Fall crafts.

I can't believe it's the first weekend of September already, but I'm not complaining. Fall is my favorite season and I'm so excited for sweater weather, colored leaves on the ground, and hot drinks. Technically it's still summer, but there's no reason not to get a jump-start on your fall crafts. Here are a couple that I shared on the blog last year:


Make this faux-bois painted pumpkin with black and gold craft paint.


I'm still hooked on making these wrapped yard wreaths, and this one with hand-stitched felt oak leaves is my favorite.

I hope you are enjoying the transition into fall. Have a nice, crafty weekend!

MINI Cooper fabrics!

I've wanted to sell MINI yardage for a long time, so I'm very pleased to announce that they're finally here! My MINI Cooper design printed by Spoonflower onto lovely quilting weight Kona Cotton for all you MINI loving crafters out there! Available in teal, yellow, pink, red, and black. Think of all the cool MINI things you could make with it! Quilts, potholders, make-up bags, sachets, applique projects... Check out the fabric section in my Etsy shop to see them all!

DIY Succulent Dish Garden

As a landscape architect and all-around plant lover, I enjoy arranging plants to create compositions. Combining the forms, textures, and colors of different plants is like painting a picture, but in 3 dimensions. I don't have a yard, so I have to get my fix of green with potted cacti and succulents in my little apartment and on my porch. Creating dish gardens is one of my favorite weekend projects. I'm frequently repotting and rearranging my succulent collection in new ways, to keep things interesting, incorporate newly acquired plants into my collection, and to respond to the needs of the plants.

I'm going to outline how to go about creating a dish garden in a container without drainage holes, because some of the best containers weren't originally intended for plants! I don't have a drill or a masonry drill bit, either, so adding holes isn't an option for me, but if you do, by all means, add holes!

Here's what you'll need to make your own succulent dish garden:
 

• A dish of your choice. Succulents have compact root systems, so you don't need to use something with a lot of depth. I'm using this wide glass bowl that I got on clearance at Target many years ago.
• Succulents. When choosing the plants to go in your garden, it's best to select plants with some contrast in their form and/or color. All of mine are in the blue/gray family, but each has a varying form (rosette, small scale, and spiky). Contrast is good!
• Cacti and succulent soil. It is always best to use the appropriate soil for your plants. Succulent soil has high levels of sand and light-weight porous material, which encourages water to drain. These plants hate soggy roots, so well-draining soil is essential.
• Decorative gravels. Here's a little trick of mine: skip the bags of gravel at your local nursery, and head to the pet supply store instead. The aquarium gravels that they offer are much less expensive, and you can often find many fun colors to choose from. I chose a fine white, a chunkier black (for drainage) and pretty sea glass for an accent.

Lets get started! Since my container is transparent, I wanted the layers to pop. So instead of placing the black drain rock right at the bottom of the dish, I added a layer of the white gravel, to create a stripe. Then I added a layer of the black rock. The larger rock creates more air pockets, which means more places for excess water to hang out, keeping it away from the roots of your plants.


Add your soil.



Decide on an arrangement for your plants. Odd numbers generally look better in these types of arrangements. I'm using three, so I just used a triangular spacing. Infill with soil and make sure your plants have a sturdy footing.



Top off with a layer of decorative gravel to cover the soil and give your dish a finished look. Make sure the top of your gravel is below the top lip of your container. Resist the urge to water your succulents right away. If the roots were damaged during planting, they are more susceptible to fungus and bacteria during this time. So, let it be for a week or two before you water it.



Here's one of my favorite parts: I like to place accents in my dish gardens, whether it's a single lava rock, a piece of fools gold, a painted stone, or a miniature ceramic figure. I got this great little ceramic pagoda at a bonsai shop and thought the pink really complimented the colors of the rock and the plants.



Find a nice spot for your new mini garden and enjoy!

I had a bit of gravel leftover, so I topped off a few of my other house plants and added the sea glass to this succulent in a repurposed vase. Cute, right?




This is just a portion of my indoor plant collection. I'm constantly moving them around so they get the appropriate amount of light, and keeping an eye on them if they seem to look stressed. Succulents can be tricky to grow indoors, but I've had many of mine for years now. Generally, succulents with red and purple in the leaves prefer more direct light than their all green friends, so keep that in mind when you're shopping. Some species just do better outdoors, though, so be open to finding the right situation where your plants will thrive. And don't overwater! :)
It's Labor Day weekend! Have a good one!

P.S. Make a dish garden for Halloween! 

What I've been up to.

A few things that have been keeping me busy lately:

1. My 3 year-old niece is a Mini Cooper fan in the making! She went to the Tiny Car Show in Pacific Grove a couple weeks ago with her mom (one of my sisters) and told me all about all of the Minis she saw. She said she even saw a yellow one just like mine. :)
2. I got a vintage aluminum Christmas tree and color wheel! And now I'm counting down the days till I can set it up in my front window.
3. New fabric prints and colors designed by me and printed by Spoonflower. I'll be listing them in the shop this week, even though I want to keep them all.
4. New old stock script address number. I love this font.
5. Pretty carnival rides at the Monterey Fair Grounds this past Saturday. I was there at a music festival to see...
6. Mumford & Sons! It was a wonderful show and I'm still humming all of the songs. I just discovered this nice video on Youtube of M&S playing on of my favorites, "Winter Winds". Six other bands played, too, so I've got some new songs on rotation on my iphone.

Have a great week!

Retroauto.

1958 Buick Centurion

If you're really into cars, this weekend is a big one. The annual Concours d'Elegance is held in Pebble Beach, California this Sunday, rounding out a week full of auto shows and races held up and down the central coast of California. If you're in the Monterey area right now, you're probably tripping over Lamborghinis, Bugattis, and other crazy car brands that you've maybe never heard of before. I know this, firstly, because I grew up in Monterey County, and second, because I had the pleasure of working at the Concours event in 2008 and 2009 (and sitting in the resulting traffic on Highway 1 surrounded by car movers that were bigger than my apartment).

1958 Oldsmobile F-88 Roadster. Also the poster car for the event that year.

So, back in 2008, I was working as a Concours barista at the Pebble Beach Resort. If you're not familiar with the event, it's an antique auto show, in the style of the classic French auto shows. The world's best examples of classic, rare autos are showcased and people come from literally all over to show off their rides and rub elbows with other auto enthusiasts (or just sip champagne and show off their outfits). I was working one of the set-up days before the actual show, finished up my shift, and had a chance to take a walk around and see the exhibits. I made a bee-line to this area and saw some of the coolest cars ever.

Rotating platform with a rocket car

I'm sure many of us have seen photos of these concept "cars of the future" from the 50's and 60's. The atomic age was a time when Americans were really looking ahead, in an excited and positive way. There were space missions and technology innovations that really stimulated the imagination of designers. It was a creative age for all industries, from home appliances to automobiles. Everyone wanted to get a piece of this futuristic sensation. These particular models never went into production, but were used as promotional pieces for the touring auto groups.

1958 Firebird III

Headlight, or ray gun?

Let's drool over some insane interiors, shall we?

Great knobs and gears.

Interior of the Buick Centurion, above. Secret mission instructions pop up on that little screen.

Glass bubble roof and crazy steering wheel! No 10 and 2 for this driver!

And speaking of touring auto shows, this beast, the GM Futurliner was used in the "Parade of Progress" - a touring group showcasing cars and innovation. Wikipedia says the Futurliners featured modern amenities, like jet engines, televisions, and microwave ovens. Only 12 were ever built, and there were only a reported 9 of them left in existence as of 2007.

The side panel opens down and the little door in the front opens to a staircase to the drivers seat.

Needless to say, it was very exciting to be able to see some of these cool one of a kind cars in real life. There weren't even any crowds! Just me and the guy in the sweater.

If you'd like to see a few more of my photos, check out my Flickr album. You'll see some cool modern cars, too. 

*all photos copyright Casey Starks and Vitamini Handmade