4 ways to make DIY Copper Planters or Vases / 4 Vasi in Ramo per i Cactus FaiDaTe

From copper caps @ poppytalk	from cardboard @ curbly
using copper leaf @ stylemyhomewiththingsofmyown	using spraypaint @ amerrymishap

I've been loving the look of minty green plants in copper containers.  Here are 2 DIYs to try for making your own. I think I might make a few to add some warmth to the kitchen of the new house.

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Sto amando l'aspetto di piante verde in contenitori di rame. Qui ci sono 4 DIYs provare per fare il proprio. Penso che potrei fare un paio di aggiungere po 'di calore alla cucina della nuova casa.

♥ Jess

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Spring Equinox

Hello springtime! Hello buds and blossoms. Welcome, welcome welcome!  It's a miracle you come each year. 

I'm feeling very lucky today on this first day of Spring 2014. Look at this gorgeous flower that opened on my windowsill as a special springtime gift! My new season's wish is to remember that each and every flower is perfect and exists to be seen and recognised in its perfection.

And by flower I mean everything.

Ciao primavera! Ciao boccioli e fiori. Benvenuti, benvenuti benvenuti! E 'un miracolo che arrivi ogni anno. 

Mi sento molto fortunato oggi in questo primo giorno della primavera 2014. Guardate questo splendido fiore che ha aperto sul mio davanzale come un regalo speciale primaverile! Il mio desiderio per la nuova stagione è di ricordare che ogni fiore è perfetto ed esiste per essere visto e riconosciuto nella sua perfezione. 

E per fiore intendo tutto.

♥ Jess

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A Little bit of Autumn

As October is nearly coming to an end I thought I'd fill you in on our Autumn so far:

-This year I decided not to carve any pumpkins and instead to draw directly onto the pumpkins wth Sharpie markers. It's a quick solution and though I can't put candles in them they will last a little bit longer this year.  I can't wait until Halloween... Sera wants to be the tooth fairy!

-There are still flowers blooming in our tiny urban garden outside. Until last week I couldn't remember what colour these flowers would be but then as soon as they bloomed I remembered. Pumpkin orange! Perfect for the season.

-Sera and I have found a beautiful park behind her new school. Every morning we arrive a little early and park on the other side of the park so that we can walk through it and listen to the birds. After I pick her up, we do the same ont he way back to the car but this time can stop to walk across a log, collect leaves or pick the last wildflowers of the season.

-I pulled out my old Halloween decorations this week and found this old friend in the box. He's a papier machè cat I made for myself quite a few years back after reading an article about Lori Mitchell's version.  It's clear I didn't stray at all from her design so all the credit goes to her. Check out her other characters!

Dream Home Search

Recently we've been spending loads of time looking at apartments, lofts and houses to potentially buy if we ever decide that we're serious about moving and get our place on the market. It's not easy, because although I'm the type of person who can see potential in any living space I'm also in love with my current home and am reluctant to move if it means compromising.

I like to walk through empty spaces and imagine myself as a future me and the things I would be doing in them. There was the bathroom yesterday with enough space in it for a sofa and I saw myself surrounded by candles soaking in the luxurious tub. There was also the terrace with the view of the alps, in my mind I had already hung a hammock and installed an outdoor fireplace. On winter mornings I could sip my tea while gazing out and thinking about the vastness of those peaks and feel a part of this wonderful universe. There was the loft with its own separate office space where I could set up an intense art/craft/office/meditation room... I even thought about how I could rent the space from myself, set up a business and deduct the rental from my taxes.  I find it amusing that I think of all these things cause not only do I never light candles when taking a bath, I also don't regularly drink tea and currently don't have plans to start a business. I fantasise about other versions of me that I imagine the spaces could unlock. 

My current home has unlocked new versions of me in the past five years: my kitchen and living room have made me a gourmet cook and celebrated hostess.  My patch of cement outside the front door has made me an urban gardener.  My tiny itty bitty office has developed a blogger, animated filmmaker, quilter, seamstress, scrapbooker, knitter and toy maker and has unlocked new crafts and hobbies that I didn't even know I was capable of. My staircase and various Ikea furniture have turned me into a carpenter and handyman and other home-owning disasters helped me become an electrician and plumber as well.  This home has also been the one that has cradled me throughout the biggest change in my adult life of becoming a parent... And being a stay-at-home mum means it has been there for me even more-so.

What do I want in a new home? Well, the more places I see the more confused I am and somehow at the same time the clearer my vision.  Here's a list of what I've figured out so far and some examples:

-I want enough space to have a space for everything and everything in its place. Though I declutter regularly there's still a need for order and that comes with having enough storage to keep what you do need hidden away.

-I want a real bedroom for Sera as well as myself.  Currently I am sleeping on the open upstairs landing of our loft and Sera is in a tiny space that we separated with plasterboard walls. It's big enough for now but probably won't fit a single bed and there isn't too much space to play. Though there's no siblings in the cards I'd hope that Sera's room would be big enough to accommodate two, just in case.  The next house we live in should really be the one we're going to be living in for the next 10-15 years. I'd also like a bit of privacy when we have guests. 

-And speaking of guests I've got them sleeping on a twin air actress in the middle of the living room when they come. Considering my living room is also my lounge, office, kitchen and entryway and is pretty much the exact size of the air mattress you can see how that might not work too well. 

-I'd like a bathroom for at least each level of the house. Potty training and pregnancy have both taught me about the need for easy access to a bathroom. It would be wonderful to have an old fashioned tub and some glamorous curtains incorporated in some way.  I automatically reject any home without the possibility of a tub somewhere.

-I want a bit of outdoor space to call my own where we can catch some vitamin D and do some more urban gardening. It can be a garden, terrace, balcony, whatever. Ideally it would be big enough to setup a wading pool in the hotter months. 

-I want a third bedroom so that I can use it as an office/craft room/guest room/meditation room. I want it to be the cleverest and most multi-tasking room of the house and my own personal sanctuary (sounds selfish huh?)

-an amazing kitchen would be next on the list with huge entertaining possibilities. I love preparing food for people and entertaining and even though I manage in my current kitchen I'd just adore something more functional and stylish.

-the most important room of the house would of course be the living room/den. I want height and light and all of my books and nick knacks prominently on display.  It's the room where we will spend most of our time and therefore should be the biggest and most functional.

So, it's a tall order, especially for Milan where property generally starts at €3000 per square meter, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed and eyes open for places that might be suitable.  For the meantime however, I'm perfectly happy in our cosy loft exactly as we are.  I'll let you know how it goes!

Check out more of my dream home inspiration on Pinterest!

battling the cottony cushion scale

the cottony cushion scale

What feeling do you get in your stomach after looking at these guys for a little while? If your answer is disgust and horror mixed with a bit of nausea then we're on the same page.

Meet the cottony cushion scale, a recent tenant on my lemon tree potted outside my front door (and also living in the neighbours' roses).  The large white textured things are the mothers with egg sacks and you can see the young crawling around and setting up their own homes.

This thing is gross... don't try to touch the plant if it's infested, as I did originally, thinking cutting of the branches would help.. they're sticky and sickly and quite big.

I've starting war with the pest seeing how the colony is getting out of control now and I've spotted emigrants on the farthest branches threatening my other plants. I went to the garden centre in the hopes of finding a natural, non-pesticide solution, but because of the temperatures, season and size of the colony they told me I had no choice and sold me Zapi Insetticida Universale Abbattente (I've since learnt that I've been completely overcharged... I don't like to badmouth on my blog, but if you want to know what garden centre NOT to go to drop me a line... I'll give you a hint, it's really really close to where I live).

I contacted my neighbour to see if I could treat her roses as well. They have a large infestation in the upper vines so it's advisable to cut the plant down a bit and only treat the areas where needed. She gave me the ok.

Out I went, moved around my plants and discovered to my horror that my chinotto plant (another citrus, with orange like fruit and very fragrant flowers) and my other lemon tree were also showing the first signs of infestation! Oh no!

I got the shears out and got rid of the worst affected branches, even though the resulting forms were less than pretty. The chinotto looks like it had a haircut at a rave.  Then I started spraying the pesticide solution on  every branch and the tops and bottoms of every leaf until the plants were dripping.  As I sprayed I saw how some of the smaller white insects lost their coating and turned orange. Yuck yuck yuck!

I have to treat the plant again in a few weeks and I'm hoping that the product works cause I'd hate to lose these plants. I'm going to give my battle a few months, and if I see I'm losing, cut all three plants right back and hope for the best next spring, but I'm hoping it wont get to that stage.

Pests really are a pest aren't they?  Have you had any experiences with them or can you gardeners out there give me some new advise?

my own pineapple experiment

I recently pinned a really intriguing post from ModernParentsMessyKids (a blog I LOVE by the way) about regrowing your food from food scraps.  I love how the article is set up and the tips it gives (with other info on regrowing spring onions and avocadoes), as well as the chart she's made for her daughter to 'observe the changes'. I think Sera's a bit too little still for something like that, but if your kids are a bit older it can be a super fun project to do together.

I have to admit that the only pineapple I can ever remember eating came from a jar so buying it at the supermarket wasn't easy. What kind to choose?!? All this keeping in mind that before you have food scraps you have to actually eat the food.

I wasn't really sure what to do with the fruit part when I got home. I ate some but it didn't taste at all like the kind in the jar or anything like what I was expecting. I suspect I chose a fruit that wasn't quite ripe yet. I suppose I should ahve read the article on how to choose a pineapple.

I did find a nicely illustrated article on wikihow which helped out quite a bit with the cleaning and preparing of the 'leaves' and can help you through the process as well.

It's only early days and I don't expect to see any growth yet, but I wondered if I could get some of you onboard and we could all grow our pineappe tops together? Or maybe you've experimented yourself in thepast and can give more tips?