Starting seeds!

Gardening....

One of my coworkers asked me one day: "Morgan, why did you start gardening, and was it worth it?"  The second question is easy to answer, of course it is worth it.  You get to watch something grow right before your eyes with hopes of being able to eat some of it by the end of the summer!  We will see how the first harvest pans out, I'll keep you guys posted!  Now the first question was a little more difficult to answer.  My parents have always been gardeners and worked in the yard when I was a kid.  I used to think they were crazy when I was a teenager, they wanted to spend time shopping for plants and play in dirt, and all I could think of was how can I get out of this and hang out with my friends!  I can fully appreciate my parents now that I'm a little older and say I too, love to garden!

So to finally answer the first question, I started because my job can be stressful and there is nothing more satisfying that taking out your anger on some weeds, or carefully nurturing a plant back to health, and everything in between!  I enjoy to play in the dirt and my days off I spend either out in the back yard or shopping for things that need to go in the yard!

So to get back to seed starting...

What I did was get a seed starting kit from Home Depot.  I really liked the one from burpee, 50 cells with the watering mat.  I wanted to do all of this organic and my goal for these projects is to not pay for any water.  I ended up having to pay for a little bit of water, but otherwise I use rain barrels and collect all of my water.  I will have another post up about making your own rain barrels.

I got the seeds and I set them in the sunny spot on my dining room table and watched them grow.  It was a lot easier than I anticipated, and in the end I think I started too many plants, but then you can give them to friends and family!  I will say that starting seeds as opposed to buying "transplants" (other peoples seeds) is a lot cheaper, one good tomato plant can cost $12.  Not to mention you get to watch the life cycle unfold in front of you!

I followed the directions on the packet and I have since planted them out in the yard.  Attached are some photos of the process!  I have also learned to love Gardener's Supply, it's where all of my money goes!

Custom Mason Jar Light Fixture

Thanks to Kara Paslay for posting an amazing set of instructions for this project.  You can find them at: http://karapaslaydesigns.blogspot.com/2010/03/diy-mason-jar-chandelier.html

I changed my design a little.  Instead of using 21 jars, I used 7 antique blue jars.  I ended up finding these antiques at a few different antique shops.  You can get on your local craigslist or Ebay and you'll be able to find them.   I was able to get 2 Ball jars that are from before 1910!  Seeing as my house was built in 1923, I was very excited to have a little bit of vintage and modern come together!

The other thing that I changed was the cord.  I used a yellow fabric wrapped cord from http://www.colorcord.com for only $1.50 per foot.  They're website was very user friendly and they shipped quickly.  They sell all different colors but I yellow had a night contrasting effect.

I bought the ceiling cap from home depot for $5.99, came with all the pieces that you needed to be able to mount the fixture.  The nice thing is that it looks just like a jar lid, so it fits right in!

Only key to this project is that when you are ready to mount the fixture, take the jars off of the lids, this makes it much lighter and easier to handle.  I would however still suggest that you do the weight and strength test prior to mounting it to the ceiling, but this does make it more manageable.

Here a few photos from the finished project:

Can't wait to make another one!

Happy home renovating!