Call it a living wall or a vertical garden, whichever it is, it’s a great way to bring nature indoors, add new and different textures as well as something unexpected.

The framework for this installation is aluminum with aluminum wire and measures 4′ x 4′ with an array of several types of Tillandsia (air plants). Some of the Tillandsia are very fragrant and that’s another layer to the mix but I doubt anyone will notice over the smell of the coffee. Yes, coffee! This installation is hanging at the Perq Coffee Bar at 1821 Hillview Street. That’s in the Southside village of Sarasota, Florida and right next door to The Lollicake Queen!

When we delivered the installation we were happy to see a guy waiting with a big drill and bolts! He bolted the thing to the wall so there’s not a chance in hell the thing will ever fall off – this is what we were hoping they would do!

Each air plant is individually wired to the aluminum wire grid; we would hate to see a great cup of coffee wasted by a falling air plant.

Here you can see the Plant Man (also known as Andujar) placing the plants onto the grid and doing a whole lot of talking! If you’ve met Andujar, you know how he can talk, ha! Me? I just like to sit quietly, do my thing and get in and be done   ….well, that’s what I say anyway.

If you live in the Sarasota area and need coffee (and we know you do if you have a pulse) go check out the living wall and get a great cup of coffee at the Perq Coffee Bar! Then you can check out the Lollicake Queen while you’re there!

If you’re interested in any custom work please contact us!

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Go on out there and get yourself a nice glass globe vase… Another option is an old glass globe from a light fixture and it’s another good way to recycle. Although, you won’t be able to sit it on a table top instead of hanging it.

We filled the globe vase with a random bunch of seashells and garden snail shells ….and a vertebrae from and unknown animal. Why not? It’s all nature….nature in a globe.

Instead of sea shells, you could use pinecones, moss, spanish moss, pine needles, a bunch of wine corks or anything you want ….a bunch of plastic toy dinosaurs, Legos, who cares! It’s yours and you have to look at it…

Next, you find a plant holder or you could go ahead and make your own. Andujar made this one you see in the photo from a twine. You could also use a heavy monofilament (fish line) or a nylon twine.

We may have to do a tutorial on the plant hanger, probably with a video, but for now you could buy one you like or just place the vase on a table instead.

The plant used in this post is called, Tillandsia “Heather’s Blush.” It does well in bright indirect light and should be watered once per week.

It’s probably a good idea to remove the air plant when you water it or else you get water in the globe, then you get spots and that’s more cleaning…. who the hell needs that?

If you have questions on caring for tillandsia (air plants) you can find simple instructions at our Tillandsia Care page. We have more plants to add and they’ll be put up in time…

Some more photos…

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What can we write about Earth Day that hasn’t already been written?

We don’t want to get preachy and tell you to reuse, reduce and recycle because people who want to already do it, and those who don’t ….won’t. What people do to help the environment is up to them and no two people will do the same thing.

Whether you’re a pro at recycling your trash, making compost or protesting outside the latest eco-criminal’s headquarters, it all makes a difference and we will all do what feels right.

Another big part of the earth are her people ….yes, that would be us! So don’t just be good to the animals, don’t just hug a tree, be good to yourself and each other! Happy humans create a much better world to live in…

That is where it all begins to get fixed …with us.

Happy humans don’t consume as much so they don’t waste as much…. they live minimally and there is no need for “retail therapy” to make themselves feel better. They are always grateful for what they have so they need fewer material possessions.

Happy humans care more for their environment and the environment they leave behind for their children and their grandchildren and so on….

Happy humans are also more health conscious so they try to eat good and get plenty of exercise. They definitely want a healthy environment to grow healthy food, to live in and to play in!

Be good to each other on Earth day and every day after that ….and if you encounter a person who is an ass (or worse), then be better to him than he was to you!

Remember, we are creating our future with every decision we make…

Have a Happy Earth Day!

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“One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.” – William Shakespeare

I posted this on our Facebook page recently but wasn’t sure if it would end up being a post since the Plant Man didn’t take photos while he made it, but that never stopped me before… so I’ll do my best to show you how it was done.

Raw cork is a great material because it’s very lightweight, impervious to water and air and that makes it immune to rot. It will probably outlast you.

The natural slab of cork we used is about one foot in length and ranges from 3 to 5 inches wide. Any shape works and size depends on how many plants you want to mount onto it.

A drill or dremel is handy for this project.

First, drill a couple holes near the top so you can add a wire to hang it up.

The little bromeliads were cut from the mother plant with the entire stolon. The stolon is the part between each bromeliad (see the photo below).

We used the dremel to drill holes into the cork so we could insert the stolons. You don’t want the holes too small because you’ll end up breaking the stolon by forcing it into the cork. You also don’t want the holes too big, so start small and work up.

Put some E6000 on the stolon before inserting in into the cork for additional support. If the stolons stick too far out the back of the cork they can be trimmed off.

How many bromeliads you mount to the cork is entirely up to you. You can do 1 or 10 or more…. it depends on the sizes of the plants and the size of your cork.

After you have mounted all the bromeliads you can dress it up with some moss. We used sheet moss and a little E6000.

Let the E6000 dry for several hours, maybe overnight, before you water you bromeliads.

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That’s what bugs us about some of the plant stuff we see out there, they don’t allow much room for new growth because any new growth will ruin the “look” of the piece. We say, “What’s the point?” We try to keep that in mind when creating new things.

We started out with a rectangular piece of untreated wood because treated wood often has copper in it and copper kills tillandsia. No copper wire either ….no copper anything near air plants.

Attaching the hardware for hanging it is the first step. You can do what we did or you can use other hardware used for hanging picture frames; there are several variations so it’s up to you and what you prefer.

We all have corks that we have no idea what to do with because we all want to come up with something new and different. That is often a lot harder than it sounds. We decided to use the corks to help support the air plant as well as visual interest in a way we hadn’t seen before.

Wherever we wanted a cork, a screw was driven through the back of the wood with the point coming out toward the front and then the cork was twisted onto the screw – same idea as a “corkscrew.” Make sense?

Then you can add something cool or interesting to hang off the corks, like a seashell, a rusty key or anything else that you can think of… it doesn’t have to be what we chose.

Personally, we like the rusty look. The more worn and weathered, the better! We need to find ourselves some rusty barbed wire!

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I moved our computer to a new “desk” that is actually a sofa table because I wanted something narrow and smaller. It has worked out great, but the lamp we had on the old desk took up too much room on the new desk.

Problem: Lamp shade too wide
Solution: Make a narrow shade

I took the old shade apart to get the metal hardware. In this case, it’s called a slip uno fitter (I had to Google that).

We have a plethora of hardware cloth so it was a logical choice, plus it’s easy to use. I made a simple barrel shape shade with the existing fitter by cutting out enough hardware cloth to go around the fitter and enough height to hide the socket and neck (the ugly parts).

I used a thin wire to attach the hardware cloth to the fitter as if I were sewing with needle and thread, then I did the same on the seam of the shade.

I placed the new lamp shade on the lamp and then I sat there staring at this thing wondering what I was going to cover it with… A lot of time passed here…

Then I thought, screw it, how about tape? My Mom is a nurse and she sent me first aid supplies a while back because every house should have them, but she sent enough surgical tape for the apocalypse!! So I decided to use the tape and it looked really cool. I used the type of surgical tape that is more like cloth as opposed to the type that is more like plastic.

I kept it solid around the light bulb so it wasn’t shining in my eyes, but left spaces on the bottom half. I really like how it turned out. It’s definitely different, but we like different.

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Some people don’t like gluing plants, but in an art-style piece it’s almost necessary because who has the time or patience for them to establish naturally on a chunk of wood.

An orchid mounted to wood is best when hanging (or so we think) so that should be the first thing you do; create a way to hang the wood before messing with the plant. This way you will avoid damaging the plant while trying to do it later. We used a dremel to drill a hole, then attached a wire with a loop at the top.

Before you apply the glue, make sure you know where you want to glue the orchid by trying different positions to see what you like best. If the is any new growth you want to face that part away from the wood.

When gluing any air plant or orchid, it is best to use E6000 adhesive and not hot glue. Hot glue will burn your plant! E6000 also performs very well outdoors in any kind of weather, probably better than the plant itself.

After you glue the orchid to the wood it’s a good idea to tie it in place with some twine or raffia until the glue sets.

You can dress it up with some sheet moss or use just a little to camouflage the glue if any is showing. Push the moss into the existing glue or add more glue if you want a lot of moss. Reindeer moss is another good choice.

Let the glue set for several hours before you water your orchid.

Then hang it and hope the squirrels don’t notice your latest work!

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We haven’t posted any new project ideas in the past few weeks due to the realization of our clutter and lack of a space to work! It seems fitting to tell you how we have begun to purge and reorganize our workspace. We haven’t completed the task yet but it’s in progress.

There’s a fine line between saving materials for future DIY / craft ideas and hoarding!

Too much junk and congestion in your workspace will stifle your ability to properly get things done. Clearing a space to work by creating another big pile of crap in another corner is not what we call good organization, but is something we are guilty of… and we are sure we’re not alone.

We’ve have begun to methodically go through our “junk” to see what still inspires us and to purge what does not. We feel if it’s still sitting around the workspace after a year, get rid of it (there are always exceptions). Here are a few ideas of where to send your clutter:

• Donate craft/art supplies to Goodwill
• Donate to a fellow crafter
• Trade supplies with someone else
• Have a yard sale
• Recycle Bin (if possible)
• As a last resort – the trash!

“When it comes to organizing a workspace, relaxation and comfort aren’t the primary goals. Work is about efficiency and productivity. … The more neat and logically organized your workspace is, the better you will be at your job.” -Peter Walsh

Getting rid of the excess crap also helps you find your focus again. Maybe you had too many grand ideas of the things you would create only to find you were simply overwhelming yourself by the stash of cool clutter?

You should be able to view your supplies at a glance, especially while your working. If you have to dig for it then you may need to clean and purge. Slowing or stopping momentum on a project to dig for more crap really sucks and works against your creativity.

We think your physical space reflects your state of mind so we hope this inspires you to take some time to purge and reorganize so new stuff and ideas will have a space to flow.

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We have had some problem areas around the house where nothing would grow or grew very poorly. Maybe you’ve had the same problems?

Let us tell you about two of ours….

Problem Area 1.) Dog Poop

We rent our home and the previous tenant had a bunch of dogs in the small back yard, and where there are dogs, there must be piles of dog poop! We heard all sorts of horror stories from the neighbors about how bad the smell was and we guess it took it’s toll on the soil.

We installed sod back there once and it quickly died! It’s an area where even the weeds have problems growing so it was 99% dirt and dead leaves.

Problem Area 2.) Shade Under a Big Oak Tree

The front yard has a big oak tree with big exposed roots with not too much growing except a handful of struggling weeds. It’s a Live Oak and has big sprawling branches so it’s very shaded.

Solution: Wandering Jew!

We tried Wandering Jew because we noticed it growing in our pile of yard waste, a resilient little plant!

All we did was toss cuttings on the ground and it grew! No actual “planting” required and we didn’t need to get it rooted in water. It literally grew wherever we dropped it. Yes, even in the dog poop area!

Best of all, it grows like a weed! We routinely have to cut it back by hand or beat it into submission with the weed whacker. It’s a great ground cover for problem areas and you probably want to keep it separate from your flower or vegetable garden as it may smother everything.

As you may know, we are in Florida and Wandering Jew can survive outdoors, but actually do and look better in a shady area. If you’re in a cooler climate, Wandering Jew can be grown indoors as a potted or hanging plant.

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If you’re looking for a flawless, professionally made lamp shade, you may not like this idea because that’s not how we operate. This is very “handmade,” it’s primitive on purpose and pretty cool. We like stuff like this although we do tend to get bored quickly and redo it later. I guess the point is, it’s fun to just do without being perfect.

Yep, here we go again with the dam chicken wire aka hardware cloth! We should mention it’s not a fine mesh, it’s the hardware cloth with the great big openings….I’m sure there’s a word for that.

We made the lamp shade from scratch so we had to “wing it” and make it up as we went along. The good thing is, you can make it any size you want and you won’t have to stick to the size of the hoop, because we didn’t use one.

Using wire cutters, we cut out enough hardware cloth to make a tall, narrow lamp shade, a size and shape we’ve never seen in a store. Then we wired the ends together to make a big cylinder shape.

We put in two heavy wires that cross in the middle of the shade with a hole for the threaded stud of the harp (see photo/diagram below).

To cover the hardware cloth, we used pages from a used book by cutting them in strips narrow enough to go in between the chicken wire either vertically or horizontally. We randomly alternated vertical with horizontal.

We folded the ends of the paper over the wire and glued with a glue stick. In some places we just glued the paper flat to paper already glued to the lamp shade.

One of the books we used was about positive thinking so we saved “positive messages” and kept them intact and glued them throughout the shade. We found the book in a clearance bin so it was dirt cheap. Check out the photos below!

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