DIY - Grow Succulents from Leaves or Cuttings - Learn HOW TO Propagate - Instructions - Tutorial - Super Easy

I love propagating plants and especially succulents. From leaves I now have twelve little succulents. SO EASY!!! If this post shows you anything, it's that succulents are hardy and I barely took care of mine. 

11/16/17 - I purchased a succulent from our local grocery store or Home Depot or purchase cuttings online.

I started by holding a leaf at the bottom of the succulent and slowly moved side to side until it came off. It's not a pulling motion, more of a wiggle side to side. I repeated this process for fourteen leaves. 

Next step is to set the leaves or cuttings on a paper towel and let them sit for about a week. It was cold outside so I put them in the garage. If warm enough outside you can put them in the shade, no full sun. You want to let the end of the leaf that you removed to callous over. I know what you are thinking but we are not leaving them to wilt and die. They will be totally fine. Remember, no water. 

11/24/17 - (8 days) I purchased soil at Home Depot that is great for succulents. See, the bag even says so. Plus it was the cheapest. :)

I used a plastic lid from an extra foil tray after Thanksgiving. You just need something that holds dirt and can fit all the leaves. 

I placed the leaves on top of the soil and used a spray bottle to mist just a little.

I set the tray on my table in the kitchen with indirect light. I continued to mist every 2-3 days.

11/30/17 - (14 days) The tiny little roots started growing! These pictures were taken on 12/4/17. 

Not all of them will grow and in my case, two sprouted with no roots. :(

12/15/17 -  (29 days) The new succulent started sprouting!! So cute!!!

Once they start to root, gently cover the roots so they don't dry out. I, on the other hand, was in the process of packing and moving and did not do that. They grew fine.  

1/3/18 - (48 days) Growing like crazy and the original leaves started turning brown.

I don't have that many photos during their growth but you can see below that I didn't do much with them during the move.

1/31/18 - (76 days)  Time to plant or finally getting around to it. I felt bad I didn't cover the roots and I'm sure they would've grown bigger if I had. 

Some of the original leaves fell off and other I gently tore off  keeping just a little at the end so I didn't damage the new roots.

I used succulent soil again.

I planted them in an egg carton so they can get a little bigger before planting or giving as a gift.

I gave them a good spray to get the top of the soil wet. 

Now I'll mist every 3-5 days or when the soil drys out.

 I'll let them grown in the egg carton and eventually cut the carton into individuals. Then I can place that in either the ground or a pot. 

Hope this inspires you to grown your own!

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Cool arm CAST TATTOO - Broken bones are no fun but CASTTOO makes it a little better - decorate

So my youngest broke his arm just above his wrist in two places. :( Basketball game block that ended in a break. Both kids went up and both kids came down, BUT the other kids foot came down on my son's arm. OUCH! He even tried to go back in the game but the first pass he caught we knew he was done. He still keeps saying, "I blocked him like a beast and it was all ball!" Me: Oookay {{with my not impressed face}} :)

This was on Sunday morning (1st of two games) so it looked like the emergency room here we come, except my husband found a company called Direct Orthopedic Care. They took x-rays and cast on in a little over an hour. No splint, no missing work the next day for another doctor visit....in and out really fast! They will bill the insurance but since they have you pay up front and you fight the insurance if they don't pay, that's how they keep costs low. Still expensive but just a little less expensive.

VIDEO TUTORIAL HERE

Okay, cast is on so lets make this bad situation a little better. I searched for cool ideas or designs and found Casttoo. Seemed pretty easy and inexpensive for something you'll wear for 6 weeks. Ordering was a little tricky. I wasn't sure about size so we went with the small since it was cheaper.

They arrived fast and even sent some cool extras.
I love the skull and crossbones with the broken bone. :)

The size was great and glad we ordered the small.

Troy was super excited and wanted to apply right away!

Cut apart tattoos

You just need a hairdryer to apply

We talked about placement to make sure they would all fit. We ended up not using the giant basketball but used all the rest. Peel, place, and press down tattoo. Heat and press again. DONE!

He thought the hairdryer felt good. We did this for each tattoo individually.

Done in about 15 mins. We even put some on the other side.

Love how they turned out. He was so happy!

ITCHY CAST? or WET CAST?

Cast hack :) I'm sure every doctor would advise against this so my disclaimer is I'm NOT a doctor and I DON'T suggest you try anything we did.

With that said, this started when my son got his cast wet. We bought a rubber arm sleeve but somehow he didn't close the plug. We wanted to soak up as much water as possible and keep something between his skin and the cast to prevent infection. ANYTHING not to replace the cast since it was only on for three days. UGH! In the process we found it not only worked perfectly, but it was a great way to get to itchy spots. One happy boy and one happy Mama that the cast dried. Whew!

I found a t-shirt that was super soft and going to be donated.

Cut t-shirt into strips. I made several not knowing how much they would soak up.

I tried a few things and thought about it for a while and came up with something strong enough, thin enough, and long enough.....zip tie!!

I cut the end off and decided to attach with packing tape. I tried to put most of the tape on one side and that would slide along the inside of the cast and a tiny strip at the end on both sides to help hold the zip tie in place.

We started at one end and gently worked it to the end. Surprisingly this was super easy. It didn't catch on the inside padding.

Then we pulled the zip tie until the tape end was close enough to tuck the edges under the padding and gently pulled.

 I did it slowly not to hurt him since the cast is on sooooo tight. Worked perfect.

Remove tape 

You should have material sticking out of both sides of the cast

Now just grab both ends and pull once side a little and pull the other side. It's a back and forth motion.

 His face was instant relief. Remember, he just got it wet and we were trying to dry it as well. 

I trimmed the edges and tucked the ends inside the edge of the cast so you couldn't see the material. PLUS he wanted me to hide the HEARTS. Lol! It was a t-shirt going to be donate and it was super super soft. 

 I made two, one for the top of his arm and one for the bottom of his arm. We left it over night and removed in the morning. It was damp so we made two more. The next two we ended up moving back and forth when he had an itch and it was dry when we took it out.

It was a great alternative to him wanting to stick stuff in his cast to itch every hour. :)

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FIRST birthday CAKE SMASH ideas and inspiration - Fun way to celebrate turning one - 1st party

I use to be a photographer....well, professionally. I still love to take photos but I don't do photo shoots anymore. When I did, I was known for my first birthday cake smash. Such a great way to celebrate this milestone.

I would discuss outfits with the parents, selected the backdrop, and designed and made the cakes.
 One stop shop! :)

UPDATE: I've had a bunch of requests on what tips I used to decorate these giant cupcake cakes - HOW TO MAKE A GIANT CUPCAKE CAKE TUTORIAL

This was ALWAYS so much fun and some days I miss it, especially the creativity of it all. Oh and I love to see the kids get messy.

Here are some ideas and inspiration to create something memorable.

Aftermath

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