Beginner's Guide to the ‘Mini Monstera’
Design Watch
It is that time of year again – no, I am not talking about summer – it is the 2023 Prime Day. It actually takes place over a few days, July 11th and 12th, and is a sitewide sales event on Amazon for all Prime members. Some discounts can be seen now, ahead of time while, others will be lightning deals that last for only a couple hours but are essentially a discount on top of a discount. Perusing the site can be super overwhelming as there is so much content, some of the discounts are not worth it, and deals go quick. I have rounded up some of my favorite products for your home with discounts of up to 70% off. From the bedroom to your plants, we have the list for you.
Over the last few years the world has seen an increase in work from home and flex-working situations that has made having a beautiful and functional home office essential. When creating your home office ideally you want to be able to carve out an entire space but space these days is at a premium. Having a home that is multifunctional and being creative is a must. I took an alcove in my living room and with careful planning, clever furniture and storage choices, created a chic and practical office that boosts productivity. I am going to highlight how I styled my space and link some of those products or look-a-likes so that no matter how small your space is, or where its located, you can have a beautiful, inspiring and functional home office too.
Every year I am actively working on becoming more eco-friendly in my house and daily life, Including sustainable products and sustainable practices into our day to day is easier and cheaper than most people think. When assessing your home and deciding where to start, the kitchen and the bathroom generally have the most room for improvement as they have the most single-use products and most water consumption. Here are 8 easy, cheep, green alternatives for your bathroom that do not require expensive changes like buying a new water heater or renovating your entire space.
Get ready to spook up your decor with these 8 key things every home needs for Halloween. Whether it’s pumpkins, ghosts, a cute garland or creepy table decor, all of these products will satisfy your Halloween needs without being tacky or outrageously expensive. While we can’t all have that 12 foot tall skeleton from Home Depot (my landlord said no) and we don’t all have yards to decorate for trick-or-treaters, you can still deck the inside of your home out and channel your inner witch. Check out my compiled list of Halloween decorations below, no tricks just treats.
Our homes are one of the few places we can really have control over when it comes to sustainable products and practices. There are lots of small things we can do in our kitchens to reduce landfill waste, preserve our forests, and clean the air and water. Here are 7 easy, cheap, green options for your kitchen that do not require expensive changes.
Must Try DIY
It isn't holiday season if I don't make some form of a garland. In past years I have done a candy corn pom garland and a bat and spider pomn garland so this year we are mixing it up and going with a tassel garland with some ghosts. My favorite DIY's are ones that involve supplies I already own which in girl math means it is free. This Halloween DIY only uses yarn, felt, wood beads, string and glue; all common craft materials you probably have laying around. This DIY is also an easy one for kids to assist you with and only takes about an hour in total.
Halloween is my favorite time of the year because it means creepy decor, creative crafting, falling leaves and brisk weather. This is the first year I can decorate an outside area to entice trick-or-treaters so naturally I had to make a spooky wreath to hang. With the snakes of different sizes and the solid, glossy black finish, it feels high end and like the wreath is actually moving. This DIY uses few supplies and is extremely cheap, easy and quick to complete.
Staghorn Ferns are stunning plants that dually serve as eye-catching wall pieces. Aptly named because their leaves look like deer or elk antlers, they similarly can be mounted on wood to make for way to add greenery to your room or gallery wall. These plants are a great way to add some variety to your plant collection and decor.
Let's create some colorful, nostalgic, 90's artwork for your walls with Barbie accessories, glue and a shadowbox frame. This is a simple and cheap DIY that leaves you with a really cute and fun piece for your home. Barbie's were a classic part of my childhood though my brother and I tended to blow my sister's up with fireworks rather play with them. My mom had some leftover Barbie shoes and jewelry in the attic and I had the idea to create my sister a piece. I ordered some extra pieces so I had a variety of colors and made my sister a pink, teal, white and silver piece. It turned out so well I decided to make some more varieties in various colors and sell them on my Etsy until I ran out of supplies.
Recreate this boho craze with my step-by-step tutorial and video. Hat storage is always tough and this not only provides an organizational solution it is also a beautiful wall accent. My hanger holds two hats but you could end the hanger early and have it hold a single hat or just keep going and make it hold as many hats as you want.
If you want to add some color and personality to your walls but don’t have the money for expensive art and frames, a DIY clay wall hanging is the perfect solution. With the combination of clay, twine and wood beads you get a very natural piece that adds warmth to a space. Due to the long and skinny nature of these hangings, they are excellent for that narrow wall you don’t know what to do with, above light switches, or even hang it on your door handle. This project is really cheap, you probably have the supplies already, takes very little time, and is kid-friendly!
Block printing is the process of carving a stamp out of linoleum, wood, foam, rubber or even potatoes and transferring that image onto paper, textiles and more. This type of printing can be easily repeated to create a pattern or a mass of cards and the results are vibrant and bold. Although you can make more complicated designs, block printing is best used for simple shapes like circles and lines to hearts, suns and leaves. Although, do not be afraid to experiment with more delicate designs. If you fail, it was just a potato! One of the best parts of this DIY is that it is a kid-friendly craft that is cheap and requires few supplies. So let’s dive into the world of block printing with a few potatoes and decorate notecards, napkins, tote bags, wrapping paper and more!
Halloween decor should be fun and spooky, bonus points if you can get creative and make it yourself. These Candy Corn poms are cute and unlike their food form, will be loved by all. Making a pom garland is quick, easy and cheap which makes it the perfect craft activity for kids or a cozy Fall day spent on the couch watching TV.
Inspired by my love for macrame and my desire to be more eco-friendly, I decided to make a produce bag that is not only cute but cuts down on those single-use plastic sleeves we slide our veggies and fruits into at the grocery store. Whether you are bringing it the store or using it as a beach tote or purse, this bag is flexible and cute.
With February 14th just around the corner, love is in the air, roses are on the table, cards are being made and now you just need Valentine’s Day decorations to fill your house. We have a few DIYs planned for you this season ranging from paper heart garlands that could also be streamers, bedroom decor, crafts for kids, and even a spotlight on the ‘Valentine’ Hoya plant. This paper heart garland is perhaps one of the easiest DIYs I have done yet. It just takes a trip to your local paint store to snag as many paint chips as you can inconspicuously, a heart hole punch, some tape, and a string.
Get Green
The Monstera Peru (monstera karstenianum) may be a rare and exotic houseplant but it is easy to care for with similar needs as other monsteras and philodendrons. The Peru has the characteristic split leaves of monstera varieties but also a beautifully textured dark green foliage that appears almost corrugated. Overall, the Monstera Peru is a rare, tropical, low-maintenance house plant that I cannot recommend enough.
With their unique colors, patterns, leaf shape and bright flowers, cane begonias are a stunning houseplant that will catch the eye of any guest. Considered a houseplant classic, they grow well indoors and are easy to care for. Angel Wings are quite diverse now but are generally defined by the overall leaf shape and the silver-spotted foliage with red underside. As long as you can meet a few basic requirements you will be rewarded with a happy plant that is also stunning.
The Monkey Tail Cactus (cleistocactus colademononis and formerly known as hildewintera colademononis) is an easy to grow, prickly plant known for its long, cascading shape with white, fuzzy hair-like spines. Ideal as hanging plants or trailing from a shelf, the stems will drape over the edges of their pot growing as much as a foot a year. Perhaps the most exciting aspect of this cactus is its vibrant, red flowers that sprout throughout the entire growing season. Unlike other cacti that just give you one flower or require perfect growing conditions to bloom, this cactus will reward you with endless blooms with very little work on your part.
The Lipstick Plant (Aeschynanthus radicans), also known as a basket vine, is a beautiful and unique perennial that is often grown as a houseplant. It has waxy, dark green, pointy leaves and vibrant, red, tubular flowers. It gets its fun name from its dark maroon buds that, as they open, have bright red blooms extend out like lipstick coming out of a tube. Recreating their tropical conditions of warmth, humidity and filtered sunlight, will not only help the Lipstick Plant thrive but bloom frequently. If you can meet these requirements than you have an easy to care for houseplant.
Staghorn Ferns are eye-catching and unusual plants, not just because their leaves look like deer or elk antlers, but they similarly can be mounted on wood to make for a way to add greenery to your room or gallery wall. While these ferns can be difficult to grow, their uniqueness and wider availability make them very popular for growers looking to add some variety to their houseplant collection and decor.
The ZZ (Zamioculcas zamiifolia), or Zanzibar Gem, is a low-maintenance, hard-to-kill houseplant characterized by its shiny, oval-shaped leaves extending from long, thick stalks. A semi-succulent native to to Eastern Africa, it is accustomed to long periods of drought with occasional downpours of rain. As a result, the ZZ thrives on neglect. This, combined with its ability to live in very low light situations, make it very popular for businesses (look around the mall next time you are out) and offices (it will be fine while you are on vacation). While it can reach heights of 5’, it generally tops out around 2’-3’. To survive droughts, ZZ’s have developed a rhizomous root system (they look similar to a tulip bulb with tiny roots coming out) which stores large amounts of water. As an added bonus, ZZ’s have been declared to be one of the best air purifying house plants around! This makes it a great addition for your bedroom or office, two smaller spaces that you spend a lot of time in. All around, the ZZ plant is highly dependable, versatile and nearly fool proof plant that can grow in low light situations and has low water requirements.
The Raindrop Peperomia, scientifically known as peperomia polybotrya, is an easy-to-care-for, charming houseplant known for its fat, thick, shiny leaves that look like a raindrop rolling down your window. This plant is also know as coin plant or coin-leaf peperomia and is commonly mistaken for the popular Chinese Money Plant (pilea peperomia).
Native to South America’s tropical regions, this plant grows on the jungle floor and therefore likes similar house conditions: bright filtered light, and moderate temperatures with high humidity. Since they already store water in their leaves, it is easy to overwater these so err on the side of under watering when in doubt. These plants only get about 12-15 inches tall but they can reward you with dainty, fragrant blooms.
A moss pole is an extremely easy DIY that uses only a couple supplies to create a support for your plants, especially epiphytes. The moss retains moisture, is an easy surface for roots to grab, and mimics the natural environment of the trees these plants would be growing on in the wild. Moss poles are most commonly used with Monsteras, pothos, and hoyas. We will give a supplies list, instructions, and tips and tricks.
Rhaphidophora Tetrasperma, or the Mini Monstera or Philodendron Ginny, is a tropical vine with aerial roots that is easy to care for and will reward you with fast growth. Named for looking just like a Monstera Deliciosa at a miniature scale, we will cover how to care for this houseplant, light and water requirements, humidity, pests, and common issues.
Asparagus ferns are an easy to care for evergreen houseplant with feathery, fern-like, clumping leaves. Some of the most common types of Asparagus ferns are: foxtail, plumosa, ming and sprengeri. Asparagus ferns have few requirements to make them healthy, happy and growing. A loose, airy potting mixture is essential with bright to medium indirect light. Keep humidity high and water when the soil dries out, which happens faster than with your average plant and you will have a fast growing fern.
It is that time of year again – no, I am not talking about summer – it is the 2024 Prime Day. It actually takes place over a few days, July 16th and 17th, and is a sitewide sales event on Amazon for all Prime members. Some discounts can be seen now, ahead of time while, others will be lightning deals that last for only a couple hours but are essentially a discount on top of a discount. Perusing the site can be super overwhelming as there is so much content, some of the discounts are not worth it, and deals go quick. I have rounded up some of my favorite products for your home with discounts of up to 70% off. From the bedroom to your kitchen, we have the list for you.