Paper Whites

The problem with remodeling a project house like ours is that it takes months, and maybe even years to get it looking the way you like.  And in the mean time, if you're anything like me, you get super jealous of Pinterest and blogs that have time to do all the small touches that make a house a home.  Mine's still not feeling very homey, Homey.

So even though I don't want to spend a lot of time on the details yet, not with my Main Bath still looking like this, I did want to take just 5 minutes to add a little life into the house for the holidays.  Cue the paper whites.

Nothing can outsmart a Minnesota winter like fresh blooming plants inside, and since paper whites are so easy, I knew even I couldn't mess them up.  (Well, I hoped.)  I started by picking up 5 bulbs at our nearby garden store.

I dug around in my garage for a container, and then followed the instruction sheet that came with the bulbs.  I learned that adding a handful of activated charcoal to the bottom of the pot helps to reduce rot.  (Luckily my parents had some at their house and they swung by one day to drop it off.)

I used a combination of sand and rocks to plant my paper whites in since my container didn't have any drainage holes.  I stuck them in the sand close enough together that they didn't touch each other or the sides, and then filled the rest of the space with rocks.  Now all I have to do is keep water in the container just below the bottom of the bulbs.

I ended up having one extra, so I dug up a high ball glass to plant it in for a small, single flower I can place on a small table. 

It wasn't that pretty though, until I found this transparent bag in my "Ribbons 'n Stuff" drawer.

I just placed it over the glass,

And then folded it back down, tying the strings on the sides.

I've never actually grown these before, so I'll keep you in the loop on how fast I kill them.   I mean how they end up looking.

What about you guys? Anyone get started on holiday decorating over the weekend?  We actually did a couple of big projects, but were up working too late to blog about them, so stay tuned this week for some fun updates!