. If you use a wide-mouth canning jar, the solar light will fall through the opening to the bottom of the jar.

Now is the perfect time to stock up on inexpensive solar yard lights for any DIY solar projects you might have planned. They can be found at the dollar store. Purchase the plainest, simplest solar light you can find. For this example I’m using a solar table lamp that I purchased at my local Dollar Tree.

If you (or your kids!) like tearing things apart, then you’ll enjoy this next step! Take apart the solar light, what you want is the black, round unit at the top. You will see the solar cells on the top, and the lights at the bottom. This is all you need for the project, so go ahead and recycle the rest of the light, or save it for another project.

Depending on the size of your jar, your light may fit down in its mouth, or it may sit on top. Either way, I like to secure the solar light to the jar with hot glue.

For a finishing touch, add a canning ring to the top of the jar. Again, a little hot glue works nicely.

That’s it! Sit your lanterns on your porch or hang them on a shepherd’s hook in your yard and enjoy!

Click NEXT for the list of supplies and directions!

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May 28, 2016 by Sydney Anderson

Hi there, so glad you stopped by!

Are you looking for a sweet, tangy and delicious salsa? Something out of the ordinary that will have everyone begging for the recipe? Then you’re in the right place! This Strawberry Mango Salsa has only 6 fresh ingredients, and is ready to eat in less than 10 minutes!

Did you know that May is National Strawberry Month?! If it was up to me, every month would be National Strawberry Month. Since, sadly, it’s not, I will take full advantage of it in May and stock up on strawberries at a great price, while I wait for my strawberry plant to start delivering those red beauties right to my door step!

There are many ways to eat strawberries. From eating them plain to putting them in desserts or drinks, or even in your favorite breakfast. Strawberries are great no matter how you eat them! Today I’m sharing a new way to eat this delicious red fruit…in salsa!

I’m not a big spicy salsa fan. In fact, most salsas are too spicy for me. So when I heard about fruit salsas, I was in the kitchen whipping up a batch that night. My first attempt was a tasty peach salsa that we made last fall.

Peaches are out of season this time of year and this pregnant mama was wanting a sweet salsa to enjoy with some tortilla chips. Luckily, A few weeks ago I found strawberries for $1 a box and knew they would be a good base for my salsa. I also picked up a few mangoes and limes and made my way home.

I cut some cilantro from my indoor herb garden, diced up some leftover onions from burgers that weekend and mixed it all together. What I got was a sweet and tangy salsa my whole family devoured! I actually had to go back to the store the next day to get more strawberries to make another batch. If you like a little more heat to your salsa you could add some jalapeño or serrano peppers to kick it up a notch.

Strawberry Mango Salsa

Ingredients:

1 cup strawberries, diced
1 cup mango, diced (about 1 mango)
1/8 cup red onion, diced
2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
1 Tbsp honey
juice from 1 lime

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine honey and lime juice.
In a large bowl combine strawberries, mangoes, onions and cilantro.
Toss with honey-lime mix.
Chill until ready to serve.

Strawberry Mango Salsa

Ingredients

1 cup strawberries, diced
1 cup mango, diced (about 1 mango)
1/8 cup red onion, diced
2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
1 Tbsp honey
juice from 1 lime

Instructions

In a small bowl combine honey and lime juice.
In a large bowl combine strawberries, mangoes, onions and cilantro.
Toss with honey-lime mix.
Chill until ready to serve.

https://westerngardens.com/strawberry-mango-salsa/

What is your favorite way to eat strawberries? Head into any Western Gardens Center to pick up your strawberry plants and get started enjoying the fruit of the month!

Want a few more tasty strawberry recipes? Check these out:

No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake

Strawberry French Toast Cannolis

Copy Cat Sonic Lemon Berry Slush

May 24, 2016 by Sydney Anderson

Hi there, I’m so glad you stopped by!

Are you prone to killing innocent plants? Are you a self-proclaimed black thumb? Well, take a deep breath, I’m here to help!

I’m sharing 7 beautiful plants that will change your luck and grow your confidence (along with your plants!). Take it from a former black thumb, these plants are a breeze to take care of!

I’ve always admired beautiful gardens and flowers. Trying to have them in my home was another story. Part of the problem was forgetting to water them, and then overwatering when I did remember. The other part was buying the wrong plants and flowers for my area.

No matter what I did for years, every thing I planted died within a month. But not anymore! I am happy to say I have now kept three (four including the wine glass succulent in my office) houseplants alive for 2 months and a garden full of beautiful plants and flowers (that survived last month’s crazy warm/cold weather mix!).

House plants are easier to keep alive since you don’t have to worry about climate changes. If you’re a little nervous about keeping your plant babies alive, start here.

Click NEXT to see my favorite houseplants!

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