A DIY Windowsill Herb Garden (For Christmas Gift or January Project...)

Don't panic. There's still time! 

Are you in search of a special gift you can make from the comfort of your own home? 
(Or perhaps you want to tuck this one away for January - that's okay too!)

A windowsill herb garden is a thoughtful gift that will bring a touch of nature and life inside, and will last after the Christmas tree and decorations come down. Fresh herbs make cooking healthy foods more flavorful...Perfect for the new year, after holiday meals and cookies have been enjoyed! ;)

DIY Gift Ideas... {Farmhouse Inspired}

Hope you enjoyed Thanksgiving! Are you braving the crowds, or keeping it cozy at home this weekend? Today, I thought I'd share a roundup of some farmhouse-inspired DIY projects that would make great gifts. 

These posts were written over the past few years. Though there is a range in the quality of photos, depending on when the post was written, I still enjoy the finished product and hope you will too! 

Just click on the images or links below for instructions...

Starting Our Vegetable Garden... Indoors

Our mud/laundry room is doing quadruple duty these days as we've added "greenhouse" and "baby animal barn" (for our ducklings and chicks) to its job description. I'll post pictures of the adorable ducklings and chicks, and their three handsome caretakers soon. ;) But today, I thought I'd share how we are starting our vegetable garden indoors...

A Farmhouse-Style Herb Garden in the Dining Room...

It may still be awhile until we plant herbs in the garden outside, but it's never too early to enjoy them indoors. 

They add some life, greenery, and freshness to the house... and smell so good!

Plus, it's good gardening warm-up. 

Farmhouse Flowers (Wisteria)

I wish there was something I could spray on wisteria as a sort of "perma-freeze." 

(I realized that I daydream of doing this each spring. ;) 

It's just too beautiful to only last a few weeks!

DIY Christmas Gift: Windowsill Herb Garden (with Vintage Silverware Markers)

It's black Friday. You could go out and brave the mall... 

Or, you could stay home, with a warm drink in hand, and make your own gifts!

A windowsill herb garden is a thoughtful gift that will bring a touch of nature and life inside, and will last after the Christmas tree and decorations come down. Fresh herbs make cooking healthy foods more flavorful...Perfect for the new year, after holiday meals and cookies have been enjoyed! ;)

August in the Garden...

It has been the sunniest and warmest summer we've had since moving to the Seattle area 15 years ago! It reminded me of summers growing up in Northern California.

Our garden loved all of the sunshine (our grass, not so much)! 

Here is the garden gate, covered in vines and hops...

Once the hops fade to a golden brown, I love bringing them inside to decorate with. The hops vines add texture and a touch of nature to mantels and shelves.

It was a happy morning when our youngest discovered "his" corn was ready! This was our first corn - we had tried last year but it didn't grow. He shucked each ear excitedly and ran it into the house... :)

We are also enjoying watching our first watermelon grow!

Along with our first pumpkins...

Zucchini has grown in abundance.

Grapes grow along our back fence. This type is a little tart, but our boys like snacking on them. Our chickens love them too! ;)

Thank you for stopping by today and taking a peek into our garden. Did you plant a garden this year? Did you try anything new? What did the best? I'd love to hear!

Xo

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Our Little Farmstead Vegetable Garden

 We're getting a serious dose of sunshine, and our garden is loving it! 

Everything is starting to grow fast now...

This is only our second summer here, so we still have much to learn about gardening. We planted a lot of the same vegetables we did last year with a couple of new additions. We added a few pumpkins and watermelon.

We are also trying this green bean teepee... 

Our garden gate is covered in vines once again.

Our oldest son, Hudson, planting greens in his garden bed. (We were grateful there were already three garden beds when we moved in. One for each of the boys!)

Since moving in, my husband has wanted to put a flag up. He installed this one from our side porch, facing the garden. We love watching it wave gently in the summer breeze over our little garden...

Our middle son, Noah, weeding beneath his green bean teepee...

Our youngest, Lincoln, planting corn.

Look how it's grown!

Happy July from our garden to yours! ;)

Xo

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Roses from the Garden...

There's a sweet and simple joy of bringing flowers in from the garden...

I remember when I was little and my Mom would go out to our garden in the morning. She'd cut a few roses, wrap the stems in wet paper towel and then tin foil. She'd send them with me to give to my teacher. They would always bring a smile from the teacher and I'd feel happy, having given them.

Though the weather forecast called for some sunshine, it ended up being a cool, gray day. Bringing in the first roses from our garden gave our home a little pop of color.

They smell so good! I made our boys stop to smell the roses. They were less-than-impressed, but I like to think of it as a mini life lesson. ;)

Here's to seeing the world through rose-colored glasses 

(even when skies are gray)...

So glad you stopped by!

Xo

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A Farmhouse Garden...

We're enjoying our second spring here at our little farmstead. The mature trees, plants and perennial flowers surprise us with new beauty daily this time of year.

There's something about wisteria that reminds me of an old-fashioned garden...

This white wisteria is in-bloom near the gate to our vegetable garden.

And these delicate purple flowers are adding a splash of color against the green beneath the large tree in our front yard...

The peonies, which I stalk check daily (my favorite!), are just starting to bloom.

The pale purple wisteria, covering our smaller back porch, has been especially abundant this year...

It's therapeutic for me to share these glimpses of garden beauty with you because there is SO much gardening work calling to be done. If I weeded all that needs to be weeded, you may never hear from me again. ;) And our vegetable garden remains half-planted (though today may be the day!).

Though there's always work to be done, here's to taking a moment to smell the roses, wisteria or whatever is blooming near you! 

Hope you have a great day...

xo

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An Entryway Arbor...

The arbor in the front of our house, that helps define the entrance, 
is now covered in spring-green vines... 

One of my favorite plants - the lilac - is in full-bloom near the arbor...

There's a touch of wisteria (though it grows more prolific in other areas of the yard). 

A simple stone path leads from the arbor to the front porch...

We added some strands of lights to the arbor to provide some much needed light out front. Some day, we'd love to add some built-in lighting... 

It's always amazing how quickly things grow! The first picture in this post was taken about ten days ago. If you compare it to the picture below, taken today, you can see such a change in the tree, vines and lilacs...

We've been enjoying the sunshine today... Our youngest and I took a blanket out on the grass and enjoyed a library book together (until our crazy cat started showing off his daredevil climbing skills in the tree above...tough competition when you're trying to read a book to a 5-year-old boy! ;). 

Thank you for stopping by! I hope your day is going well...

xo

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~ The Garden Gate ~

 This vine-covered gate leads from our vegetable garden to the front yard. 

It's amazing how different it looks during the four seasons!

It got me thinking about how relationships go through different "seasons." 

I also thought about the seasons of our life. 

And last, because I am a very deep thinker, these pictures

 reminded me of good and bad hair days... :)

Summer

Fall

Winter

Spring

Though winter has a beauty all its own, I'm glad it doesn't last forever...

Stay warm!

xo