Tuesday, December 31, 2013

December 31st: New Years Day Selfie

Holy Hannah Montana. I just finished a monthly photo challenge.  I've never done it before…finished one I mean.  I'm so excited its over.  This was clearly a challenge meant for people that live somewhere much colder than myself.  Anyways. HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!!!


365 Day Challenge

I have this terrible habit of taking on too much at once.  And googling things to death when I'm interested.  So when I realized I had just completed a NaBloPoMo without missing any days my mind, instead of thinking, "Hey! Great job! You finished it! Now go take a break!" was like…."Is there a 365 day blog challenge?!".  After a bunch of googling, it turns out, there is! 

Sort of….

Basically, you choose something that you want to do for 365 days.  Whether it be taking pictures of strangers and blogging your experience, 365 self-portraits, 365 pictures of your lunch, etc.  Whatever you want. 

So me, being the book lover that I am, am going to do 365 book related things; facts, books I love, quotes, bookshelves, etc.  Just book stuff. 

I'm pretty excited.  If you want to do one just pick something that you think you could do 365 posts about and have at it! Good luck shall you choose to join.

"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales." ~ Albert Einstein 

Monday, December 30, 2013

December 30th: Gloves

I don't need gloves. It was almost 50 degrees today. So here's Jyra.


NaBloPoMo January 2014

Alright, I'm doing it again! 2 month in a row. Call me crazy. NaBloPoMo January 2014.  The theme is "PRESSURE". I think it's a good way to start the year off.  I've almost successfully completed December 2013's NaBloPoMo and I think it went really well.  It ends tomorrow and I didn't miss a day.  I was really surprised because I've seen a lot of people either give up half way through or miss days.  It was my first ever and I succeeded.  I'm pretty impressed with myself. 

I think 1 of my goals as far as blogging go for 2014 is going to be to do a NaBloPoMo every other month or every 3 months.  It keeps you thinking and keeps you connected with other bloggers.

If you want to participate you have until January 5, 2014 to sign up using the blogroll form at blogher. If you want to check out what National Blog Posting Month is all about before you commit,  you can go to the general NaBloPoMo page as well.

We will see how it goes! And good luck to you if you join!

Sunday, December 29, 2013

December 29th: Handwriting

I will finish the stupid photo challenge if it kills me.  However, this one is ridiculous. Handwriting? Really? Someone make an interesting one please!


P.S. I'm left handed.

A Box Full Of Sunshine

I found the best thing ever!!!! Ok. Maybe not the BEST thing ever but it's pretty darn cool. 

Have you ever had a friend that is going through a rough patch? Then, you feel like a terrible friend because you can't figure out how to help or cheer them up? Don't lie. You've been there.  We've all been there.  Sometimes a phone call just isn't good enough.  They need an extra pick-me-up but you just can't think of anything.  DONT WORRY!!!! I found just the thing!  It's a box full of sunshine!!! Go check it out on Pinterest for ideas.

Basically, you find a box, then put a bunch of yellow stuff in it.  Genius, I know.  

Now for me, I had to mail mine.  My friend lives in California.  This is one of this times when you really want to do more than a phone call but you feel like can't. BUT WAIT!!! NOW YOU CAN!!! I'm pretty excited for her to get it.  

Need some sunshine ideas? Go check out Pinterest and search for "box of sunshine" or "box of sunshine ideas" and you will get a bunch of pictures.  Now if you don't want to sink into the never-ending, most addicting hell heaven ever then I'll give you some ideas.

  • Juicy fruit gum
  • Yellow Candy
    • Jelly beans
    • Sugar daddy/babies
    • Swedish fish
    • Yellow sucker
    • Butterfinger
    • Peanut Butter snickers
    • Peanut M&M's
    • Toblerone chocolate
    • Butterscotch candies
    • Mr. Goodbar
    • You get the point. Anything with a yellow package
  • Lay's Classic Potato Chips
  • Burts Bees products
  • A yellow balloon
  • A yellow lai
  • Some goofy yellow sunglasses
  • Not all of it has to be serious.  Have fun with it
  • An uplifting book. I found funny one with animals saying funny things with a yellow/orangish hue to the cover
  • Yellow nail polish
  • A yellow loofah/sponge/shower puff thing
  • A yellow candle
  • Those packets of stuff you add to your water  
    • Snapple
    • Chrystal Light
    • Mio
  • Subway gift card
  • We have a coffee place called Dutch Bros here and the envelope is yellow
  • Carmex
  • Yellow fake flowers for filler (or real if you don't have to mail it like myself)
Hopefully you have a box full by now or have gotten creative and found some more yellow stuff. (I also added some orange and white stuff) Check out some small local shops also.  They might have different fun yellow stuff you can't find at say Wal-Mart or Fed Meyer. I know mine did.  

OH!! Don't forget the most important part so they don't just open a box full of yellow stuff and think you are crazy!

This website has ideas and free printables

Feel free to make your own if you feel so inclined.

This is all the goodies I ended up getting for mine. 


To make it more "sunshine-y", I painted the inside of the box yellow and added yellow tissue paper to the bottom.  Also, I found a couple things that came in white boxes like the mug and the keychain so I just painted the tops of the boxes yellow because that is all you see once its inside the box with everything else.  The keychain "foam" stuff I also painted yellow so it wouldn't be all white when she opened it.

The great part about this project is that you get to be as creative as you want and the contents can be as cheap or as expensive as you want.  I wanted to get my friend more "things"  because she's not a big candy person but you could do a sunshine candy box and it would probably be cheaper and just as cheery for them.

I hope whoever you make this for cheers up.  Have fun!!!

Saturday, December 28, 2013

20 Facts About Me: Part 5/5

  1. I want to build a house.
  2. I have no idea what kind of wedding I want.
  3. I finally added a Facebook page for my blog. Check that out here.
  4. When I'm newly interested in something, I research it to death.
  5. I'm currently interested in eating clean. I want to know what it means, what kind of foods, etc.  
  6. I love reorganizing my Pinterest boards. 
  7. I just ordered 10 books from Barnes & Noble. I got gift certificates for Christmas.  
  8. I was conveniently in Hollywood in front of the Chinese Theater during the premier of G.I. Joe and I got to touch The Rock. It was pretty awesome.
  9. I've been to Victoria, Canada and it was awesome. I love it there.
  10. I want a horse.
  11. I like Sprite. Not Sierra Mist. Not 7-Up. No, they are not the same.
  12. I have 2 relatives with holiday birthdays.  My Mom's is on St. Patricks Day and 1 of my cousin's is on Halloween.
  13. I only have 1 grandparent left alive.
  14. I love to travel.
  15. I know how to water ski and I'm forever learning how to wake board.
  16. I like Daisies.
  17. I finally figured out how to add the media icons on my blog. I'm SUPER excited about it.
  18. I can't watch horror movies alone.
  19. I wish my best friends lived closer.
  20. I can't wait for 2014.
Holy cow!!! I never thought I would finish this series. 100 facts about me.  Now we all know more about me. Even I know more about me. 100 facts is a lot harder to come up with than you may think.

December 28th: Snow

Um. We don't have any snow here. Just a lot of clouds.


Friday, December 27, 2013

The Past Is The Past

Which do you enjoy more: the last week of the year, or the first week of the year?

I personally enjoy the first week of the year better than the last.  It's…well…a new year.  You can leave everything that happened in the past, in the past.  You can leave it in the previous year.  The first week of the year is like the ultimate "Monday".  You know, "I'll start *enter routine you never fall through with here* on Monday." You get to start anew with whatever you want.  I mean, you can do that anytime but most people push it off until Monday or the beginning of the year.  I like leaving the whole year behind me.  Not just last week, or yesterday, or the crappy month you may have had, but the ENTIRE YEAR!  It's refreshing.  I can't wait for 2014.  It's the year for change.

December 27th: Favorite Gift

My Crazy Cat Lady mug.


Thursday, December 26, 2013

Christmas 2013

Did Christmas fulfill your expectations this year?

Christmas 2013 was a success!! Christmas Eve: I got to see my cousin that I see maybe twice a year.  We went to the Christmas Eve service at our Church which was amazing.  The theme was "Childlike" so there were the fun hanging ornaments and the presents already unwrapped under the tree, etc. It was really good.

Christmas was just as awesome as well.  It was my kittens first Christmas. Pretty sure she broke 10 glass ornaments…minimum…so she had a good time.  My moms side of the family came over and then me, my dad, my 2 cousins, and my uncle went and shot my Dad's new shotgun he got for Christmas.  It was a learning experience because none of us have ever shot at clay pigeons. It was really fun.

I hope you all had a great, fulfilling Christmas as well!

December 26th: Family Photo

We don't take family photos so here's as close as it gets. Dawson getting the pleasure of putting Grandma's new slippers on her. Hahaha We've all taken turns doing gross things like that. We take joy in each others disgust.


Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Merry Christmas

This was a total nerd Christmas and I loved it!  The entire Harry Potter Series, the Divergent Series, crazy cat lady mug, mini bookshelf necklace (Coryographies on Etsy. Check her out!) Plus!!!! I got gift cards to Barnes & Noble to buy MORE books! *swoon*


December 25th: Christmas Day Selfie

This is apparently the only selfie I took on Christmas and it was an accident because I just found it. I was trying to look at my new scarf. Haha Oops.




Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Holidays

If you celebrate Christmas, are you doing the holidays larger or smaller this year?

I do in fact celebrate Christmas.  In my family, large Christmas' aren't even an option.  We have a fairly small family so it's a fairly small event.  

We spend Christmas Eve with my Dad's side of the family which is only his brother and his wife (and sometimes my cousin and his girlfriend). It's a max of 7 people.  We had one Christmas Eve that was 13 people but 1 passed away the other 5 moved to Japan (Army stuff).

On Christmas we spend it with my Mom's side of the family.  2 live in Kansas so its only 8 people.  Us, my Aunt, Uncle, Grandma, and 2 cousins.  We use Skype during the holidays however to keep in touch with the 2 in Kansas and just pass the computer around to talk to them. 

We don't even do the typical (at least what I see as typical) put all the food on the table, sit down and eat thing.  We leave everything on the stove and counter and grab our plates and squish together on couches and ottomans and such in the living room and talk.  

We pretty much play by our own rules. :)

Monday, December 23, 2013

December 23rd: Christmas List

Yeah. We are super professional about it.


Oh, Christmas Tree

Which is better -- a small Christmas tree or a large Christmas tree?

Bigger is ALWAYS better. Ok. That's not always true. But when it comes to Christmas trees I absolutely LOVE big ones.  Not only big ones but full ones.  Full of branches, stuffed with ornaments and so many lights you think its going to blind someone when you turn them on.    There's just something so magical about them.  So much to look at, so much wonder, so much…MAGIC!  Then once you get the presents under them, it's like a picture you would see in book or a tree you would see in a movie.  It's just amazing.  I love them.

Now I understand big, giant trees full of cool stuff isn't always practical or affordable but they are pretty awesome.  We don't have a giant tree this year but its real, full of branches and stuffed full of ornaments.  It's like Christmas threw up on our tree.  

What about you guys? Big or little? Full or Charlie Brown-like? Real or fake? I want to know!

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Sweet Snaps: The Calm After The Storm


saidacanephotography

December 22: Christmas Tree

There it is.



My Various Favorite Things


{None of these are in any particular order}

My top 10 favorite things:
  1. Books.
  2. My cats.
  3. My family.
  4. Plants.
  5. The Shaytards.
  6. Pink nail polish on my toes.
  7. Pinterest.
  8. Viva La Juicy Perfume.
  9. Maurice's.
  10. My job.
My top 10 least favorite things:
  1. Litter boxes.
  2. Science.
  3. Tomatoes.
  4. Feet.
  5. My gym.
  6. Fake trees.
  7. Tea.
  8. Mornings.
  9. Spiders.
  10. Ear buds.
My top 5 favorite books:
  1. The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews Edwards
  2. The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
  3. Wild by Cheryl Strayed
  4. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
  5. The Crank Trilogy by Ellen Hopkins
My top 5 favorite T.V. shows.
  1. Firefly.
  2. The Big Bang Theory.
  3. Grey's Anatomy.
  4. Dexter.
  5. Dr. Who.

Saturday, December 21, 2013

December 21st: Tree Topper

Yes. She is falling off. Go ahead. Judge us.


20 Facts About Me: Part 4/5


  1. I still have the 2 stuffed animals from the day I was born.
  2. I love arts and crafts.
  3. Ellen Hopkins is one of my favorite authors.
  4. I'm one of those people addicted to Candy Crush.
  5. I love both of my jobs.
  6. 1 of my cats has 3 legs.
  7. I haven't wrapped a single Christmas present yet this year.
  8. I love the smell of rain.  It's called petrichor.
  9. I love the smell of new books.
  10. I can generally figure out technology without an instruction manual.
  11. Books are my favorite gift to give.
  12. I'm exhausted and don't want to finish this post…but I will….I guess….
  13. When I'm home, I almost always have my computer and phone with me. 
  14. I can't stand silence so Netflix is usually on even if I'm not watching it. (Like now)
  15. I always have a book in my purse.  It's one of my main requirements for buying a purse. I've said too many times (and people can vouch for this while shopping with me) "It's cute but I can't fit a book in it."
  16. I love movies with singing and dancing in them.
  17. I hate it when people try to have full on conversations with me first thing in the morning. It makes me SUPER grumpy.
  18. I want to travel the world.
  19. I'm nervous to start a Facebook page for my blog.
  20. I'm going to bed.
Good night world.

Friday, December 20, 2013

December 20th: Stockings

Sometimes, we take our own approach.


Holiday Dinner

Welp. I can't do the blog prompt for today because I don't do any volunteer work. Shame on me. I know.  But I'm busy and haven't found time to squeeze it in around y 2 jobs and school.  However, I have been considering volunteering at my Church. It's growing constantly and they always need help.  I'll get there someday.

What I AM going to talk about is our school's holiday dinner tomorrow at job #1. The elementary school!!! It's such great little tradition.  It's put on by the SpEd kids (Special Education). They get to decorate, make snowflakes, we set up the tables, hang enough lights that we can turn off the cafeteria lights, etc.  Also, we pick group of kids to make invites for the firefighters next door. (Literally next door, we share a fence) We all tromp over there and hand them the invites and every year they show up usually in their fire truck and the kids love it.  It's pretty cool. This year the 5th grade group got to make them which.  They were pretty stoked.  


So, this is like an all day event.  The kids get all dressed up and it starts around 10:30 and ends whenever we get the entire school's parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, whoever they invite through our cafeteria.  For me, it's like an all day recess duty.


It's a lot of work but it's totally worth it.  I can't wait.  

Thursday, December 19, 2013

December 19th: Candy Canes

We made a a candy cane vase. I'll be filled with flowers closer to Christmas Eve so they don't die.


The Season For Giving

What was the last donation you made?

The last donation I made was to my Church.  I'm in the process of turning myself into an adult.  That sounds odd I know.  Let me elaborate:

For Christmas', birthdays, Church offering plates, etc, I've always been counted as "The Whites".  Whatever my parents gave was just considered from myself also. We just gave as a family.  Most families do that with their kids but at some point I have to be my own adult.  So I'm working on that. 

I gave to my Church as my last donation. I gave it on my own. My parents gave their own.  I'm slowly but surely becoming an adult. 

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

December 18th: B&W

Black & White Bella


20 Facts About Me: Part 3/5


  1. I just got a hand me down guitar and I love it.
  2. I don't know how to play guitar.
  3. I'm excited for 2014.
  4. I still watch the Disney Channel.
  5. I want a Husky and a Great Dane when I get older.
  6. I want to build my house.
  7. I hate mornings.
  8. I have never successfully painted my nails the first time. I always have to redo them at least once. Minimum.
  9. I've become almost completely flat footed from wearing sandals year round for years.
  10. I will have a library in my house one day.
  11. I break the sticks off of Dum-Dums and just pop the rest into my mouth.
  12. I've found a recent love for The Big Bang Theory.
  13. I want to own a hedgehog.
  14. I've played with a Lemur.  His name was Chester.
  15. 1 of my goals for 2014 (even though I've already started) is to read at least 50 pages a day.
  16. I've locked my keys in my car so many time I will forever have a spare key hidden under my car.
  17. I've wasted 3 full coffees in the last 2 months. I dropped 2 and 1 slid off the roof of my car onto me. I was at work all 3 times.
  18. I have a hard time swallowing pills.
  19. I prefer white wine to red.
  20. I'm still trying to perfect my present wapping skills. I've advanced from 1st grader to almost middle school.

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

December 17th: Scent

I love the smell of new books. This one is The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis.


DIY Living Succulent Wall

Alright! That little blip from awhile ago (check that out here) has finally happened!! I love it!

Disclaimer: This was probably THE hardest DIY I have ever done.  To the point where my dad basically did the whole thing for me and I'll just buy the box next time. But it was a good experience nonetheless.  

I'm not going to be like all the other DIY living succulent wall tutorials out there.  I'm not going to lie to you and make it look like the easiest thing ever. No big deal.  Those are the tutorials I found and I was really frustrated when I learned otherwise.  

I will however tell you that it's not particularly cheap, hardware cloth is not easy to work with, if you build your own box you need a bunch of tools and nails and glue, BUT it's totally worth it. Now I can say "I made 'dis!" when people ogle over it.

Junk you need:

  • Picture frame with removable glass
  • 1/2 inch hardware cloth
  • 1" x 3"x 6" wood (we used pine)
  • A clear, waterproof paint of some kind to help the wood stay water resistant
  • Nails
  • Wood glue 
    • Or buy a shadow box, knock the glass out of it and call it good

The first step is to build that STUPID shadow box.
  1. Figure out how long you need the pieces of wood cut for the sides of the shadow box.  We made ours a half inch in from the edges so about a 7" x 9" box.  
  2. Find a Dad, husband, boyfriend, someone who knows how to make shadow boxes and have them build one if you are at a loss like I was.
  3. Attach it to the picture frame. We (my Dad) made these cool slanted holes so that we could attach it to the frame from the inside so we wouldn't have to put nails through the front.
  4. Once it's attached it's time for the hardware cloth.
  5. Wise words from my Dad about hardware cloth, "It WILL cut you and you WILL bleed." Turns out he was right. Its super sharp.
  6. Start forming that box.  If you have an easier way, by all means. We took a ridiculous series of steps.  They went like this:
    1. Box making.
    2. Hammering.


    3. Pushing really hard.
    4. Cutting things off to make it fit. 
  7. Then! The genius struck me! Take the piece of glass from the picture frame and trace it giving 1 extra square on 1 side of the glass or 1/2 of a square all the way around.  However makes more sense to you.
  8. Fit it in the shadow box and start stapling.

  9. Attach the back.  We used plywood. Nothing special.
  10. If this is something you are going to be hanging and you are like me and dropped the ball on buying brackets. Grab that genius person of yours and have them use the brackets from the back of the picture frame that you will no longer be using.  Turns out you can get those hooks out in one piece. It just takes a bit.
  11. Wallah! You now have the box.
  12. Start filling it with dirt. Succulents like well draining soil so I use cactus soil.

  13. Start adding the succulents.  I bought mine from Succulents Galore on Etsy.  They were prefect! She sent me an array of sizes, shapes and colors.  She sent be about 45 cuttings but I ended up needing probably closer to 50-60. I just went to my local Fred Meyer and bought some more. 

  14. Water your living succulent wall every 6-8 days so the soil is moist. After a month, you can cut back to monthly watering.  LEAVE IT FLAT UNTIL IT FORMS ROOTS!!! If you pick it up to hang it, all the plants will fall out.  

    I'll add better pictures once it can stand up.
  15. ENJOY!!
  16. I had to pull some of the leaves off to make some of the plants fit better/to make more of a stem on the plants so I'm attempting to propagate them. I'd give you instructions but I'm still learning how as well. If you want to give it a try this is the site I'm using.  Good luck!

Monday, December 16, 2013

December 16th: Lock Screen

You can't buy happiness but you can buy books and that's kind of the same thing.


Half. Way. There.

I'M HALFWAY THROUGH NATIONAL BLOG POSTING MONTH!!!!!!!!! Sorry for yelling at you there but I'm so excited!!!! I've made it halfway! I can do this!!!

I read someone else's blog the other day and realized I may or may not be cheating my way through this thing. As I have ideas, I write them up and then schedule them. She didn't say you couldn't do this but she didn't say you could do this. She was basically saying that she was scheduling posts and that was cheating. …ok…maybe she did say it was cheating.  Is this actually against the rules? I didn't read anything about it.  I thought it was just having a post a day up. Maybe I misunderstood.  It takes me just as long to write them whether I do it that day or whenever the idea comes to me so I'm not sure why it would matter. Meh.

How is everyone else doing? Good? Bad? Have you given up? Missed some days? (I almost forgot the other day.)

We are almost done! Keep up the good work!

Sunday, December 15, 2013

December 15th: Phone Case

Infinite glittery phone cases. My Christmas one is in storage somewhere. :(


20 More Facts About Me: Part 2/5

I decided to turn "20 Facts About Me" into "20 Facts About Me: Part 1/5" so that we learn 100 new random things about me by the end of December.  Maybe I'll even learn something along the way.  I also want to know fun, random facts about you guys.

  1. That Cyclamen from the first 20 facts about me, has died.  The weather went crazy here and it couldn't deal with the temperatures. RIP Cyclamen. I will never have another.
  2. I am going on a super exciting family vacation this summer: Reno -> Las Vegas -> The Hoover Dam -> The Grand Canyon (Mule rides of course) -> Napa Valley (Wine tour naturally) -> Home. IM SO EXCITED!!!!
  3. I have a freckle in my left eye.
  4. I have joined Oprah's Bookclub 2.0.  But not in the, participate in actual discussions, kind of way. More of the, read the books they are reading, kind of way.  I read books for fun.  Not to delve into their deeper meanings and whatnot. 
  5. I own over 150 books.
  6. While not a carrot top ginger, I am still a ginger nonetheless.
  7. I rarely set New Years Resolutions and when I do I never stick to them.  Mostly because I forget what they are.
  8. I have a terrible memory.
  9. I'm incredibly uncoordinated and ungraceful.
  10. I will hike Mt. Theilson one day.


  11. I wanted to be a Veterinarian from 7 years old until 18 years old. Never a princess or astronaut. Just a Veterinarian. Turns out I hate Science. 
  12. It took me 3 years to figure out what else there was to do in the world as a career.
  13. I'm becoming a teacher not because I particularly wanted to but because I've always been good at it without realizing it and I'm good with kids.  Those "AH HAH!" moments on their faces never get old.
  14. I was born the day after my Dad's birthday.  We are 30 years and 1 day apart.
  15. I've had a cat or 2 (usually 2) consistently in my life as a pet since my first birthday. 
  16. My family just bought their first flatscreen ever. (We're a little behind the times. I know.)
  17. I'm naturally a pessimist and always have been but I'm working to change that.
  18. Volleyball is my favorite sport.
  19. I was a competition cheerleader for 6 years.  Not high school. Ever. *gags* (No offense.)
  20. I hated most of high school.

December 14th: Nails

…My nails look normal…what a weird thing to take a picture of. Well, maybe not if mine looked cool but they are normal. So here! Look at what I made! DIY coming soon!


Saturday, December 14, 2013

NaBloPoMo Is Hard

Guys! Guys,guys,guys!!! NaBloPoMo is sooooo hard!!! I've been doing really well so far but today…not so much.  So this is my sad attempt at a blog post.  It's probably one of those posts that I'd be better off not posting but yet, here it is.  

Heres a rundown of my eventful day:

  • Board retreat for the soccer club
  • Went and bought some cool stuff (Ever hear of Real Deals? It's super cool.  Go find one in your area. They make you feel like you are in some super cool club because they are only open 2 - 3 days a week and don't advertise very much. Anyways…) 
  • Came home
  • Set up my parents new TV. (The first flatscreen any of us have ever owned!)
  • Went to dinner (Margaritas and nachos!)
  • Dragged our friend to the Festival of Lights for her first time ever. (Everyone in our town knows what it is except her apparently.
    • Side note: It's a cool thing where lights do cool stuff like play baseball, bring Santa to Earth in a spaceship, go fishing, etc.
  • Now I'm sitting here with my cat watching our friend and my mom make cheese balls. 
Quite eventful right?! No. But this is my life today.  So, if you made it this far into my post, CONGRATS! You didn't win anything but you now know a little more into my super exciting life. 

Friday, December 13, 2013

December 13: OOTD

Romeo, jeans, t-shirt, jacket. The usual. :)


Spider Plant Separation

Using those hanging plants from Sundays blog!

Who buys plants in the Winter? This girl. Why you may ask? Because that happens to be when I gained a new obsession with them.  Indoor plants in particular. I don't know what spiked my interest. Maybe a Pinterest find, maybe a memory of a relatives, maybe the sight of the 5th grade teachers at my school, I don't know, but I decided I HAD to have one. Conveniently, our local Lowe's had a few. I chose the best one and brought it home. I always want to replant plants when I buy them so I made some hanging planters (see my blog from last week for that DIY) and I repotted it.

Fun fact about Spider Plants #1: They thrive when slightly root bound.  Which is weird to me but everything I have read on them says so. Regardless, I felt a need to repot it.  I feel like slightly root bound and the mess I had were 2 different things.

I was terrified to repot this thing and to separate it nonetheless, so I'm sure someone else out there is too. So here's how my beginner self did it. So far they look good. Apparently, Spider Plants aren't very susceptible to transplant shock. Lucky me.

So the stuff… all the stuff you need to transplant a plant. What do you need? You mean to say you need stuff to transplant a plant? Yes.

Fun Fact #2: Spider Plants do not like to be waterlogged.  They have tuberous roots and suck up water.  Ya know, like plants do. But Spider Plants, they decide to get water logged and then get root rot and then they die. It's a whole thing. So we help avoid that by adding Perlite to the soil.  It helps "improve drainage and aeration in soil". I use Miracle Grow moisture control potting soil as well. You'll need a wheelbarrow to mix the soil in along with a trowel unless you want to use your hands. Your call. I am using the 2 hanging pots I made and I'm replanting some back into the pot I bought it in.  So I'm going to go from 1 plant to 3.

Easier-to-wrap-your-head-around list.

  • Spider Plant
  • Miracle Grow, moisture control soil
  • Miracle Grow, Perlite
  • Wheelbarrow
  • Trowel
  • Hanging pots if you want your plants to hang


First, I mix my soil.  I measured mine with the pots I'm planting in so I waste less soil. 


Then I add (in technical terms) that much Perlite.


Mix it up and it looks gloriously ready to aerate.


Now that your soil is ready it's time to take your plant out of its pot.  Squeeze the sides gently (especially if you plan on reusing it like me), tip it upside down, and gently tug it out. It'll probably be a bit (or more) root bound.



Now that it's out, start massaging squishing those roots to loosen them. Don't be worried if chunks of roots fall off. They reroot quickly. I had literally fist sized roots fall off of mine. If you have a plant like this one then you have 3 "mother" plants and 2 of them have split. Apparently splitting is a common thing for Spider Plants to do. You can see the 3 "mothers" well here as I loosen the roots. 


Keep squishing and dividing. You can see the "mother" that has split here along with the tuberous roots.


This is what you should end up with depending on how you choose to divide them. 


Next comes your pots. To make sure the water can escape make sure to put rocks in the base.  It also helps keep the soil from escaping through the drainage holes. My pots seem to have gigantic drainage holes so the rocks were especially important.


Now comes the planting!! Place enough dirt at the bottom of the pot to cover the rocks but not enough that your plants won't fit. I took this approach to it. I added some dirt, laid my plants on the side of the pot so the roots were dangling inside the pot, then filled the dirt in around them.




After the dirt is in, I personally push down the soil right around the base of each plant. It helps them stand up better. Otherwise, they look droopy and sad like such...

Repeat for the other plants or if your done then congrats! You've successfully separated and transplanted your Spider Plant.  Make sure to give it a good watering and let it dry out most of the way before you water them again.  Remember: They WILL get root rot if watered too much. 



My 3 lovelies. They look a little sad still but they should recover quickly.  They actually look better than when I first planted them.  I plan on giving 2 of them away as gifts for Christmas.  I wanted to transplant them in enough time that I can make sure I'm not giving away a plant thats going to die on someone.  I transplanted these on November 27, 2013.  I figured a month would be a decent amount of time. Good luck everyone!