Play as often as you can and make bottle gardens


Putting on the same clothes in the same way day after relentless day is boring and stifles your creativity. While the solution is not necessarily to go out and spend money on a whole new wardrobe, as every eight-year-old girl knows, you can create a whole new life-story starring yourself just by playing dressups… Take a fresh look at what you have in your wardrobe. Take out your shirts and tops, scarves and hats, shoes and stockings, and spread them out on the floor or bed. Try different ideas and combinations of clothes and accessories – you are limited only by your imagination.

Don’t save a favourite silk scarf for ‘best’. Instead, thread it through the belt loops of your jeans and knot it on your hip in a flouncy bow, or tie it to the handle of your tote bag so you can enjoy it every day. Sort through costume jewellery and dress up a beanie or beret with a sparkly over-the-topdahling diamante brooch.

Layer things that you wouldn’t usually put together for a spirited, fun, feminine look – try a voile slip dress over a pair of lace tights, then knot a floaty chiffon scarf around your forehead, like a 1920s flapper, or put on red leggings under a big, colourful shirt. Mix and match office dresses and suits, swapping jackets and skirts to create a different outfit. Even if you wear a uniform to work each day, you can still add a special touch that reflects the real you. Try everything on and strike a pose as you admire your fabulous fashion sense in the mirror!

A miniature garden growing inside a bottle has the same fascination for us as a ship in a bottle. Bottle gardens have been used in schools to teach children about the cycles of nature and how all living things are interconnected, and also in rehabilitation hospitals as therapy to improve hand/eye coordination. Making a bottle garden can be as simple or as challenging as you want it to be, providing you with an opportunity for experimentation as well as for moving slowly and carefully, as the plants grow, and developing patience.

Once your bottle garden is established, the plants will grow well, and be protected from draughts, smoke and dust. A bottle garden is a meditation on self-sufficiency. It requires little maintenance as the condensation emitted by the plants is recycled, and the little leaves drop and form mulch, which feeds the next flowering.

Bottle Garden

Wash and dry the bottle thoroughly. Put stones or gravel in a layer over the base. Using a funnel, fill the bottle with a layer of dry sandy soil, to between a third and a quarter full. Tape a spoon to a piece of cane or a paddle-pop stick and use to spread the soil evenly around the bottom of the bottle. Or use a fork taped to a piece of cane as a tiny rake.

With the help of your gardening implements, shape holes and press the plants into the soil. Tamp down the soil using a cotton reel attached to a piece of cane, then water the bottle garden using a fine spray from a pumpmister. Water the garden infrequently when the plants have settled in as they will be weakened by condensation if they’re over watered. Dappled sunlight is best because glass makes the heat too concentrated when the bottle garden is placed in direct sun.

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Note: This article was sent to us by: Victoria S. Ballen at 06112010

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