Jules, they look great. I say go for it - poke the holes in your pans, plant them up and enjoy them! I just use a hammer and nail. Here's a few of mine when I first planted them - they are really filled out now. I get my gnomes at Jo-Ann Fabrics. The best size are plant pokes. I just take my nippers and cut them down so they just have a small stake on the bottom - stabilizes them a little better in the pans. The best part is they are 70% off right now. I'll have to look at WalMart again, Karen, I've never seen fairies there. Arlene

I knew Karyn was awful upset when your package got lost. I'm just glad you finally got something>LOL Better late than not at all. Kayrn is just so darn good about sharing everything with all of us. I felt really bad for both of ya'll. Now I'm jealous all over again. LOL Orchids....and not one but two and all the other goodies too. I am truly amazed at the way some of these folks can package stuff and get it to someone in one piece. I have alot to learn about packing and sending plants. (grin) Hey Linda, at least you got it before NEXT CHRISTMAS. LOL WAy to go Karyn....got any more Orchids to share???? Next year I'm going to send all of ya'll my name and tell you thats who you have to send your gifts to. Really I did very well. Some very thoughtful people on this forum shared with me anyway.(big fat smile) Lately others have been sending me some seeds to try here at the pondarosa or however you spell it. Guess what? Karyn was one of those people along with Daniella. Thanks for sharing ya'll. Marian

@jojosplants haha it sure is! I didn't grow it though...it was in one of the gardening decor package that I found at IKea @averil I see, at first I thought they weren't doing good that's why it's so easy to knock them off the stem, yes I have saved a lot of leaves they are all sitting in a propagation pot right now, I think few of them began to root! @suivezmoi thank you! Haha all I did was read this forum, watch some youtube videos (some of them would tell you it only takes 5 minutes, but that's a big fat lie haha, at least for me it took quite awhile getting everything done plus clean up..), and also google some succulent dish gardens for ideas! Good luck with your gnat problem...definitely don't overwater, the pots should be dry most of the time

If you have succulents in your garden, you could make succulent mosaics, dish gardens, or succulent wreaths with cuttings. Here's Martha's take on the subject: http://www.marthastewart.com/article/succulent-wreath but you can do it with lower cost items with some scrounging. (For instance my metal holiday wreaths are still at the edge of the field waiting to be dry enough to pull apart and compost & recycle, and you can use less expensive materials than sphagnum, like hardware cloth or nylon netting such as bird net, or even landscaping fabric. Containers for a dish garden can be obtained at garage sales or Goodwill or your guests can bring them. Mosaics can be done in a wooden box or even those plastic nursery boxes covered with netting.) Here are some links to inexpensive succulent hanger creation: http://faroutflora.wordpress.com/2010/01/28/verticle-succulent-garden-from-found-object/ http://faroutflora.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/succulent-box-goes-vertical/ You could do decoration of clay pots or even basic plastic pots, such as sponge painting with acrylic paint so that it dries quickly enough to then plant. Other ideas include leaf prints on the pots, decoupage, drawing with acrylic markers or if you do a search there are quite a few web pages with ideas. You could make some twig tuteurs, either from willow as the directions in the link at the very bottom suggest or from some other flexible branches like birch or with a vine of your choice or even commercial weaving material. Then give them some vining bean seeds to plant on them. Fine Gardening has another set of directions. http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/build-rustic-tuteur.aspx Leaf printing on fabric (have your guests bring an item of their choice) with fabric paint and leaves from your garden are another possibility. Cotton bags, t-shirts, linens would all work with this technique, but cotton will take and hold the paint best. If you have bulbs that need dividing, that would be a nice gardening lesson. You'd get your bulbs divided, and your friends will get bulbs for their own gardens. You could start cuttings of easy plants like coleus. You could plant vegetable seeds that do well when planted in June such as carrots that could be taken home either to then plant in the garden when sprouted or keep in patio pots. Gardening with kids: seeds to plant, such as marigolds, beans and radishes. Potting up grape tomato plants in large plastic nursery pots you've decorated and added stakes to would be great also since kids would snack on those. Sunflower houses or bean tepees. I think I'll be keeping track of some of the ideas in this thread for working in the garden with kids . . . Here is a link that might be useful: making willow tepees