Venus Flytraps - How to grow & all that stuff!

Venus flytraps are the most fascinating of plants.
  The are carnivores...
Resembling little aliens with their bi-fold jars and spiky teeth, 
when a fly or small bug lands on the pink tinged centre, 
the 'jaws' snap shut with lightning speed.
Venus flytraps botanical name is 'Dionaea muscipula'.
They are perennials plants which are native to the bogs of Coastal North and South Carolina in the US.
They are perfect for terrarium growing.
And can be potted in an acidic soil or sphagnum moss.
Which is what I grow my plants in.
I filled my terrarium with sphagnum moss...
Make a nest of it, and then carefully placed the venus flycatcher in the middle.
They must be keep moist and have access to sun.
Water with distilled water or rainwater,
as tap water may contain too many chemicals for this special plant to cope with.
If grown outside, bring the pots indoors over the winter.
Venus Flytraps have a period of winter dormancy.
And it is best to reduce watering during this time of rest.
But if grown indoors, and the conditions are to their liking, they tend not to completely die back.
Venus flytraps are carnivorous, eating flies and small bugs.
They can go a month or even two without food.
If grown outdoors they will catch they own prey.
But if grown indoors you may need to help, by putting small live flies in their terrariums and placing a temporary cover on top until the prey is caught.
As a child we had so much fun with these little alien plants,
And I am sure your children would too, just as mine did, and even as adults still do!





Valentine's For The Kids: : Strawberry Icys & Berry Flower Cupcakes...



Sharing Valentine's love with the kids is a simple as this:
Berry Flower Cupcakes...
And Strawberry Icy's!
Not only will they LOVE to devour these treats,
they will want to help make them too!

 Just whip up a batch of your favourite vanilla cupcakes.
And cool.
Drop and swirl a large teaspoon of raspberry flavoured icing on top.
Pop raspberries onto the centre of the cupcakes, and slice petals from strawberries.
Place as shown.
Next:
In a blender place 2 and half cups of milk, 3 scoops vanilla ice cream,
 and 1 tablespoon of sugar.
 A a good cup of ice.
And 1/2 cup chopped strawberries. 
Whizz and serve with the Berry Flower Cupcakes.
Valentine's for the kids = SORTED!


#valentines #cupcakes #strawberry







Passionfruit Cream Hearts...


Share the Valentine's Day love with family and friends...
With these sweet Passionfruit Cream Hearts.
 Make a scrummy passionfruit & ginger biscuit dough...
 And press out little heart biscuits.
 Bake...
 Make a creamy passionfruit icing...
 Spread on a biscuit...
 And pop another on top.
 When you have joined all the hearts together with icing...
 Generously sprinkle with icing sugar!
 Don't you just adore sharing the love ...
 And Valentine's Day is the perfect day to show all that matter to you how much you care.
Get the recipe HERE.
And if you would like to know how to make this pretty stamped heart picture...
pop over HERE.



#heart #cookies #kisses #homebaking #valentines





How To Create A simple Valentine's Vignette...

Bring a little love in the home decor for Valentine's Day with a vignette.
 
On a sideboard, Dining table or side table, this vignette is very simple to create.
I used a ceramic double vase, but you could swap that for a tall white jug for the heart branches, and a matching white shorter style vase for the roses.
The wooden letters were sourced at the dollar store, and cost $3 each letter.
The bonus is they were already painted and dotted with spots ready to use.

I used these small hearts
from http://www.firstpalette.com/tool_box/printables/heart.html
But they have a range of different hearts to choose from.

Use the hearts as a stencil to cut of some pretty papers.
Or print directly onto A4 size coloured paper.

Use as many hearts as you desire...
I used 32 hearts on my branches.

Punch a small hole in the top of each heart... 

and string with ribbon.
Hang your hearts onto the branches,
It did take a while (yes we are talking an hour!) to cut out and hang the hearts..


But don't they look cute?
The finished Valentines vignette just Shouts out 'LOVE'!



#hearts #papercraft #valentines #homedecor





Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...