Things I'm Lovin' Tuesday: Farmer's Markets!

This is a non-sponsored review and I purchase my own Farmer's Market goodies.

Last year I started a monthly blog series called

THINGS I'M LOVIN' TUESDAY!!!

Past post can be found:

here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here!!

And make sure to check back every last Tuesday of the month!

Now onto what I'm lovin' this month...

I've been going to farmer's markets for years.
There's a great little one just a few miles from my house on Sundays.
But I was recently introduced to two other amazing ones in Los Angeles.

I had heard good things about the Calabasas Farmer's Market
and just a few Saturdays ago I finally went for the first time.
While it was bigger than the farmer's market in Encino,
parking was a little more of a hassle unless you wanted to pay.

My boyfriend took me to the Brentwood Farmer's Market recently
and it was by the best farmer's market I've ever been to!
It was huge and the quality of the goods were amazing.
And parking is surprisingly pretty easy for the area on a Sunday.

What are your favorite goodies to buy at the farmer's market?

And if you're Los Angeles local - what's your favorite farmer's market in the area?

DIY: Easy Flower Pot Decor

Some of the DIY projects I do are pretty intricate and take a bit of time,

while others are quite easy and are completed in a matter of minutes.

This month's DIY project fell in the latter category.

The Pier1 location closest to my apartment closed recently,

but before closing they had a massive sale for the whole store.

I snagged a few item including a small flower bunch for this DIY project.

I LOVE having fresh cut flowers around my apartment

but potted plants are pretty much a no-go because of bugs.

Instead I use fake plants to decorate and today I'm creating my own!

The Goods:

Mini Terra Cotta Pot

Hot Glue Gun

Glue Stick

Small Flower Bunch

Heat up your hot glue gun for a few minutes,

then put a thick coat of glue around the rim of the pot.

If it gets a little messy, that's okay because your flowers will cover it!

Before the glue dries, place your small flower bunch on top of the vase.

Press down just slightly so they stay stuck to the glue. 

Lastly, figure out where to display your super easy DIY project!

I wasn't joking when I said this one was easy.

It took me just a few minutes to complete,

and waiting for the glue gun to heat up took the most time!

This post contains affiliate links meaning I may get a paid for certain purchases.

DIY: Pumpkin Vases

When I recently posted about the DIY: Pumpkin Puree,

I told you to check back soon for another DIY post

because I felt like I was cheating reposting about the puree.

I have guilt problems, but it probably works in your favor!!!

Well folks, soon is here and I am so excited about today's post!

And while technically I have blogged about the topic in the past,

I'm revisiting it and doing it ALL over this year,

instead of cheating, again, and reposting a past post!

Enough talk outta me, let me show you how to make these beauties!

The Goods:

Fall Colored Flowers

Mini Pumpkins

Floral Foam

Scissors

Cut the top off your pumpkins and scoop out all the seeds/goop.

Wash out, dry and then fit your floral foam inside each pumpkin.

Start with one variety of flower and secure them in the floral foam.

Keep adding the different varieties of flowers until your vase is filled.

And it looks something like this!

Or maybe like this!

Play around with the different flowers 

until you get the look you're going for!

Each one will look a little different and that's totally ok!

DIY: Burlap Ribbon Wrapped Jar Vases

I love the look of burlap.

I use it pretty much whenever I can.

So when I was planning a little event a few months back,

you can bet I wanted to incorporate burlap in some way!

I knew I wanted to have some fresh flowers for decoration,

and I adore old recycled jars as vases for flower arrangements.

So I thought it would be a really cute to combine burlap and recycle jars

and make some adorable DIY vases!

The Goods:

Recycled Jars

Thick Burlap Ribbon

Thin Burlap Ribbon

Hot Glue Gun

Hot Glue

Measure and cut your ribbon ahead of time.

And plug your glue gun in to heat up.

Place a tiny dollop of glue on the jar, followed by one end of the thicker ribbon.

Wrap around and secure with another dollop of hot glue.

Trim excess ribbon and repeat steps with thin ribbon.

Simple, yet cute!

With some white Mini Calla Lilies from Trader Joe's!

August Garden Update!

Last month I mentioned I purchased new Coconut Liners
and was hoping to get new flowers to plant soon.
Well just a week or so after I published that post,
I made a trip to Home Depot for some new flowers!

The Home Depot flower (and herb) haul!!!

And all the new liners just waiting for new flowers to be planted!

I normally do a few different varieties of flowers...

But this time I went with just petunias in many different colors!

And I also replaced the liners/plants in my hanging baskets too!

I'm loving those lil purple flowers!

The marigolds I planted a few weeks ago are blooming like crazy!

And the gardenia plant is still going strong too.

This jalapeno plant continues to surprise me!

Keep the blooms and peppers coming please!

The basil plant I had was needing replaced,

so I brought this lil sucker home and it's already thriving!

And I know I say this every month now, but look at the Christmas Tree!

It's now HUGE and I can't wait to decorate it in December!

Slowly but surely, the lemon tree is filling out again.

And that one branch just keeps getting taller and taller.

I just picked FOUR lemons off the tree last week too.

And lastly is this amazing cactus!

I don't know if I've ever shared it,

but I've had it for years and it's HUGE too!!

As a reminder -

I will be blogging about garden updates 

every last day of each month.

It may not be a complete update each month,

but it will be about something in the garden.

So keep coming back to see what I have growing!

May Garden Update!

When I posted my March Garden Update,

I mentioned that I was starting something new,  

where I post a Garden Update the last day of every month!

So since today is the last day of the month,

I have the May Garden Update for you!!!

My jalapeno plant is growing and producing like crazy!

I cannot believe how many peppers and buds are on it.

I'm still shocked that it survived the winter,

and now it's amazing me once again!

Six buds/blooms and four peppers!

This pine tree really needs to be transplanted.

But then I'm scared it will just get way too big!

It's amazing that it started out less than a foot.

I always think I'm going to lose these geraniums.

But even if I trim them back like crazy,

they always end up coming back and surprising me.

Last month, I mentioned my gardenia bloomed

and that I had a few more waiting to bloom.

I couldn't help but clip one off of them off

and put it on my bathroom counter!!!

It looks pretty, but smelled even better!!!

Sadly, the last bud fell off before blooming.

Womp womp!

And lastly - look at all those lemons!

Lemons, lemons, lemons!!!

I have a bunch in many different stages.

Keep coming lemons!!!

Which bring me to this...

I'm worried that I may not keep getting lemons!

Look above at the damage to the leaves!

Something is eating them and I'm not happy.

I looked and didn't see a caterpillar.

And do they even eat lemon tree leaves?

Anyone out there on the www got any ideas?

PLEASE HELP!!!

As a reminder -

I will be blogging about garden updates 

every last day of each month.

It may not be a complete update each month,

but it will be about something in the garden.

So keep coming back to see what I have growing!

April Garden Update

When I posted my March Garden Update last month,

I mentioned that I was starting something new,  

where I post a Garden Update the last day of every month!

So since today is the last day of the month,

I have the April Garden Update for you!!!

Let me start off by saying how much I dislike caterpillars.

Yes -I know they turn into moths and beautiful butterflies,

but they also make gardening much more frustrating!

Need past proof?

Check here, here, here, here AND here.

To say I'm not a fan would be an understatement.

So you can bet I was super upset when I saw one eating my Thyme!

See that lil sucker towards the top left of the picture?

GRRRRRRR!

And shortly after I noticed another one eating my Oregano!

No, no, no.

Just no!!!

My poor, sad Oregano was done for.

Hope those leaves were tasty - 

since that was your last meal Mister Caterpillar!

Luckily they haven't found the jalapeno plant yet,

because it's still thriving and growing!

And look new pepper buds!

I thought there were only two at first...

But from another angle I noticed there were FIVE!!!

And then just a few days later,

a few of the buds had become flowers!

In last month's garden update, 

I thought for sure I'd have picked my first lemon.

Well sadly I was wrong!

They're so close - but still a little too green!

I was still hoping I'd get to pick the first one real soon!

Except to my surprise, there wasn't much picking!

Nope - just a few days after snapping the two previous photos,

I was outside watering and hardly touched the lemon when it fell off!

Not a giant lemon by any means,

but it's still my first homegrown lemon 

and one could say that I'm proud!!!

I was shocked again this past weekend.

 I found a second one that had fallen off as well.

C'mon lemonssssssssss!

Not only have I been able to pick some lemons, 

but the mums I bought in the Fall are blooming again too!

They've had buds for awhile, but only recently bloomed again!

While the mums are doing great, that's not the case for all my flowers.

I ripped out the dying flowers and their coconut liners

and hope to redo that area of my garden soon!!!

And last, but certainly not least - my gardenia bloomed!!!!

I've had this plant for over a year and it never flowered.

Not once. It'd get buds, but never any flowers!

I was in shock and couldn't get over how amazing it smells!

There are currently four other buds on the plant

and I hope they all become flowers too.

As a reminder -

I will be blogging about garden updates 

every last day of each month.

It may not be a complete update each month,

but it will be about something in the garden.

So keep coming back to see what I have growing!