Sometimes, an experience makes a better gift than a material item. My Mom’s birthday was last week and she hinted to Dad, who told me, that she wanted to try growing an orchid. Mom’s a green thumb but she had always been intimidated by orchids in the past. Now’s she’s ready. Mom and I, we’re thick as thieves.
So I visited my trusty friend Google to see what was available in the world of Nashville orchids, hoping I might happen upon something special. And something special is exactly what I found … Merkle’s Orchids. Ed and Lydia Merkle run a little backyard orchid business from their home in the Inglewood area. The greenhouse isn’t open all the time. As a matter of fact, it’s really just a hobby for the two of them and they show their orchids at events across the region. But if you use the contact information on the website, Ed will meet you and give you a tour of his greenhouse.
Mom and I spent over an hour touring with Ed. We sniffed orchids that smelled like peonies, coconut creme pie, root beer, nutmeg, and believe it or not, exactly like Fruit Loops. We learned about orchid reproduction, what makes an orchid and orchid, how best to care for them, and how the various species of orchids have adapted to ensure pollination. Some become fragrant only at night to attract the moths that pollinate them. Others smell rancid like a carcass or dog poo to entice the flies that pollinate that species. Still others (and Ed didn’t have one of these to share but we loved hearing the story) use sex to lure in a pollinator … here’s an article about the wasp orchid that looks and smells like a female wasp. The male comes by looking for action and pollinates the flower in the process. How in the HECK did evolution cause that to occur?? Mother Nature is a fancy lady, indeed.
Here’s my favorite orchid from the Merkle’s collection. Never seen anything like it:
Isn’t it STUNNING? And here’s Mom with Ed and her new purchase (plus a little baby orchid that is a hybrid that Ed himself created – couldn’t resist).
Happy Birthday, Mom!
Steal this idea … think outside the box to make a gift a little more special. Mom’s orchid was only $25 but the time spent together and the things we learned were priceless.
posted by Julia on Jun 5th, 2010 in Gift Giving, Julia Original
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Will and I got engaged in November of 2007 on a magical European vacation with our families. The day of our engagement, we opened up a bottle of champagne in celebration and I’ve been saving our treasured cork ever since.
Er, um, ok so that’s not exactly how it went. We did get engaged on a wonderful Mediterranean cruise with our families. And we did open a bottle of champagne not long after Will popped the question. And I did save the cork. And then I lost it 36 hours later. But, in true glass-half-full style, we just used that as an excuse to order more champagne and do more celebrating. ;)
But what to do with them? I came up with an idea that I think is totally genius. Christmas ornaments! Don’t you love to go through the ritual of pulling out your Christmas ornaments each year and remembering who gave them to you or who made them for you or where you bought them? Well now you can remember those special occasions by immortalizing your champagne cork as a festive ornament for your tree. Here’s how:
Champagne Cork Ornament
1.) Start with a clean, dry cork with the muselet still attached.
The muselet is the wire cage that secures the cork to the bottle (I just learned that term tonight – fancy, eh?). If you want to work with a wine cork that naturally does not have a muselet, you might try threading some fishing line on a needle and pushing it through the cork. I haven’t tried this, but it seems like it would work.
2.) Shape a bow using some cute, festive ribbon.
I chose ribbon that’s Christmas-y but it would be just as cute to match the ribbon to the occasion. So if you opened a bottle of champagne on the day your baby girl was born, make it pink. It it was the day your hubby got into business school, find ribbons in colors that match the program.
3.) Shape a bow, don’t tie a bow.
I’m using grosgrain ribbon here and it doesn’t exactly make the most gorgeous bow because the ribbon has so much body. But it’s just too darn cute to pass up. So, I shaped the two “ears” and two “tails” of the bow and pinched it with my fingers.
Then I used a stretch of fishing line to tightly cinch the center of the bow. Next, I used a 1-inch long stretch of ribbon and a little crazy glue and covered up my fishing line. Grosgrain ribbon will fray so don’t forget to singe any loose ends with a lighter so that the fibers melt together just a bit.
4.) Attach the bow.
Bend the muselet back to make a little spot for the bow to rest. Give it just enough room so it’s snug. I added a little crazy glue to the cork right where the bow would fit to keep it extra snug.
5.) Make it hang-able.
I used some fishing line to make a loop through the ring of the muselet so it can be hung from the tree! Our tree is already down for the year so here it is, hanging from a nail in my office wall. Trust me, this will be WAY cuter once it has a Christmas tree limb to dangle from.
I’m going to try to remember to do this as a follow up from showers, weddings, engagement parties, New Year’s Eve parties, and the like. Wouldn’t it be such a fun idea to steal a cork from a party you attend and surprise the guest of honor with a little momento at Christmastime? I could kick myself for not nabbing a cork from an engagement party I went to this weekend.
One of my favorite blogs, Young House Love, does a similar application with the chop sticks from their ritual New Year’s Eve dinner. You can read about that here. They also mention framing their old house keys in that post but wouldn’t old house keys make great Christmas ornaments too? Maybe with a sweet little hand-written label that gives the address of a much-loved house and the years that you made memories there. Such a fun thing to pull out every holiday season.
So Corks for Christmas – totally a Julia Original! Enjoy!
posted by Julia on Jan 19th, 2010 in Crafting, Gift Giving, Holidays, Julia Original
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My husband has an uncle who enjoys woodworking. This Christmas, we opened a package to find he had given us a pair of handmade cedar birdhouses! One was a wren house and the other for blue jays. Aren’t they awesome?
You don’t have to be a bird watcher to appreciate a handmade birdhouse. Think about it. Who isn’t fascinated with birds? I mean come on, they fly! And what a great gift for families with kids. Post these suckers close to a window with a comfy seat and the little ones will be sure to be entertained … well, at least for a short while.
And, if you or the ones you love aren’t handy with wood working, then you can cheat. Lord knows I LOVE a good cheat. A quick search on Etsy turned up over 1,300 bird houses in the wood working section alone. I love buying gifts on Etsy because the seller usually puts in a little card talking about their handmade business. The recipient knows you didn’t just pick up this birdhouse at KMart.
Check out this cutie I found, just $15 from Etsy seller Bacon Square Farm. I love that little twisted perch. Such a simple detail makes it so special!
Or, if you are looking for something a little more mod, check out this vintage camper birdhouse for $45 from Etsy seller Strictly for the Birds. You can even order a custom license plate with up to 10 characters for just $4 extra. Freaking adorable.
And, if you want to take it up a notch, click the “Custom” button at the top of Etsy and request a bid for a custom birdhouse from the Etsy community. Snap a pic with your cell phone and you can include it in your bid request. A birdhouse built to custom specifications would be a great gift for a first-time homebuyer or as a thank you to friends who invite you to spend a weekend in their vacation home. Also great for matriarchs or patriarchs who have everything and have created memories for your family in a special home that you can immortalize in birdhouse form. With Etsy Custom, you can be as specific or as general as you want and YOU name the price. You are not locked into any purchases until you accept an offer. I LOVE buying gifts this way.
I love a gift that makes memories. This is that kind of gift. So whimsical and thoughtful, steal this idea and give someone a handmade, or even custom, birdhouse!!
posted by Julia on Dec 29th, 2009 in Gift Giving, Inspired
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