The V Spot

Rants, observations, and home decorating... from a woman with no time for a blog.


A super duper fast way to pot an orchid, and a Keepin’ It Real photo confession.

19 Comments

I’ve mentioned previously how much I love orchids.

I don’t have a Brown Thumb, per se, but it isn’t exactly a Green Thumb either.   People are often under the impression that orchids are a pretty delicate flower… hard to grow… easy to kill… Not. True.

They’re cheap.

In my experience, I’ve found that Trader Joe’s and Home Depot have the best prices.  They also have a fairly decent selection.
Additionally the blooms on orchids last forever!  I bought one in early May (I wanted it for Mother’s Day) and the last bloom just fell off two weeks ago.  The orchid cost me $20.  I had a gorgeous, real, blooming plant in my home for 15 weeks. (I’m no math wiz, but that works out to less than $1.50 a week.  Wouldn’t you pay $1.50 a week for fresh flowers…?)  Anyhow, I digress.
Here is how easy it is to transfer your new orchid into a pretty container.
1. Grab any old pot, dish or container that you like the shape of. If it isn’t water proof, line it with a thick plastic bag, like a ziploc type freezer bag.
In my case, I grabbed a pot that was holding a cute little green ivy that I managed to kill.  I dumped out the ivy and the dirt.  I am so lazy that I did not even bother to wash it out first.
2. Grab the Orchid, original container and all, and plop it into your new container.
In this instance, the original pot sat a little lower than I wanted it too, so I took the protective plastic wrap that the orchid came in (the photo above that has the price tag) and wadded it up and stuck it on the bottom of my container.  This raised the height of the orchid.
3. Shove grocery bags on either side of the orchid to stabilize it.
4. Take sheet moss (which no craft supply closet should ever be without...) and cover up the base of the orchid and your wadded up grocery bags.  (Because, um, they ain’t pretty.)
5. Go… Decorate…!

OK, the Keepin’ It Real part… there are amazing, gorgeous blogs all over the place.  The rooms are perfect. The photography is gorgeous. There’s no dust. Things are meticulously clean… yet still manage to be warm and welcoming.

I read these blogs and am inspired.  Mostly.  But sometimes I read them and feel a little behind the curve.
Sometimes I read them and look at the beautiful photos and feel a wee bit intimidated because my house doesn’t look like that.  (And I don’t have dinner cooked, and I need to still run errands, and …)

It’s not just me.  There’s been a lot of talk lately about people who feel like they aren’t measuring up.
But then it dawns on me:  I’m doing fine.  The bloggers whose beautiful decor I admire probably just know how to stage a photo.  Their houses are probably just as “lived in” as ours are, but the lived in part doesn’t get into the photo.

Case in point.  See the last photo of the orchid?

I dusted that half of the dresser in order to take the picture, and I shot it from the right, making sure to keep the un-dusted half of the dresser out of the shot.

I promise you that shoving the books, receipts, hairbrush and loose coins to the other side of the dresser was easier than the alternative…  Which would have been to fold the laundry on my bed…

Can you see the big pile of sheets and towels in the mirror?  Hiding the mess was the deciding factor in how I framed my shot.

So whenever I start feeling a bit down on myself that my rooms are not all beautifully put together, or my kids are being total slobs, or I’ve wadded up grocery bags and shoved them into flower arrangements…  I take a little comfort in knowing that I bet there a few others out there who are just like me.

Trying to be a duck: looking calm from the outside, but paddling like mad underneath.

Comments

  2. I’d love to leave a long well thought out comment about this post and that beautiful orchid but I’ve been treading water for days just trying to keep my head above water so I’m too tired!

    Reply

  3. Um I’m sure there are a ton of people just like you. I love you for keepin it real. I have a brown thumb and not just because it’s brown, but because I can’t keep a plant to save my life. I’ll keep this in mind in case I try to conquer my fear.

    Reply

  5. viv, this is why I love you. You are so REAL! I have been feeling the same inadequacies lately with my lack of photography skills and nowhere clean to take pics in my house. Thanks for reminding me that I’m doing fine! I love the orchid btw, and I didn’t ever think about putting a zip loc inside if there was a hole. Brilliant.

    You are amazing!

    xoxo

    Jen

    Reply

  6. And _that_ is why I love it here so much!! You are funny and REAL!!!! Not to mention creative, inspiring, talented, irreverent, and generous!!! 🙂

    Thank you for the orchid info, too! I see them at TJ’s all the time but worry that I’ll kill the poor thing if I take one home. I love the idea of potting it that way!! I think I’ll try one next time!! 🙂

    Reply

  14. You crack me up! At least your bed is made. Mine gets made maybe once a week. Isn’t that sad? I LOVE when my bed is made so why don’t I make it more often?

    I’m loving your cute orchid project…even though you stuffed plastic bags in the side. At least you’re smart enough to KNOW to do that. Nope. Not me. But I can teach you some math tricks. 😉

    oxox

    Reply

  17. Viv, you are too funny! The orchid looks great and if you hadn’t confessed, I would never have guessed about how it was potted, or about the photo. As a wanna be blogger who hasn’t gotten it set up yet, I totally admire you.
    Janet

    Reply

  19. Well, it’s this a co-inky-dink? My daughter and I were just in Safeway yesterday and saw some gorgeous orcids. My heart did a little ‘oh wish I could have one’ dance then settled back to knowing I couldn’t grow it. Lo and behold1 Here you pop up on Tip Junkie this morning and tell me I’m wrong! (and that Karen too!) So, I’m going to try one! But I must ask…after you plop it into a pretty pot, etc…then what? How often to water? Feed? You know, the stuff I do that kills things. Help!

    Reply

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