Christmas Cactus Update & Gary's Back!!

Remember the Christmas and Thanksgiving Cacti cuttings that I was rooting back in the beginning of March?  (Click Here to Revisit)  Over two months and a whole lot of newly found patience later, I am proud to show you the new little plants.  The pot below houses 5 little transplants. If you look at the two center cuttings, there are some wee little segments growing.  The older Christmas Cactus variety seemed to root a whole lot faster than the Thanksgiving variety.  Trust me on this one, I was watching very closely....   Can you hear the stress in that statement? LOL 



 

 

One of the Thanksgiving clippings has a nice sized segment growing.  Once it got started, the new growth has had rapid development.

I know, I know... Patience is a virtue.  This little excursion was packed full of that lesson in life.  It really has been such a fun experience for me.  I only lost one of the clippings... Pretty good average.  :)  The only thing that I would have done different-- I would have planted  a bunch of clippings in one larger pot that they could grow for a few years in.  Other than that, I would call this a successful adventure.

How about a little Mother's Day surprise?  I got home from work yesterday and look who was waiting for me out in the pond...  Gary the snapping turtle!   He was all muddy.  Mr. Hollow spotted him first when he arrived home shortly before me.  It appears as though Gary had just arrived to his summer digs.   I was so excited!!  For three years in a row, this little guy has appeared in the Spring and disappeared in the Fall.  He is a true wonder of nature.  I couldn't have asked for a better kick off to Mother's Day weekend.  :)

To All The Mom's Out There 

Happy Mother's Day!

How to Propagate Christmas Cactus Cuttings WIP ~ EBay Business Review

This past week, I have been reminiscing about "Muppet's Treasure Island".  The Muppets are on a pirates ship, and there is one scene that keeps playing in my head.  Gonzo, Rizzo the Rat and the gang are singing along with the song "Cabin Fever". LOL  Although they were lamenting about being stuck on a pirate ship,  mine seems to be brought on by the latest February driven artic blast.  It snuck up on me, and before I knew it... I was gone!

 

How do you battle Cabin Fever?  First, take down the red and white Valentine decorations.  The colors are too reminiscent of Christmas.  Then, put up the cheery green St Patrick's Day decorations.  Aaaah blessed green.  Finally, have a wonderful customer walk into your place of employment and donate a plant that needs saving.  What??  Yep, a plant that needed saving.  Funny enough, it was a Christmas Cactus but do not let the name throw you... This is a lovely green plant... reminiscent of the coming of Spring!! :)

 

The plant was dry and not complaining at the moment.  It looked to have seen too much water in its past, which is never good for a Christmas Cactus.  The over watering caused it to lose the bulk of the plant.  The plant needed some company in the big pot, and the previous owner wanted some cuttings... so, I was given a much needed project. 

 

It's been a while since I worked with cuttings.  Here is a photo showing the cuttings from the plant that is at work.  I twisted lengths at the joint that were 3 to 4 segments long.  I put some potting soil in a cup and buried 3/4 of the first joint on some and the first joint on others... I am doing a little experimenting. ;)   Then, I moistened the soil.   The success of this experiment should be revealed here in the next 2 to 3 weeks.

 

I have been taking care NOT to overwater the little cuttings, since they rot easily.  I have my trusty Dollar Store spray bottle filled with water and spray the soil to add moisture. :)   It has been over a week, and they seem to still be happy...

 

**Note**  These are the cuttings from the aged plant at work.  As you can see, the soil that I had on hand was a fine potting soil.  There were two large Cactus arms in the pot that we received at work... one with very pointy segments and one with miner points.  This would indicate that the plants are a Thanksgiving Cactus or "Schlumberga Truncata".  (They flower around the holiday that they were named after.)  It will be interesting to see what color they flower, since this type of variety has a larger range of colors.  Oh.. and all stores sell it as a Christmas Cactus.  I imagine Thanksgiving Cactus wasn't a real crowd grabbing name. LOL

   

 

This is 3 of 9 cups that are little starters from the adults that have been pruned back in my household.  Usually, I stick the little guys back in the pot with their parent, but those pots are currently filled.  They will make some great new plants to keep or give away by Christmas.

**Note**  My Christmas Cacti, that were originally purchased for a few bucks at  the  same garage sale a year apart,  are the true Christmas variety "Schlumberga x buckleyi". (They flower at Christmas time.)  As you can see, the cuttings have scalloped segments.  I purchased a bark filled potting soil that would provide nice drainage and be more comparable to their natural habitat.  

Here comes Cabin Fever to the extreme.  As I was floating around EBay looking to buy an Easter Cactus, I ran across colors of modern day Christmas Cacti (aka Thanksgiving Cacti)  that I do not possess.  What to do?  Since Mr. Hollow wasn't watching me close enough, I purchases 8 little plants for $28 including shipping here.  After 3 days in transit from their warm home in Florida, they arrived in Northern Illinois greeted by temps in the teens.  :(   Look at them!  They don't even know that the weather outside is frightful.

They are the most healthy little plants.  I was all ready for them, having purchased some tiny pots and potting soil for their arrival.  I worked with the wonderful soil and plants on my kitchen island in the balmy 67 degree air! LOL  Mr.  Hollow, Farmerboy and I gabbed away as they were transplanted into their new homes.

Here they are looking pretty happy (they fanned out as the day progressed).  The ceramic pots were purchased for a $1 a piece at the Dollar Store.  I am not to crazy about the polka dotted distressed look, but they were purchased solely for starter pots.  The more I look at them though,  the ceramicist in me kicked in... I am thinking about using some enamels to do some sponging on them.  It would give the pots a unique face lift and get rid of the polka dot pattern.

And just when Mr. Hollow thought the Cabin Fever was at bay, I found a yellow cactus on EBay that was my only missing color!  Instead of buying one older plant, I purchased six little guys here for $15 shipping included.  Now, Mr. Hollow is getting a little nervous. LOL  I told him that I had other homes for some of the duplicate colors... IF I can part with them! ;)

It has been really fun playing in my houseplant garden this weekend.  I look forward to seeing how the little cuttings do and will share them again in a few weeks.  Although shopping local is one of my favorite things, EBay shopping comes in handy when my traveling is at a minimum.  And just in case Mr. Hollow thinks that I have forgot, I still have a gorgeous Easter Cactus book marked! :)

Large Hershey Bar Snowman (4.4 oz.) ~ A Quick Christmas Gifting How To

If you find yourself in a pinch, artist Laurie Furnell has offered a FREE Christmas print out (made possible by Aimee Asher Boutique) to create a festive holiday snowman from a large or regular sized Hershey bar.  I had read about this darling snowman a few months ago, and he has taken center stage in my house with the Christmas holiday right around the corner.  They will come in handy at work where we do a small gift exchange.  I love the idea of a little holiday stitching, some quick-time crafting, and being able to give the gift of CHOCOLATE.  Who wouldn't appreciate that!   PLUS... It gives me an excuse to use some of that 1.00 a yard fleece that I purchased from the JoAnn Fabrics'  Black Friday Sale a few years back. ;)

I started by going to Laurie Furnell's free snowman download here.  (You will have to register but will not be charged at check out.)  There is a print out for her rules, the finished product, print out for a regular size Hershey bar, and a print out for an 8 oz. bar.  I choose the 8 oz bar design and printed it to fit on a regular sheet of paper, which was perfect for a 4.7 oz. large Hershey bar.  Then, I began to sift through my stash of fleece and construct a pattern for my festive goodies.  :)

I know it is a little hard to see in the picture, but you will need to cut down the paper to the right of the design and on the bottom line.  Then, tape the seal flap on the bottom of the Hershey bar wrapper to the front of the candy.  This will keep it hidden from view.

I find that Hershey was pretty accurate with my batch of bars.  Once I flipped the print to the back side, the Hershey bar could be placed front side down on the paper.  The right side of the paper could be placed over the back of the bar and lined up on the brown line above the final vitamin line, and the snowman's face would be nicely centered on the reverse side.  After using three pieces of tape to secure the right side, the left side was placed over it... three more pieces of tape and onward to the stitching part of the project.  Yeah!! 

If you are like me and would like a snugger fit to your stocking hat, cut a piece of fleece approximately 7 3/4 inches square.   On my paper pattern, there is a dotted line 1 1/4 inches down from the top of the pattern to aid me in marking the fringe for the pom pom top. 

 

On the reverse side of the folded fleece, make the line for the fringe. (A Sharpie marker works great for this.)  While the fleece is still out, a strip can be cut 1 1/4 inches wide and approximately 17 1/2 inches long for a matching scarf. (This will leave you a little excess for adjustments after placement.)
 
Working on the reverse side of the fleece, a simple overcast stitch can be used from the bottom up to the tassel line.  Tie off the thread and the bottom of the hat is finished.  With scissors in hand, cut the fleece in approximately 1/4 inch increments from the top of the fleece to the tassel line, creating the fringe for the pom pom.  Now turn the hat right side out.  Starting at the center seam, use a gathering stitch under the fringe and pull tight.  I like to wrap the thread one more time around the fringe line, pull tight, and tie off.  This will create a darling little pom pom.  Folding from the bottom of the hat, there will be enough fleece to fold twice.  Now it is time to dress the snowman!!  

Aren't they darling??  I cannot wait to dive into the others!  All together, there will be 10 snowmen here at The Hollow.   And who knows... Maybe some more to follow. ;)    I even have some really funky tie dyed fleece that will fit my Manager's personality perfectly.  This project has peaked my creative senses and has immersed me in the holiday spirit.  It is such a blast!

As you can see by the photo, one of my co workers is a marksman (He is also the only rooster in our hen house!), so the camo fleece came in handy.  The candy cane stripe is perfect for a wonderfully Christmasy decoration.   And for my fellow co-worker that makes me laugh with stories of her mischeivious pooch, a red hat and scarf adorned with doggy prints. :)

It makes me laugh to think that I almost got rid of some of my fleece last summer!   I cannot wait to do some more of these little snowmen... I am sooo hooked.   Think of the possibilities.  Hmmm... Mismatched hat and scarves... Felted wool hat and scarves... Even different kinds of candy bars.  The options are limitless.

A HUGE Thank-you to Laurie Furnell for such a charming printable design.  And for those that decide to take advantage of this freebie, the design will be available to you for 7 days or 5 clicks.   This would be such an inexpensive gift for kids to create for friends and teachers, too!    If you have a little time on your hands, check out Aimee Asher's website.  It really is an inspiring place to visit.  Happy Holidays to All!!