November 2010 Archives

Aren't those flowers pretty?

Yes, getting a new plant to grow is definitely a fun gardening gift any time of the year!

Charlotte

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Once bent, the license plate holes fall nicely on the birdhouse top. Wood screws hold the license plate to the birdhouse.

The birdhouse is now ready to go under the Xmas tree for a special personalized gift!

Our handmade birdhouses with license plate roofs are a great way to recycle those special license plates and give birds a safe place to nest!

Charlotte

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Over the years, I've found illustrated books make wonderful personalized gifts.

Even with all the wonderful new electronic gadgets, there's nothing quite like a beautiful book with wonderful color photographs like Complete Guide to Garden Flowers (photo).

My grandmother sent me a copy of this 1961 garden book with 1,000 illustrations one year for Christmas.

It's still one of my all-time favorite gardening books.

It's not just the pictures; it's all the years of leafing through the pages, discussing flowers with my grandmother and finding my grandmother's Christmas card as a book mark that makes this book extra special.

If you live near Rolla, Missouri, there's a wonderful used book store Reader's Corner with more than 79,000 gently read books available at less than retail. If they don't have the book you want, they'll be glad to locate it for you.

We also have a few of our favorite collectible books for sale at Bluebird Gardens, like this second copy of Complete Guide to Garden Flowers; the perfect companions to one of our garden-themed  quilts and throws.

Add a handwritten card with your special wishes that can be used as a book mark.

Charlotte

Fall is a  great time of the year to have gardening friends.

Especially in mid-Missouri, fall is when we settle plants in the garden for winter or bring them inside, which means extra plants without an inside space are usually looking for new homes.

About mid-September, I start getting asked by gardening friends if I want some of this or that  plant. I never know when they may show up so I always say yes.

A few weeks later, a pot or box of plants may show up unannouced, like this blue container of plants - not unexpected, just a nice surprise sitting in my office or on my door step, and that's when I start thinking about what I can do with them for the holidays.

If you get plants in mid-November, there's still time to get them sprayed and settled into cleaned pots before giving them as gifts during the holidays.

A nice potted plant makes wonderful hostess gifts and party favors, especially if you add a card with plant care instructions.

If the plant is from a mutual friend, add that information to the card so the new plant owner will have someone else to call should there be problems caring for the plant.

We periodically get notes from customers who pair a plant with a book and quilted throw for a special occasion gift - it turns out to be a favorite combination every time!

One of my favorite spots for book shopping is Reader's Corner in Rolla, Missouri, a wonderful used book store where you can find more than 79,,000 books, all gently read, which means you're not paying retail.

In the photo, a bromeliad gift plant getting ready to bloom. It's my first time growing a bromeliad so I'm excited to see it in bloom!

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We're finishing one of our favorite Christmas orders, these charming custom dachshund quilts.

I'm always intrigued by how one fabric can change the whole feel of a custom quilt.

In this example, we can use either solid black fabric on the right or the striped cotton with tans, browns, blacks and a little blue on the left.

The customer said the tan, brown and black  custom dachshund quilt was for someone who decorates with neutrals, so I thought the solid black fabric would be the first choice.

I saw the striped fabric right after we finished the quilt top and personally liked that fabric.

Which fabric would you pick to bind this custom dachshund quilt?

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Doesn't this custom applique dachshund dog quilt make you smile, too??

Charlotte

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This is one of my favorite steps in making custom quilts, seeing the final product on a bed before I pack the quilt and matching pillow cases for shipping.

This custom sleeping cats quilt is a good example of how it's best to start with one favorite color  and tone - in this case, a medium pink.

Once we had the pink fabric selected, it was a matter of shopping to find other custom fabrics in similar tones.

A couple of trips to area fabric stores and we settled on mint green tones and old fashioned lilac purples, great choices to keep the mauve pink and sky blue patchwork sleeping cats company.

Two matching pillow cases later, and this charming custom sleeping cats quilt is ready for company!

Charlotte

If there's one gift I favor through the year, it's Missouri Department of Conservation's lovely glossy Natural Events Calendar.

Every year, Missouri Department of Conservation photographers vie to have one of their nature photographs featured in this 10x14 inch calendar.

Besides photographs, this natural events calendar features special natural events on most of the days of the year.

Wonder when hummingbirds migrate, snakes hibernate, chiggers start to bite?

They're all recorded here, as well as a handy wildflower blooming calendar on the back page.

Even if the person doesn't live in Missouri, this calendar can be a great gift. Over the years, my brothers have travelled the world with their calendars, reminding them of what was happening in nature "back home."

One of the ways you can easily make this natural events calendar into a personalized gift is to add family birthdays, anniversaries and other special dates.

Share calendars with all family members so everyone can keep track of special family events.

If you have photos, add them on the squares marking a birthdays and anniversaries.

Charlotte


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One of my favorite things to do in fall is to pick a new gardening glove Bluebird Gardens can offer for personalized gardening gifts.

Gardening gloves make wonderful stocking stuffers, Mother's Day gifts and housewarming gifts - I know I love to get a new pair, any time of the year. It's like a bit of hope that getting back outside in the garden is just around the corner.

Working with Linda at Midwest Gloves out of Chillicothe, Missouri, the bag of one handed samples was like an early Christmas.

Each glove sample gets a try, hoping for comfort, ease of finger movement, enough cuff size so it can be embroidered and - well, a  bit of style.

This year, the winner was hands down uncontested: this charming pair of Blue Roses Leather Gardening Gloves have a yellow palm and finger tips, which means they'll last through all sorts of punishment, including wrangling roses, which usually can rip cotton apart in one tug.


My favorite feature - velcro on the cuff, so the gloves  can be securely attached around a blouse sleeve. Simply genius!

And the blue roses - a bit of whimsy, since blue roses are hard to grow.

Well, not hard, just extremely expensive. I read last year a Japanese hybridizer has developed a true blue rose and it costs only $40,000 or so a plant.

Blue Roses Gardening gloves come in four colors: blue, green, yellow and pink.

I like to box these wonderful new gardening gloves in gift boxes with locally handmade rose soap. Great gift for under $50!

Charlotte


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It's not that I can't find cat lover gifts; it's that I'm very picky about the ones we carry at Bluebird Gardens.

Cats can be cute and sweet, but when I think of cats, I laugh.

There's something fun and joyful about how a cat sees the world - think about things cats like to make into toys!

So when I smiled when I first saw this cat throw, I knew it was going to be joining our inventory.

The applique cats are also smiling; some in tones of pink and red cottons - one's a little blue guy with pink splots - see him, bottom right?

We can add cat names either under or over each cat to make this into a charming personalized cat lover gift.

There's also room at both the top and bottom of the throw to embroider a cat lover's name, maybe birth date to make this into a very nice personalized gift.

The cats have flowers and hearts surrounding them; all applique designs with a whimsical feel.

And wouldn't this make a great quilted wall hanging in a baby nursery?




Charlotte

One of our return customers recently called to share how much her grandchildren love getting Bluebird Gardens gift packages.

"It's not as if they don't know what they're getting, they know it's going to be a personalized baby quilt" Sarah said, but "they love the personalized card and stuffed animal toy that goes with it."

The personalized card is for the baby's scrapbook.

The stuffed animal is matched to the family's interest - maybe they have a dog, or cat, or know their child loves frogs - whatever can give the baby gift an extra special personal touch.

When were growing up, there always seemed to be a stuffed animal (or real cat) hanging out with our throws and baby quilts, so it only seemed right to add one when our personalized baby quilts are traveling to their new homes.

 

Charlotte

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Bluebird Gardens has always had a soft spot for animals, especially cats - from custom cat quilts to  tips on how to grow catnip, cats are a natural companion to quilts.

One of the things that inspires us about cats is how imaginative and creative they are; cats will make a toy out of almost anything!

In photo, Shirley Honey and her latest new "toy," long rubber bands.

Shirley has now hoarded every rubber band in the house - the longer, the better, and she instinctively seems to know when a new rubber band comes through the door.

Her favorite supplier is US Postal Service - they use the longer rubber bands around mail bundles.

At first I was worried she would chew or eat them but she doesn't.  I still monitor the rubber bands, just in case. Apparently they are decorative; I find them in all sorts of places around the house, even in the fish tank.

Our list of favorite homemade cat toys prompted Kay in Kansas to write about her two cats, Sylvia and Darla, and their favorite homemade cat toys:

Unshelled pecans
Straws
Thread spool
Plastic rings from milk jug
Plastic ring from milk jug with twine tied to it.
Mini hair clip (stolen off of my daughter's vanity)
Old lipstick tube
Jingle bell tied onto ribbon
Oyster crackers

I loved the oyster crackers - who would have ever guessed!

Do your cats have favorite homemade cat toys?

Charlotte


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