Small gardening surprises

I was clearing up the patch of land I use to grow veggies as well as check on some reusable pots when I had a couple of pleasant surprises. It somehow reaffirmed my firm belief that Nature takes care of its own.
I had forgotten that I planted potato last Autumn, because one day it was looking fine, and then winter came in and the green leaves just disappeared, followed by grassy overgrowth. So I was indeed surprised to find some baby potatoes while pulling out weeds and digging up the soil!
And in the sun room, I just placed some garlic clovers in this pot and placed this under the table. I'd sprinkle some water on it but focused mainly on the plants on the tabletop. And then I noticed that garlic bulbs are actually protruding from the soil! It looked like it was ready for harvest (one sign to look out for is the withering of the leaves, with only around 6 strands remaining at the top). So I dug it out, and out came garlic! Really amazing.

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Engaging Paper Craft

I chanced upon Paper Craft while browsing around for something to fold (I like doing origami in my spare time). It's basically creating something out of paper, usually by simply cutting out templates and gluing them together. Very easy, right? Actually, I found it a bit of a challenge, especially since you have to manage cutting around intricate designs. It can test your patience at times.

Given that, I think it's a good way to see if you can be patient enough to finish a project. :-)

There are lots of paper craft in the internet. Besides the computer, internet connection and printer, you also need thicker than usual paper, a pair of scissors, and some glue.

Then head on over to Canon Creative Park and choose from a wide range of projects! There are also some Christmas stuff you can make in time for the holidays!

I made a couple of animals: a kitten and a bunny.
When I finished the project, I can't help but wonder how the artists were able to come up with this! They are, not surprisingly, Japanese.
The bunny was a bit rough. On the second project (the kitten), I learned that you need to use the glue very sparingly (I used the white type used in schools) so that when you press flaps together, the glue wouldn't seep out and create messy connections.

Try some!

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Part 3: the Christmas wreath project

This is how the project looked like after working on it for around 14 hours...

And on the next weekend, it was done! I took a quick trip to the crafts shop to find some things to jazz up the wreath, and found some silver and round stars for a dollar each. I also bought two sheets of metallic paper (silver and red to match) for ribbons (I found actual ribbon material too expensive for this).
So I cut the metallic sheets into thick trips and taped them together to form long ribbon material and glued the stars randomly.
Project finished! It now adorns our living room wall.

Technorati tags: Christmas craft