Hi Everyone!  I am busy planning my upcoming kitchen makeover and I’ll update you about my plans in another post.  In the meantime, I wanted to share some of the other things I’m working on.

Part of my kitchen makeover preparation is finishing up all of the other little projects I have going on around the house.  I think for the sake of my family’s sanity I need to finish at least some of what I’ve started before I tear the kitchen apart!  I tend to have a dozen things going on at once and I think it sort drives some people (ahem…my hubby) a little cuckoo.

So, without further ado, meet Bernadette. 

Yes, I named my plant.  My theory is that if I name it, I won’t kill this one!  My husband likes to joke that when I walk into a nursery all of the plants run and hide in the corner.  I really love plants, I’m just not so great at caring for them. Well, I’m determined to keep this one alive!

I first came upon Bernadette while shopping for a Fiddle Leaf Fig.  In case you were wondering, Fiddle Leaf Figs are super pretty plants that are supposedly easy to care for, so naturally I thought that would be the perfect plant for me.  But, I couldn’t seem to find them anywhere.  None at Lowes, Home Depot or a handful of other locations around town.  So, I stopped into my local nursery and sadly they didn’t have them either.  But, I struck up a conversation with one of the girls that worked there and asked her what type of plant would be good for someone with a brown thumb.  She mentioned a few different plants and showed me some samples but nothing really grabbed me.  I asked her if she had any Swedish Ivy…I once had one and kept it alive for several years!  She asked me to follow her and then pulled the weirdest looking monstrosity out from under a table in the corner of the shop.  Apparently, it wasn’t doing well under their care and was headed for the dumpster out back.  She told me that I was welcome to have it for free if I wanted to try and nurse it back to health.  Well…I RARELY back down from a challenge!  THIS was the plant for me!

Here is what Bernadette looked like when I brought her home….

Some of the leaves were bright green and healthy, but some were pale and resembled lettuce in size and color!  I immediately got to work Pruning her.

I put the cuttings into water so they could grow roots.  And then I waited.  And waited.  And waited…About four weeks!  By the way…the cuttings lived in my bathroom during this time.  Pretty strange!

Finally they were ready to plant!  I bought some inexpensive clay pots for about a dollar a piece and painted them with some leftover chalk paint I had.

Then I decorated each one with chalk and planted the cuttings.  I am now the proud grandma of six new baby plants!  Admittedly, the plants still look a bit like an alien species, but I think with time they will fill out nicely and grow to be beautiful (or at least interesting)!  The pots were SO easy to make and I think they would make a cute teacher’s or housewarming gift.

So there you have it!  My plants are doing well and I think some of the babies are ready for adoption.  My advice…name your plants!

P.S. I finally did find a Fiddle Leaf Fig!  His name is Bernie!