Today is the final day of the 2014 ‘Kids in the Orchard’ program.  It’s happening from 2 to 3:30.  We’ll be sharpie dyeing white t-shirts, flower painting, and playing some fun games!  It’s going to be another great day!

Bring your own white t-shirt for dying or we have some for sale for just $3 a shirt.

Anyone can come…it’s just $6/kid!

See you at the orchard!

Hi everyone!  I just realized I haven’t officially posted plans for tomorrow’s Kids in the Orchard day!  It will be from 2 to 3:30 and anyone can join in the fun…just $6/kid if you’re not already signed up!

So what will be doing?  WATER!  We’re going to be playing games again (since lasts week was so amazing) and this time we’ll be adding some water into the fun!  Be prepared to get wet!

And…if for some reason it does rain, be sure to throw a white tshirt that we can dye into your car too…we’ll be doing my plan either this Wednesday or next!

We have our gardens FILLED with random things that can be made into planters.  I think it adds tons of fun and whimsy – everywhere you look, a plant is planted in something unexpected!This beautiful planter was made by my friend Kristina of Upcycled Funk.  We also have a few mosaic pots and some old rain boots- perfect!This is a table for some building blocks my girls used to play with.  Of course, we misplaced half the blocks…makes a perfect new planter!A plant in a mailbox…why not!?  Just make sure it doesn’t need much sun!Watch for these whimsical pots on sale at your local shops when summer nears the end…they are perfect and I just keep collecting them!Yup – a vertical garden in a pallet!  And what is that –why yes, it’s my old roller blade!  Perfect for a succulent! (I’ll have to snag a picture of the succulent now that it’s grown some more).Tippy pot planters!  LOVE these!  Stick a pole in the ground, put multiple pots through the stick through the hole in the bottom of the pots…they naturally tip. Fill with dirt ad plants!

Got an old, broken toilet?  Don’t put it in the dump!  Make it a planter! 

The fourth week of Kids in the Orchard is THIS Wednesday!

This week’s focus will be ‘All about Games’!  We’ll be pulling out our life size jenga, our corn hole game, playing some group games and relay races.  And of course – the kids will be able to enjoy the playground equipment while they’re at it too!  Should be fun!

While some of this will be organized fun there will be lots of ‘game stations’ and free time for the kids to pick what they want to try out and play.

See you on Wednesday, July 16th from 2 to 3:30!

If you haven’t paid for the season you can still join in the fun!  Just $6/kid/session!

I once again spent the beginning of my summer painting barn quilts.  Definitely not complaining – I truly enjoy the process of creating these large pieces of farm art.The first one I painted is actually a 6’ x 6’ barn quilt of an Ohio Star.  My customer told me it was going to be on a white barn and that she liked Americana colors.   By doing the white triangles near the center square I think it’s going to give the quilt a ‘cut out’ effect once it’s hanging!  I really like this one!

The second one I painted is a standard 8’ x 8’ barn quilt of the block Dutch Rose.  Again – I went Americana in color choices but added in the black and grey.   This one was going to be hung on a red barn so the star will get that ‘cut out’ effect.

I’ve been blogging about the whole process over at my Persimon Dreams blog if you’re interested in seeing how they came to be!

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4

Do you have a barn quilt?  If yes, what design did you put up?  If no, what design would you want?

The next Kids in the Orchard will be this Wednesday, July 9th from 2:00 to 3:30.

This week all I need you to do is bring yourself!  We’re going to do a bit of a throwback to our previous program and we’re going to go and explore the Gardens of Lapacek’s Orchard.  We have some cool ones to show you – even our very first Hugelkultur and lots of things to teach you along the way.

Of course there will be a delicious snack and time permitting a super fun craft project!

Hope to see you there!

The second session of Kids in the Orchard involved attempting to chalk our entire driveway!  Folks got started as soon as they arrived!I went on pinterest and even found a few recipes to make my very own chalk!

7 ways to make ice chalk

and Make your Own Pavement Chalk

I would say that it worked pretty well – the ice chalk would have worked better if it would have been warmer out.  As it was we sort of just left in in random places to let it melt a bit before we tried to use it.  On a hot day, I’m pretty sure it would have been usable without the melting time necessary. 

Kids of all ages joined in the fun!Even the adults got into the chalking fun!So proud of her dolphin!  I love it!!!!Oh Kelin!  I had an ‘Inspiration Station’ with ideas written on popsicle sticks that the kids could pick out of the jar.  One of them was ‘spool of thread.’  I was of course thrilled to see all the fabulous spools around the driveway!Here the kids are squirting on vinegar to the chalk to see it fizz.  This particular home made chalk included a bit of baking powder so when it was sprayed with vinegar it would fizz!  So fun!

Pip and Capri really getting into it!Cedi said she liked chalk day because she could just relax, draw, and hang out with her friend Georgia.

Snack time!  This week for snack time we did a twist on the delicious pickle roll up!  We picked some lettuce from Mercedi’s garden and the kids could pick what they wanted to roll up in it…

• cream cheese
• hummus
• olives
• pickles
• pickled beans
• all of the above
• a mixture of some of the items above

I think Evelyn enjoyed it!

We also had the kiddo’s paint the ‘Beverage’ stand…I’ll post ‘finished’ pictures later…

Stay tuned for what we have planned for next Wednesday!!!