simple diy hanging planter

Everyone, meet Grant the Plant. He's the latest addition to our ever-growing collection of green. He came to our home by way of one of Heather's work buddies, and he's a spider plant. When Heather brought him home last week, I did a little internet research to determine what kind of care he needed. Fun fact: Spider plants are a hallucinogenic to cats if ingested! Also a fun fact: our cat Donut loves eating plants. With that in mind, Grant needed to be air-borne.

I made this hanging plant by using:

• A lightweight plastic planter
• Clothesline rope
• A ceiling hook

First, I tied the rope around the largest part of the pot, nice and snug. I double-knotted all the knots for this hanging project.

Next, I cut the rope coming from the first knot about four feet from the knot (the length needed for the plant to hang from the ceiling, plus a little extra for braiding and knot-tying). I cut two other lengths of rope, also four feet, and knotted them to the original circle.

I then gathered the three ropes together, and knotted them together. Then I braided the three ropes together.

At the end of the braid, I looped one of the ropes, then knotted them all together. Done and ready to hang!

The good thing about Grant is he doesn't need too much light, so hopefully this spot near the window will keep him happy. Plus it will keep the cat from tripping, so that's a bonus. 

xoxo,

-m.e.

P.S. See this trick on how to quickly decorate your planters using rubber bands.

women's march | don't stop marching

When I went to bed Friday night I was hesitant, nervous, cautious. Today I feel on fire. 

I was nervous about going to Women's March to the Capitol here in Saint Paul, Minnesota. My fiancée has the flu and sciatica, so I knew I'd be going alone. I was worried about what was going to happen at the march. Would people be angry? Would anyone show up? I'm horrible at directions - would I even be able to find the meeting spot? Saturday morning I laced up my boots and walked to the train. The moment I stepped onto the platform I felt better. Two dozen other women with signs, husbands, boyfriends, and babies in tow were waiting with me. When we boarded the train car, everyone was buzzing. Each stop the train made multiplied the number of passengers - all protesters, all full of energy. I gave up my seat and by the time we reached our destination our train was so full we had to pass by the last four stops without being able to let anybody on. That was the moment that I felt it. The power that happens when women gather. And I wasn't nervous anymore. I was smiling. Everyone was peaceful, but ready to fight. We un-sardined ourself from the train and marched to the parking lot that was designated as the meet-up location. There were so many people (estimated 100,000 after it was all said and done). Babies in strollers, children with signs they clearly made themselves. Female firefighters in yellow suspenders. Older women, younger women. We gathered, marched, chanted, and it was all peaceful. It was beautiful, and empowering.

And it was sad too. The frustration could be felt across the crowds. Over chants of "Hey hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go," you could hear muffled conversations of anger over the current state of our government. Young women chatting about disbelief. Older women complaining about having come so far just to be thrown decades back. Everyone looked fed up, and fired up. 

It was raining while we marched. I was freezing (and maybe now a little sick as a result). There were almost 70,000 more people there than estimated. Reading news reports when I got home, it seemed we weren't the only ones who were over-packed. But spirits were high, in spite of delays and the rain. It was all worth it.
And today I feel fire, because while yesterday was the most magnificent display of female empowerment I have ever witnessed, I know it's just the beginning. False reports from the White House about turnout numbers has me fired up. Cutting of arts programs has me fired up. The fact that there were protesters across the globe has me fired up. What happens tomorrow and the next day and the next day has me fired up.

I don't know what the future has in store, but I can tell you what my plan is. I'm going to stay vigilant. I'm going to vote in the mid-terms. I'm going to keep speaking out against what I think is wrong and what I feel is an abuse of power. I'm going to do everything in my capability to keep the momentum of yesterday's march going. I'm going to stay fired up. 

- m.e.

diy cat bed + curbly

So many things have been happening in my life lately. I've been working at Curbly for about a month now, and so far it's been a whirlwind experience. Even though my head is swimming at the end of each workday, being able to create content full time is a dream. Aside from work, I've been filling my spare moments with purging my life of stuff I don't need, drinking excessive hot cocoa, and working on my wedding dress (an update is coming soon, detailing the disaster that is boning) (that's what she said). It's too cold to do much of anything here in Minnesota, so aside from forcing myself to walk to work every day, I'm pretty much homebody-ing it up.

I wanted to share with you guys a little project I did for Curbly the other day. So back by popular demand my mother's request for more pictures of the cat, here's Donut showcasing this quick and easy DIY cat bed. See the full tutorial on Curbly.com!

xoxo,

-m.e.

P.S. In the spirit of New Years, you should check out this free template for a DIY weekly planner.