I-See-You Seeds

We had some left-over seeds after planting the garden, so we decided to plant them in clear containers to teach us how seeds turn into plants.  We did a version of this in elementary school, and I still to this day remember how exciting it was when they started sprouting!  So, here is how we did it:

I cut the top off some plastic 16oz soda bottles.  This made a perfect see-thru container so we could catch some root action.  I filled some with wet balled-up newspaper and others with wet paper towels (it was a little easier to see what was going on in the bottles with paper towels).  Then, we stuck seeds down about an inch along the sides of the container.  Since we don't have much direct sunlight in our house, we found a home for them on the back porch (if you have a bright window, that would be a perfect place).

Our seeds started changing after just two days!  I seemed just as surprised by the quick turn-around as my kids did. 

After a few more days, the roots were growing down and the plant was headed up. Before long, the plants had broken thru the top of the container!

Once we were done viewing them, we carefully removed them from the bottle and planted them in the garden, paper towel (or newspaper) and all.  You can see the one in the picture above that we removed from the bottle.  They are super-easy to get out!.  We learned so much from this project and can't wait to continue watching our plants in the garden!  

Oh yea, these are great for show and tell, too!  My son took his in and was excited to explain to his class what was going on..

Painted Soup Can Flower Pots

I can't believe that the end of the school year is here.  It makes me sad knowing today was the last day my boy will be in preschool.  He is growing up too too fast!  He had the best teachers ever and he wanted to make them each some thank-you gifts.  These are a perfect end-of-the year teacher gift (or would be great for Mother's Day as well).   

Being the outdoor kinda kid that my boy is, he wanted to give them plants.  He decided to grow them some assorted herbs.  And during a trip to the nursery, my girly girl decided to buy flowers for hers.

To make it a more personal gift, we decided to make the "pots" to put them in.  As you know if you read my blog, I like projects that:

 1. Use items I already have (especially ones from my recycling bin)
2.  Are easy enough that my young children can do them by themselves
3.  Are quick enough to hold the attention span of a 2 year old

This met all my requirements.

So for the pots, we dug out some soup cans and painted them.  I decided to spray paint them white to make the colors show better and to prime the metal.  My son decorated with paint and my daughter with permanent markers.

I think they turned out cute, and I'm sure the teachers will appreciate the thought that the kids put into the gifts.

Remember Me?

So yes, it HAS been awhile since I posted.  I've still been doing all the fun projects I always do, but I haven't gotten around to sharing them with everyone.  Since my last post I had baby number 3!  She is a gorgeous, chunky, perfect little addition to our family!  

I decided to take a break from posting after the new arrival mostly because I use to post after Thing 1 and Thing 2 went to bed.  Well, that after-bedtime time of the day has become mommy and Thing 3 time, so Mommy Meatloaf got left behind for awhile. 

It took a little bit to get back into a groove, but we've managed to bounce back.  I hope to be able to start sharing fun projects again!!!  I missed you guys :)