One of the happiest times of the year is the week of family vacation. If you bring home some items that remind you of your vacation, you can make the good times last much longer than a week!
If the beach is your family vacay spot, bring home some beach sand, shells, driftwood and anything else you find on the beach or in the ocean. In a jar, layer the sand with some potting soil. Purchase some small succulents or bromeliads, and plant them in your container. Place your driftwood and or shells on top. Adding some green and blue glass rocks could also remind you of the lovely ocean water. Do not cover this container and water only once a week. And please do not pull up the dune grass to create this project.
Maybe you and your family love to vacation in the mountains. This spot could easily be recreated in a lovely terrarium. Any large jar with a big mouth would do. Poke some holes in the lid to allow the container to breathe. While on your trip, collect some moss and keep in a sealed baggy until you return home. Use twigs and pebbles or rocks to decorate the container. You will need some potting soil and a small fern or ivy plant. Again, a small bromeliad would do well here.
If you are traveling out West, the treasures you see would make a great background for a living lizard terrarium. Rocks, sand, cacti and a lizard or two in a glass container with a screen top would be fun for the whole family. After spreading the sand or gravel you collected and adding some red rocks, bury a jar lid to make a watering hole and plant a cactus or two! Now, if you are brave, add your lizard and cover tightly with the screen material. Visit the pet store for some advice in care and feeding. Place near a bright window or warm light source, and you are in for hours of fun observation.
Keep the dialogue and memories of vacation going by creating a living presence of things that surround us in nature. You will be surprised what an effect those creations can have on your day-to-day life. After all, who doesn’t look forward to vacation every day?
