DIY Kawaii Plant Labels for the Veggie Patch

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Cricut. All opinions are 100% mine.

One of the things I've been most excited about having our own house is being able to plant a veggie patch again.

You may remember that we had a plot in our local community garden when we lived in Berkeley, but as great as that was, there's nothing quite like having fresh veggies, herbs and fruit growing right outside your back door. Walking out the back door to pick herbs for a last minute addition to dinner is convenient. Walking to the park at night to do the same; not so much. So finally having our own garden space, in our yard, was a dream come true.

By the time we were settled into our new house last year it was too late in the season to start growing a veggie patch, so we had to wait until Spring rolled around to start our garden. And by Spring, I mean mid-May as it's not uncommon for it to snow here up until early May! While we waited for consistently warm days to arrive to get planting, I got to work building garden beds, filling them with soil, paving between the beds with pebbles and working on our compost bin.

I also got to work thinking about all the little finishing touches, like plant labels. Sure, I could've just stuck with the labels that came with each of my seedling plants, but why do that when you can make something cute? The kids LOVE everything Kawaii at the moment, so I had the idea of making cutesy Kawaii plant labels. Little fruits and veggies with happy little faces smiling up at me from the veggie patch. A little touch to make the veggie garden an even happier place.

Aren't they cute?

Making my kawaii plant labels was a breeze thanks to my handy little Cricut Joy. First I designed the various fruits and veggies in Photoshop (that was the hardest part) and then I cut them out on permanent Smart Vinyl with my Cricut Joy before sticking them onto bamboo plant labels. Easy peasy!

With no need for a cutting mat, Cricut Smart Vinyl is such an easy to use product for projects like this. No need to line it up perfectly on a cutting mat. Just load the Smart Vinyl into the Cricut Joy and you're done! The Smart Vinyl used here adheres permanently and is water proof making it perfect for use in the garden.

If you'd like to make your own kawaii plant labels follow the simple instructions below. I've made it even easier for you by sharing my designs on the Cricut Design Space, so you won't need to spend time designing them.

Flower Piano 2018

It's that time of year again when the most peculiar "flowers" pop up all over San Francisco Botanical Garden. Large, musical flowers that draw crowds of children and adults alike. 

I'm talking about Flower Piano, the annual event, now in its fourth year, that pops up to delight garden visitors and music lovers. Over twelve days twelve different pianos make the Botanical Garden their home. Visitors can have a turn at playing these pianos for themselves or listen to performances from professionals and talented visitors alike. 

Lola, Mathilde and I headed to the San Francisco Botanical Garden on Thursday to check out this year's event.

Our New Garden

For the past six and bit years our family has been living in a two bedroom apartment. It gets a little tight at times with five people in quite a small space, but for the most part it works pretty well for us - although I'm sure that Ava would tell you we need an extra bedroom so she doesn't have to share with her little sisters!

When we moved here from Australia way back in 2011 we made the shift from a three bedroom house with a relatively large yard. I say "relatively large" because by suburban Australian standards our yard wasn't big, but by Bay Area standards it was massive! We had lots of space for the kids to run around on grass, an undercover porch, an area for outdoor dining, a large cubby house for the kids (complete with a slide), fruit trees, and a big veggie patch. Growing our own fruit, vegetables and herbs was something I really enjoyed, and it's one thing that I've really missed with apartment living. 

But all that has just changed...

No, we haven't moved. We're still in our apartment, but after about five years on the waiting list we were offered a plot in our local community garden! You guys, I can't tell you how excited I am to have a garden again! I can't wait to start growing strawberries, leeks, beans, tomatos, garlic... All that good stuff we used to grow in our garden in Australia. 

UC Berkeley Botanical Garden

On Monday the girls and I ventured to a popular local spot that we had never visited before; UC Botanical Garden here in Berkeley.

This weekend, UC Botanical Garden had their biggest weekend ever in terms of attendance and it was all due to one special flower. Trudy, the garden's resident Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanum) or Corpse Flower was blooming for the first time. What makes this flower so special? Well, first of all it takes at least seven years for the plant to bloom for the first time, and then that bloom only lasts for a few days. Second of all, the flower is absolutely massive. I believe that Trudy reached 56 inches in height! And last but not least there's the smell. When the Corpse Flower blooms a foul odor reminiscent of rotting flesh is released to attract flies for pollination. I'm guessing you can tell where the name Corpse Flower comes from!

When I heard about the blooming Corpse Flower I knew I had to take the girls to see it. I mean, how often do you get to see a flower that's bigger than your whole body? Or smell a flower that reeks of rotting flesh? But as the UC Botanic Garden is perched high in the Berkeley Hills where regular buses don't go I wasn't sure how we'd get there. As luck would have it, it turns out that the UC shuttle buses I see driving around town aren't just for UC students (as I has always thought) and there's one that goes right to the entrance of the gardens. Woo hoo!

Trudy's bloom was at its peak on Sunday - and so was the number of visitors. We waited until Monday when I knew it would be a little quieter to visit. While it would have been amazing to see the flower completely open, the large crowds would have been too much for the kids.

Stag Horn Fern Workshop

It's been a while since I took part in any of the fantastic workshops offered by Utsuwa Floral Design in San Francisco so I decided it was time to get back into it.

Last Friday I took part in a mounted Stag Horn Fern workshop. Remember those incredibly retro looking ferns everyone seemed to have hanging off their walls in the 70s and 80s? Well, they're back in all their retro splendour. And we now have one to hang in our apartment.

One completed mounted stag horn fern

Like most of the workshops that I've attended at Utsuwa Floral Design, this project is actually relatively easy once you the know materials to use and how to put it all together.

Here's a look at the workshop...

The Little Things: Living Small

As of last week we've been living in our apartment for a year. This got me thinking about how well the girls have transitioned from living in a relatively big house to a relatively small apartment. I had initially been worried about how they (and I!) would cope with the major downgrade in living space but they adapted to it really quickly and without fuss.

In Australia we lived in a 3 bedroom house with a decent sized backyard. Our living room, dining room and kitchen were all distinct separate spaces (although fairly open plan) and the girls had their own bedrooms. Our backyard wasn't huge by Australian standards but had enough space for a large cubby house, fruit trees and vegetable patches, a verandah, a paved area for the outdoor setting and BBQ, a double garage and lots of lawn for running around. Ok, by San Francisco Bay Area standards that sounds huge!

Ava in our old backyard with her cubby house and veggie patches (and very patchy lawn!)

A little more gardening...

Ava seems to have been bitten by the gardening bug lately.

As well as today's herb and tree plantings (which you can read about here) Ava has planted her own vegetable patch right in the middle of our lounge room. Now you might think that sounds rather messy but you see, these are special vegetables made with paper and markers. (On a side note, I really must get into the habit of using the word "marker" rather than "texta". No one here knows what a texta is. Must be an Australian brand name.)

These special vegetables popped up fully grown in the vegetable patch (a knit blanket) in the backyard of Ava and Lola's house (a fort made of chairs, tables, step stools, blankets and the couch).

Ava & Lola in their "backyard" with the vegetable patch

There are tomatoes on vines, carrots, lettuces, potatoes and even a pumpkin growing in the vegetable patch.

Vegetable patch

The girls have been harvesting their vegetable crop and making themselves salad.

Carrot, potato, lettuce, tomato and pumpkin

Delicious :)