easy terrariums.

a few months ago, sam & i went to his camp up in marienville, pa. there are lots of trees surrounding the camp, and everything seems to be damp there most of the time. it's the perfect place for moss to grow, and there is moss covering the ground in most places. i really love looking at moss -  it's so small & cute, and there are so many different varieties, each one unique & beautiful. almost everytime i was outside, i would end up crouching down & discovering a new kind of moss.

a little glass candle jar & candle saucer.

when i was about to leave, i knew i wanted to take some with me, but wasn't sure what exactly i would do with it. i found an old mason jar & started picking little clumps of all my favorite kinds. it pulls up really easy, roots & all. i filled the entire jar up with clumps of moss, and it looked so pretty. that's when i decided i would try my luck at making a terrarium!

now, i am by no means an expert at this, so these "tips" are really just what i have tried & found to work for me. i am actually thinking about taking a class on terrarium making, because i think it could be a life long hobby. i did do a little research, but i kind of just pieced mine together with the materials i had around my house. here's a little summary of how to make one for yourself.

SUPPLIES.

mason jar from sam's paps, and thrifted glass jar. 

glass container - if you are using moss, or small tropical plants that need to be kept moist at all times, you need to have a container with a lid, or keep them misted EVERY day. it's a pretty big commitment, and i know i get super sad when one of my plants dies - i feel like i let it down. that's why the lid makes it so much easier.

plants - moss, small tropical plants, or succulents work best. you can find succulents & some tropical plants at lowes or most greenhouses. mosses can be bought online, at specialty gardening stores, or found outside.

small stones - i found mine in my back yard. just be sure to wash them - don't want any lil bugs in there.

soil - the better quality soil, the happier your plants will be. i'm cheap, so i just used topsoil.

misting bottle - optional, but really helpful.

the first part of a successful terrarium is a way for the soil to drain. one of the most common reason house plants die is over-watering. when the soil can't drain, the roots begin to rot. it's best to always make sure your container has a way to drain. since terrarium containers don't have a drainage system, you have to create your own. there are more steps you can take to make a better system (sand, charcoal, terrarium stones), but these items can be expensive, and i have found small pebbles work fine. so, layer the bottom of your container with smallish size stones. try to cover the entire bottom. if you want your stones to be visible (terrariums look really cool when you can see all of the layers), put 2 or 3 layers, or carefully place some pretty stones along the sides. 

once you have your rocks in place, it's time to add some dirt. as i said before, it's best to use better quality soil, but any bagged soil is fine. the amount of dirt you need will depend on the size of your container & the type of plants you are using. moss needs very little soil, or none at all. succulents & tropical plants usually come potted, so you'll need soil at least deep enough to cover their root system, plus a little more underneath so they have some room to spread out & grow.

now you're all ready to add some life to the terrarium! if you have plants you found in the woods or in your yard, it's a good idea to "quarantine" them for about a month. it is especially important to do this with found moss. bugs can lay their microscopic eggs deep within the moss, and you would never know. if you are using a lidded container, you would be able to stop the hatched bugs from taking over your home, but if you are using one without a lid, you could come home to a gross little surprise one day when they decide to hatch. either way, it's easier to keep your moss or plant in a sealed jar & be safe rather than sorry. 

if you are using a container you can't reach your hand down into, you'll need to find a way to move your plants around. for my mason jar terrarium, i used a wooden spoon handle to push down the soil & make a spot for my plant, which is a mini fern. then i carefully added some soil to cover it's roots and keep it in place. if you are using moss, do some research about your type of moss. some like to grow on rocks or on angles, so you may need to place some items on top of your soil to keep your moss happy. 

now that your plants are in their new home, you just have to know where in your home to place them. alot of "terrarium" plants need to be kept warm and moist. the closed containers make it quite easy to maintain a warm temperature, and hold water a lot longer, so they don't need as much care. succulents like to have their soil completely dried out before watering. i keep mine in indirect but bright natural light. anywhere in my room that gets light from the window, but isn't super close seems to be a good spot for them. these are fun little projects to try, especially if you can find all or most of the items needed in your home. i would recommend trying a "home made" one before spending money on somewhat expensive terrarium plants until you get a feel for how to maintain them. but overall, it's a really fun & simple hobby. so, if you see a cheap little lidded container or a cute patch of moss, try making your own!

old kitchen things.

i have noticed that lately i have been buying a lot of old things for the kitchen. not only do they have more personality than new kitchen things, but i think they work a lot better too. i know a lot of the new things i have bought ended up being junk after a year or so. it says a lot that items from 40+ years are still in good condition, and still do what they were made to do. sometimes i don't have a use for the items, or they are missing a piece & don't work, but i can almost always find a new use for them. i also think they look great sitting out on display. 

from sam's camp.

i've been buying old glassware for the last few years, but never really noticed old utensils and kitchen tools. about a year ago, sam brought me these old kitchen tools from his camp. i love the painted wooden handles & unique colors. they are so different from the boring metal spoons you see today. this small collection has made me notice kitchen gadgets more, and now i find myself keeping an eye open for anything that stands out. 

this weekend i went home to go to the hannastown flea market with my parents. it takes place the first sunday of every month during the summer. it's a really good one, and we usually all leave with a few treasures. it's located in a really old settlement, and the log frame around the town is still there, as well as an old log tavern. it's the perfect old-timey place for antiques to be sold.


i got a number of little things, but this pastry blender is the only one that fits the kitchen theme of this post (i'm sure my other finds will make an appearance later). there was a pretty small crowd of sellers this week due to the rainy looking skies, so we had time to check out some nearby antique stores in ligoneer. i found this old wooden spoon at one. i also got a really nice old book on mushrooms, which i gave to sam. it has really nice full color illustrations, which i'd like to make copies of & frame in groups. that particular store is a little expensive though, and no one else found anything. so we headed to the next store on the same road that has really good prices & lots of sellers. one thing i have noticed is that antique stores that have multiple sellers seem to have lots of sales during the summer time. i think it's because summer is the best time for flea markets, so the sellers are trying to make room for their new merchandise. most of the sellers in this store had at least 30% off their booths. 

an original handywhip.

i found this really nice jadeite jar for 50% off. i am always drawn to jadeite pieces, then quickly turned off by the high price. it's really rare to find anything jadeite for under $20.00, which is a lot to spend for cheap old me, especially on something i don't "need." so, this jar was a really good deal. after looking at it for a while, we realized it seemed to be missing some sort of top piece or lid. so my dad & i did some research to figure out what it's purpose was. it turns out it is the base from an old mixer called a "handywhip" which was made by chicago electric company. these sell for $75.00+ when still together, and the jar's alone seem to sell for $30-$40, so i got a great deal at $8.00. i will probably use it to store wooden spoons & other utensils in. i just love the color. 


my mom knew i had my eye on jadeite pieces for a while. one i always wanted was an old sunkist juicer. it was a really popular juicer during the 30's, and i see them all the time at antique stores & flea markets. they come in white, light yellow, and jade. the cheapest i've seen one was around $24, and it was the white one (boring). the colored ones usually sell for at least $36. i have been holding out, hoping to find a jade one at goodwill for 99 cents. last weekend, my parents went to a large antique store in punxsutawney. my mom found my juicer there for $15.00! i am really excited to have it, and i can't wait to make some fresh orange juice with it.




 

this morning i stopped at a thrift store i used to visit way too often by my old apartment in the north hills. this store, like most thrift stores, has different color tickets on their items. each day they have 50% off 2 colors, and 25% off a third. i can almost always manage to find something good, and today i found 2 little things for the kitchen: a pie plate with a recipe for strawberry pie on it, and a tiny little cleaver! the cleaver is only about 6" long. i also got 2 little picture frames and the total was $6.00. another great week of junk : ).

grama's doilys.

grama.

a few months ago, my grama passed away, and now their house is going to be sold. my grama seemed to have a hard time throwing things away, so my mom & aunts have been meeting there weekly to sort through everything for the past few months. it's been like a walk through the past - old photographs, cards my pap sent to my grama when he was away with the military, hideous & hilarious art projects my aunt made in school, and just about everything else you accumulate in 90 years.

pap.

i went over a few times while my mom & aunts were there. i knew i would want to keep some things that would end up going to goodwill. if it was up to me, i probably would have kept almost everything, because it all seemed to have a story or a memory of mine, my mom's, or someone else's attached to it. one thing my grama always had tons of were crochet doilies. she put them under almost everything she had sitting out, and a lot of her friends crocheted, so she was always getting them as gifts. i had a few projects in mind that involved doilies, so i mentioned to my mom that i would take a few. word got around, all my aunts started saving the ones they found, and i ended up with about 50 doilies in all different shapes, sizes & colors. it seems like every time i go home my mom has another stack of them for me. they remind me of my grama, and they are so pretty & unique, so i don't mind. i have a bigger project that will end up using most of them, but here's one lil project that's very simple & fun.

my mom's old sewing machine <3.

SUPPLIES

1 doily.

1 shirt.

straight pins

sewing machine (or a needle & thread). 

 start by figuring out where you'd like your doily to be. i have made a few of these, and found they look nice centered at the top of the back of the shirt. for this one, i decided i wanted it to be on the lower side. next, pin the doily to the outside of the shirt. make sure the shirt is laying flat & keep the doily as flat as you can while pinning to avoid weird bumps in the final product. once it's pinned, carefully try the shirt on to make sure you like the placement. once you're sure it's where you want it to be, begin carefully sewing along the outer edge of the doily. 

once you have sewn around the entire edge, carefully cut a slit through the back side of the shirt under the doily. once you have a cut started, cut the shirt out from under the doily as close to the edges as possible. if you don't want the shirt to be "see through" you can leave this step out, but i think it makes the doily stand out a lot more this way. that's it! 

 




you could really use this technique in a lot of other ways, like this jacket i found at a thrift store. using the same method, i sewed some fabric i found at an antique store onto the inside panel of the jacket, then cut out the outside of the panel. 


it's a fun way to use any scraps of fabric or doilies you may have laying around. i really like making shirts from them because i am happy to be using things that belonged to my grama. i'm sure they would have ended up in the trash or goodwill, so i am glad to have kept them in the family.

farmers market berries!

  

another great tuesday at the farmers market! i seem to be gravitating towards berries lately, which means lots of pies & sweets! sam isn't complaining, because he gets to eat most of them. but, it's not so fun turning the oven on in 90+ degree weather. still, fresh fruit has to be used quickly, and i can suffer threw the heat if it means a delicious pie or some other treat.


i got a pint of these HUGE black berries that i will probably just eat plain. they are seriously the biggest i've ever seen - i don't think the picture does them justice. steroid berries. i got an even better deal than last week on the sour cherries from the same farmer. i got enough for 2 pies (one for our 4th of july celebration & one for my mom), and one more quart that i will probably freeze so i can make a pie in the dead of winter. i was once again tempted to ask the man for all the sour cherries he had, which was a massive bin. if only i had a deep freezer or enough space to put them all... 


so, two more sour cherry pies are in the oven as i type this. i think that's a record, i'm usually only lucky enough to get 1 each year.


i was pretty excited to see the gooseberries & some red currents there this week. it's exciting when you to find some things you can't find in the stores. i love searching for recipes for unusual ingredients i happen to find. if you live in pittsburgh, here's a little list of some farmers markets that happen weekly. check them out! you never know what you might find : )



mondays - east liberty (west penn circle) 3:30-7:30
tuesdays - south side (18th & carson) 3:30-7:30
wednesdays - carrick (brownsville road & parkfield street) 3:30-7:30
thursdays - beechview (beechview avenue & broadway    avenue) 3:30-7:30
fridays - downtown (city county building) 10:00-2:00
            - north side (east ohio street & cedar avenue) 3:30-7:30

sour cherries are here!

i have been awaiting their arrival since their short season ended last year! last year my mom was able to get tons of them, so i had an abundance. not the case this year. due to the lack of a winter, the warm weather early, and the few icy cold days we had early in the spring, the entire crop of sour cherries was severely hurt. they have a very short picking time to begin with, so this year there was a very limited supply.

i have been asking around at the farmers market in south side about when they might be getting any, and they had said this week may be the week. so i was very excited to find one farmer with a small stock of them. of course i bought up all he had out on the table. when i turned to leave, i noticed he was putting out more...i almost went back for more, but decided as long as i could make one pie, i would be happy. 

sour cherry pie. probably my favorite kind of pie of all time. with a lil vanilla ice cream...yum. so, here is a recipe for one if you are lucky enough to get your hands on some this season!

MY FAVORITE SWEET PIE CRUST (make 2 if you want a top on your pie!)

1 1/4 cups flour.

1 tbsp. sugar.

1/4 tsp. salt.

6 tbsp. cold, unsalted butter cut into small pieces.

2 tbsp. cold vegetable shortening.

3-4 tbsp. ice water, as needed.

sift flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. work in butter & shortening with your fingers until crumbs form. add water little by little, just until a dough begins to form. form dough into a disc, wrap tightly, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. once chilled, roll out a 12" circle & press it into a 9" pie pan. form edges. cool again, for about 30 minutes. preheat oven to 375 degrees. line pie shell with parchment paper & pie weights (i don't have these, so i use uncooked beans or a glass baking dish that is slightly smaller than the pie dish). bake until set, about 12 minutes. if you are baking a pie who's filling will not be cooked, remove the weights/lining & bake 8-10 more minutes, until golden brown. but for this pie, just set the crust aside for now.

SOUR CHERRY FILLING

3 pints sour cherries.

1 cup sugar.

3 tbsp. corn starch.

gently mix all ingredients together & stir until corn starch has dissolved & there are no lumps. 

set oven to 425 degrees. add cherry filling to pie. if you want a top crust, add it now. then brush top & edges with a beaten egg. sprinkle with sugar. bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350 degrees & bake another 30 minutes, rotating pie at the half way point. i always place a cookie sheet under my pie, because most pies end up bubbling over. let cool & enjoy!

$1.00!

 

 

 

 

i also got my little tool box planter all filled up today with some little succulent plants from lowes, and found this lil fella in the discount section for $1.00.

 

 

yum! chocolate chip zucchini cake!

so i mentioned the fact that my mom & i got 4 zucchinis for $1.00 at a flea market yesterday. i love buying fresh, local produce that i know i have to use asap. it's fun to find new recipes, or just make ones i remember loving as a kid. of course i could have made something healthy with my fresh veggies, but i decided to make one of my favorite cakes that my mom makes pretty often when zucchinis are in abundance - chocolate chip zucchini cake!

it's delicious, and you can pretend it's not bad for you since there is a good amount of zucchini in there. i have come to find you can use a lot of different veggies in baked goods, and they always seem to turn out great. i have substituted apple sauce, pumpkin, and beans for oil and/or butter with awesome results. i used a home made apple butter that sam & i canned last year in place of the oil in this recipe. so, if you have any zucchini laying around & love sweets, give my mom's recipe a try!

CHOCOLATE CHIP ZUCCHINI CAKE

1 1/2 cups sugar.

1/2 cup butter, softened.

1/4 cup oil (or apple sauce!)

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs.

2 1/2 cups flour.

1/3 cup cocoa.

1 tsp. cinnamon.

1 tsp. baking soda.

1/2 cup butter milk (i used skim & it turned out fine, 

but i'm sure buttermilk would be better).

2 cups shredded zucchini

1 cup chocolate chips...or 2 cups.

preheat oven to 350 degrees. grease a 9 x 13 cake pan. combine sugar, butter, oil, vanilla & eggs.  beat well. add flour, cocoa, baking soda, cinnamon & butter milk. blend well. fold in zucchini & chocolate chips. bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out from the center clean.

 

 in other news, the flowers i got yesterday for 30 cents each are in the ground & happy. most of them are perennials, which won't bloom again until next year, but i got 2 plants that had buds all over them, and are blooming today. both my mom & i are stumped as to what kind of flowers these are. anyone have any idea? they are small, about the size of a nickel, or maybe a little bigger.  

flea market finds!

in case you didn't know, i love junk! i call it junk because its usually dirt cheap items i don't need at all, but can't pass up. i really think you can find some great old treasures in what other people call trash. i think i got it from my dad, who has always enjoyed searching flea markets, antique stores, yard sales, and any other places that look promising for good junk. summer time is here, which means flea markets are happening everywhere. i have spent the last few weekends at quite a few different ones, and have come home with lots of new items. well, new to me i suppose. 


today my parents and i went to two new flea markets we had never been to before. one in connellsville, and one on the way back from connellsville. i am not too good with directions or towns, so i can't say exactly where it was. i think maybe coraopolis. it's interesting how different flea markets can be. the first one we went to was at an old drive in theater. it really was mostly junk. people had extremely cheap items, most under $3.00. some lady even shouted out anything on her table was free because she didn't want to pack it all back up. people had items thrown in the dirt and really didn't seem to care about the value or condition of what they had. my dad found quite a few cheap cans and tins that he will surely sell on ebay & make a nice profit from. my mom and i got 4 zucchinis for $1.00(more about what became of mine in a future post). good deal! i found a little bird candle for 25 cents, and then found what turns out to be one of my favorite finds in a long time...

it's a little wooden thread spool holder! it can sit like a bleacher on a table, or it can fold flat & hang on a wall, which is what i will end up doing. it has a nice wood flower inlay on top. i think it has a lot of character, and it's also quite useful. a great find! it came with all the thread too, and a thimble. all for the bargain price of $4.oo. not bad. i also found a cook book for sam with lots of simple game recipes. we left the first flea market & rushed over to the next. sellers at flea markets tend to pack up and leave relatively early - around 11:00 or noon. we have the theory that the earlier you get there, the better "junk" you'll find. we aren't crazy enough to wake up at 5:00 am though, so we usually get there around 8:00-10:00. however, there are some advantages to arriving late; sellers that don't want to pack up all of their items are more likely to give you a better deal, just so they don't have to deal with packing it all up again. this was the case when we arrived at our next stop. 

my mom and i have sort of an obsession with "rescuing" discounted plants that are dying or are just done blooming for the season. we check out all of the lowes around (fyi - lowes sells discounted plants in the back of their greenhouse area. you can get 6 packs of flowers for as little as 10 cents! most of the time the plants just need a little water & to get into the ground) for cheap plants that need a home. so, when the first seller at this particular flea market had a huge lot with tons of plants, we went running toward them. the seller had ridiculous deals on perennials from this year that had already bloomed, but will come back bigger and better next year & for years to come. they typically cost $4.00-$6.00 per plant. on a good discount day at lowes you can get them for $1.00-$3.00 each. this seller had flats of 15 plants for $5.00. that's about 30 cents per plant! crazy! so of course, my mom and i began picking out our favorites. we shared one flat, deciding 15 was more than enough, seeing as we are both running out of room for flowers.

i picked up this unique little strawberry planter that is shaped like an envelope (weird) for $1.00, and this old wooden tool box that i plan on lining & filling with flowers for $5.00. my dad got a few more cans & some other random things. my mom, who is better at resisting the urge to buy things she doesn't need (and keep me from buying way too much junk), just got the flowers & zucchini.

all in all, it was a fun day. it's nice to hear stories from my mom and dad about items they remember having or seeing when he was small. i think i spent $12.00 total for all these treasures! it's fun because most of these items are things you can't just go out to the store and find any day. the excitement of finding a good deal on a unique item keeps me going back for more. if you haven't been to a flea market before, summer is the perfect time to find one near by and get out there! happy junking!