I have no idea where this week has gone! It feels like one day it was Monday and the littles and I did our school lessons and the next thing I knew it was Friday.... We did take yesterday off to enjoy the first day of no rain in quite a while by exploring a new (to us) hiking trail. I ambitiously thought we might be able to complete the almost 8 mile loop with a two year old. While he did really well, we made it about 2 miles in and I knew we weren't going to make it.
The first clue was when the girls asked to stop and play on the beach by the lake. The next clue was when the two year old needed a diaper change and I realized we didn't have the necessary supplies. (Yes, he is still in diapers - don't judge. This little guy has a lot going on and in the grand scheme of things still being in diapers is not the end of the world for us.) And then he told us he was "all done".... of course we were a mile and a half from the car at that point.
I have a hiking carrier for him that he loved last spring, summer and fall. This was the first long hike of the year, so I brought it along figuring he wouldn't make it the whole way on his own two feet. Only now he hates it. Like full blown crying hates it. So here we were, 1.5 miles from the car with a kid with a poo diaper, too tired to walk, but hating his carrier. My 11 year old and I traded off carrying him in our arms until it started to thunder and rain! At that point I didn't want either of us slipping on the clay trail when he shifted in our arms. So he went in the backpack and cried while we all got rained on. Not our best moments. Fortunately, it was a short (like 5 minutes total) rain and once it stopped he was content to remain in the carrier.
Even with all that, the kids begged to go back another day. And all of us felt so much better after finally getting out of the house and going somewhere. Here are a few of our observations from the hike:
All that time outdoors made me want to spruce up my indoor plants. I tend to recycle pots over and over and over. After a while they begin to look.....well, let's just say, "less than pretty". So this week I am sharing some adorable knit and crochet for plant pots.
I love this knit cable pot cover. I just envision the slender leaves of my spider plant dangling over the edges... You can find the free pattern in the April 2014 issue of Knit Today. What? You don't have that hanging out on your bookshelf? Neither do I! Archive.org, however, has the digital copy available online here. And you can flip through the entire magazine for some bonus free patterns. I just love the pattern for Mrs. Badger in this edition.
Bethany over at Whistle and Ivy created this adorable little pot for air plants. I bet you can even adjust it to fit one of those Oui jars and put a small succulent in it. She offers four different sizes and since they are small you can easily use up some of those teeny balls of yarn left over from other projects. Find the pattern here.
And you totally can't talk pot covers or plant hangers without macrame! I can't help but think of growing up and the plastic-y macrame yarn light cover that hung from the ceiling in our dining room. Still, macrame and plants just seem to go together. These plant hangers only use 2 knots, making it great for a beginner project. You can find the step by step directions here.
Do you have a favorite way to spruce up old flower pots? I would love it if you would share them with me in the comments. Until next week...
