I love wreaths, there aren't many things as gorgeous as wreaths to decorate the doors, porches and walls and this fall, I made these beautiful fall wreaths fully from dollar store supplies and am sharing with you all the steps in this post.
Autumn Autumn...Isn't it a wonderful season? leaves turning all colorful, sweaters and warm cozy blankets, pumpkin spice and soups...It reminds me of my grandma, specially her mini meatball soups. I am grateful that I had her in my life.
What do you think of fall? What is your most cherished memories of fall?
Short answer is YES. However, your cutting, water, process, location and light are important factors for your cuttings to root and I'm going to tell you exactly what to do:
WHAT YOU NEED TO PROPAGATE GERANIUM IN WATER:
A razor, xacto or a sharp thin blade knife
A geranium plant to get the cuttings from
An empty jar
If your Jar has a large opening, then you will need some tape
& of course, Water!!!
HOW TO PICK A PERFECT GERANIUM CUTTING:
To choose a perfect cutting you are looking for a green, young branch with few leaves and preferably two leaf nodes. If there are not leaf nodes visible, you want to have more than 4 leaves on the branch so that you have remove two leaves and expose the nodes. Leaf nodes are very important as that's where the roots will grow from. This might take a little search, and it is an important step, so take your time!
In the picture below, notice that there is already one leaf node on that branch and if I remove one leaf right above that node, I will have two leaf nodes and there will be few small leaves left so that my cutting can feed and stay strong.
Time to snip! Remove your chosen branch by cutting it close to the stem with your sharp razor in one cut. Then it clean it up by removing any flower buds or extra leaves, cause you want all the energy to go toward growing roots and not the extra leaves, also any flower buds will most likely die and rot, so remove those too.
HOW TO PROPAGATE GERANIUM IN WATER:
Now that your cutting is ready, fill up your jar with water, and insert your cutting in the water, in a way that the two leaf nodes are in the water & the leaves are out, look at the picture below.
Keep the jar close to a window at room temperature. You want, maybe, a north face window or somewhere with lots of bright light but not direct sunlight.
Check your cuttings every few days and add water to the jar if water level has gone down.
A few tips:
If you have a large opening jar, make sure to cover most of the opening with tape (or yarn) then insert the geranium cutting through a small opening in the tape. This is to prevent your cutting from sinking in the water too much, otherwise the leaves will start to rot & that will be the end of it.
I suggest not using water straight from the tap; fill up a cup/container with water and let it sit few hours to get rid of any chlorine in the water.
Those little white spots from a fallen leaves or the tiny white leafy flaps are your clue for where the leaf nodes are.
Picture below shows you why having leaf nodes are important. The jar on the right is without leaf nodes, and see what happens in few days!.
After 15 days:
HOW LONG FOR GERANIUM CUTTINGS TO ROOT IN WATER:
Roots will show up after 2-3 weeks, mine took 15 days and you can see the roots starting to peek through. A side note that I didn't use any rooting hormones or cloning gel.
& There you have it :)
Hope you enjoyed this guide & Please let me know if you have any questions or do share your thoughts if you gave this a try.
This year, spring has come with a new challenge that could mean an opportunity to revisit our yearly resolutions; to add some or to scratch off a few. One of the gifts this tough time can give us is a chance to step back and to look at ourselves and our lives from a different angle. Times like this show us how closely each person is connected to the whole world and how one person can affect lives of many. It can take us a step back to let us feel what is most valuable and cherished a chance to know ourselves better.
I started this year without any outlined resolutions, I decided to try to have an open conversation with myself : to understand my past and who I am today, a self-heal and self-realization journey. As a first step I needed a zen element, something that brings me to the center. Although always drawing and painting has been my thing but this time I decided to give something else a try & as I was thinking of teaching my son a new skill, I jumped on a knitting project....A scarf :D
3 weeks later, I have a lovely scarf that has millions of thoughts stitched into it.
For my seed stitch scarf, i used THIS tutorial by Designs by Phanessa, super easy and fun to make.
I'm not only against perfectionism but also quiet supportive of trying and doing ones best effort, irrespective of the outcome... Apparently that is true only when I am dealing with others!
Internally though, in my self-talks, I am and have always been quiet critical of my art & the more artists I talk to, It feels more like I am in the same boat with many others. It is as if there is one ideal form of art or a set expectation of what " a decent piece of work" should be to which we are constantly comparing ourselves.
Then in the midst of this daily struggles, every now and then we come across a person who didn't give a sh*t about what that perfect image is and kept doing what S/he liked and enjoyed. So no surprise there that person ended in the center of attention as a person with a unique style.
The more I think about it, the more i'm convinced of the importance of building that strength to not being affected by others' judgments and the ability to focus mainly on finding and doing what I like and enjoy. It might be a better mindset to strive to gather around myself more of those who genuinely enjoy hanging out with me, with all my imperfections. Those who share the same views, those who can see the beauty in things that I find beautiful, or those who can be happy for me despite our differences. And, I hope you all can be surrounded with like minded & supportive friends and family.
So cheers to all those imperfect journal pages, silly doodles and unfinished paintings :D
This blog is a place where I share inspirational art, handmade pretties and tutorials. Also, I share with you bits of my life, my own paintings, thoughts and anything beautiful that I discover in my journey to become a better artist and person.
