Honey Seed Saver Samplers

Honey Seed Saver Samplers

Looking for a little something to give that office worker, volunteer, mailman to show your appreciation for what they do for you but limited in how much you can spend? Our office Secret Santa used to limit gift values to $10 or less.

To offer a sweet gift that can keep on giving, I developed these Honey Seed Saver Samplers that have been very popular with friends who have received them this past year for a variety of occasions. Now you can get some to give as gifts, stuff in stockings and share “just because.”

Our Honey Seed Saver Samplers include four of these blue mesh bags each with Bluebird Gardens wildflowers honey, a small wooden honey dipper and gift tag with instructions for $24.95.

Honey containers can be re-used to save dried herbs and seeds. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Each sampler includes 2.2 oz to 2.3 oz of Bluebird Gardens raw strained honey, just the way bees made it. Bees had to visit more than 250,000 flowers to collect and dehydrate the honey in each of these containers.

The 2.2 oz - 2.3 oz is enough for a teaspoon of honey for 6-7 days.

Once the honey sampler is empty, it can be washed out and used to store flower seeds dried in the mesh bag for planting next year.

I also store dried herbs in some of these versatile plastic containers.

The blue mesh gift bag doubles nicely to dry flower seeds. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Since bees need to visit literally millions of flowers to collect pollen and nectar, these Honey Seed Saver Samplers remind us to keep planting flowers so bees can continue to make honey. Honey is what bees eat while they are wintering over inside their hives and it is a sweetener people enjoy.

Each honey seed saver sampler makes a nice little gift. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

If you need larger quantities of honey seed saver samplers, just let me know and we can make larger orders.

Charlotte

Personalized Mug Rug Gift

Inspired by these custom -made mug rugs, I added a variety of items for a calming break. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Personalized Mug Rug Gift Set

Have you seen those quilted mug rugs that are still popular for beginning quilters to make? They are easy to make and give beginning quilters encouragement to try something bigger, like a table runner. Or place mats.

The concept of mug rugs inspired me to make a set for a couple I was working with on an annual conference as a thank you for reaching a planning milestone. Instead of just making the placemat-like quilted piece to hold a mug, I extended the pattern and made a pocket where a napkin could be tucked in.

Mirrowing the reason for the gift, I then added a variety of treats to be enjoyed with a mug; stress-reducing tea, calming coffee, hot chocolate, a variety of sweeteners and yes, even a little bottle of whiskey.

The long white boxes hold glass stirrers for ice tea. 

This is the finished personalized mug rug gift set ready to ship. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

This was an easy way to thank someone for their help and still make it personalized. Check out other personalized gift set ideas for your holiday gift-giving.

Charlotte

Gardener's Honey Sampler Gift Set

Bluebird Gardens honey sampler joins favorite gardener gifts in this custom gift set.

Gardener's Honey Sampler Gift Set

Every year, we have some customers who seem surprised that Christmas rolls around mid-December so we have ready made custom gift sets ready to ship. This year, I made up some custom gift sets with honey samplers that include 2 oz. each of raw, strained honey, comb honey and creamed honey, products of the hard work by Bluebird Gardens honeybees.

The bees were working among the many flowers that grow in our 1-acre garden so this Gardener's Honey Sampler Gift Set also includes a pair of my favorite leather gardening gloves; metal plant snippers; handmade, long-lasting gardener's soap; one of my favorite books about how flowers got their names, a pack of wildflower seeds and a wooden honey dipper.

The book comes in handy at the end of a long day in the garden. I enjoy the stories about how the flowers were named, from their Latin beginnings to more recent history. It's interesting how many of them have roots in Greek mythology.

Wildflower seeds, plant snips, leather gardening gloves, gardener soap and a honey dipper.

Gardener's Honey Sampler Gift Set is packed in a gift box with a ribbon with a free gift tag, all you need to do is tell us what you want on the gift tag. We can also gift-wrap if you want an added element of surprise. The box will be added to another shipping box for safe shipping.

This is a custom, one of a kind gift, we did the shopping for you.

If there is another theme gift you need, just let me know.

Please order no later than December 10 to ensure arrival by December 25.

Charlotte

Cat Gourd Gift

This little cat gourd birdhouse was missing an ear so I added one. Can you tell which one?

Cat Gourd Personalized Gift

My bee buddy David has this cat. Well, actually, the cat has adopted this family that includes my bee buddy.

Smokey, a black and white cat, had been hanging around David's house for a good 2 years before they were able to coax him close enough to pet him. Then one winter, Smokey moved inside and has since comfortably settled in, especially whenever he can find David's lap. The other two cats are also rescues but Smokey has made it clear now that he's inside, he has no plans to go back outside.

I enjoy hearing the adventures of Smokey as we head off on a swarm call or, better yet, wait for a bee colony to march into a hive box after we've coaxed the queen bee inside. So when I found this black and white cat gourd on sale at a local thrift store, I didn't have to think twice about picking it up for Smokey's family. The only problem was the little gourd cat was missing an ear.

I'm not a big woodworker so it took a little time to find a wood scrap to make a new ear and to check the real model out to see if his ears were all black or had any dabs of white on them. Smokey is not shy but I can't say he's very excited to have me coming around him trying to take a close peek at his ears, either. Luckily I had several pictures of him to check closely to determine that both ears were all black as I finished making the necessary adjustments.

Once completed, I left the finished cat gourd on the same deck chair where I first saw Smokey sitting. Seemed an appropriate way to mark spring's arrival, and Smokey's decision to permanently settle in. Welcome home, Smokey!

Charlotte

100 Flowers and How They Got Their Names Book

One of my favorite reads before going to bed, hard to beat drifting off thinking about flowers!

100 Flowers and How They Got Their Names

I collect gardening books and this is one of my favorites. 100 Flowers and How They Got Their Names is part history, part horticulture, part interesting tidbits. It's the perfect book to read before going to sleep, short chapters one can read individually or move through several in one sitting.

Each flower is illustrated so if you don't know what the flower is called, you can easily identify it.

Written by Diana Wells and illustrated by Ippy Patterson, this is a charming flower gift book any gardener, and flower lover, will enjoy.

Here's a tiny bit of the introduction:

"We do not read of flowers in the Garden of Eden, but of trees-trees that (except for one) were given to us as food. Nevertheless, those of us who plant flowers have, perhaps, a sneaking longing for Eden, made for our delight, a garden in which Adam was allowed to give names to everything. To name is to possess, as conquerors know. Or so we might wish."

Each flower description includes a lovely illustration.

The book was published in 1997 and includes some interesting tidbits. The back cover has some examples.

A sneak peek at some of the flowers featured in this small book.

You can pair this book with one of our quilts or throws for a nice gift set.This also makes a sweet gift book for a variety of occasions including birthdays, holidays and house warming.

How do I know?

Someone gave me my copy for my birthday!

Charlotte

A Gift of a Sewing Room You Can Close Off

Bluebird Gardens fabric stash and sewing room is in a deep closet with folding doors.

A Gift of a Sewing Room You Can Close Off

One of the vivid memories I have growing up is of my mother having to tear down her sewing machine every night. She sometimes used the kitchen table to sew, which meant her time in the space was limited to a few hours, not counting the time it took to set up and take down.

If you ask any quilter, or crafter, one of their dreams is having a place where they can set up their machines, and associated sundries, and not have to take them down. So if you are wanting to give a quilter a wonderful thoughtful gift, think about the gift of a sewing room that doesn't have to be constantly torn down and set up. 

Closet Area

The space doesn't have to be generous. Mine is set up in a closet where I added shelving so I can have my fabric stashes close by. I also added a light under the shelving closest to the butcher block table, a hand-me-down from my mother's sewing room, where my sewing machines sit. A needlepointed piano stool provides seating, and plastic containers on nearby shelves keep my bobbins, scissors and other accessories handy.

When I am through, all I have to do is turn off the lights and close the door. There is no need to take everything down, no loss of time setting things back up and loosing one's place in a project. I can do that a lot if I don't have a place to keep track of everything.

Spare Bedroom

Another option is to make a spare bedroom into a sewing and craft room. You can still keep the bedroom available for guests by changing the bed into a sofa bed. Adding a good working table along one wall, and another table with good lighting for sewing machines, and you have a good start.

Leave the details to the recipient so they can set it up to their preferences.

If you want to add something special, hang a throw or quilt on a wall for decoration, such as a  sewing spools quilt as a quilted wall hanging. Using dowel rods to hang the quilt, they will be handy when the quilter finishes making their first quilt and wants to display it. The first quilt is always very special.

What do you think, know someone who would love to have this kind of room as a gift?

Charlotte

White Cat Plant Stand Gift

The white cat plant stand gift next to the inspiration for the color, Margaret my 18-year old cat.

White Cat Plant Stand Gift

It was delightful to be on the recipient end of a charming and thoughtful birthday gift that came from spending time with a good friend. It's the kind of strategy I recommend to potential customers who call for gift ideas but aren't sure what to select. 

My Navy friend, Margaret, and I had visited the Missouri Botanical Garden a few months ago. During the visit, we stopped by a nearby garden store and I passed up buying a wire cat-shaped plant stand that had caught my eye. At the time I thought I would have to move and I didn't want yet another thing to pack.

Margaret, however, remembered the lingering stop. Months later, the metal cat stand showed up at my house, painted white in honor of her namesake, an 18-year old white Siamese-mix cat who keeps me company when she's not lounging on my deck supervising lizards.

Margaret, the friend, loves cats but is allergic to them so she gets to live vicariously through my feline adventures with her namesake. To think of all of these years laughing at Margaret the cat, I now have a reminder for my deck as well. 

In these days of rapid fire living, being a good listener can offer a number of gift suggestions.

Margaret friend sprayed the metal cat plant stand white to match the white cat named after her.

If you find something you like except for the color, spray paint it. This cat stand was the original grey metal. The white paint turned it into a custom gift with very little cost and effort.

Margaret the cat decides the photo shoot is over, she has lizards to watch.

Whether it's a gift you make, or one that you buy, making it personal doesn't have to be difficult. I can personally attest to how special this kind of gift can be!

Thank you, Margaret!

Charlotte

Pearls, June Birth Stone

I thought I had lost one of these favorite earrings. I was wearing them when I was checking my bee hives, a wide hat with veil attached to a white jacket covering me in case my honeybees were cranky as I checked in on them.

At one point, a bee flitted across my face inside the jacket. It's my first beekeeping jacket, always springing holes and apparently I had another one. I slowly stepped back from the hives up the path towards the house, carefully removing my jacket so I didn't scare the bee.

Once I had my hat off, the bee flew off and I realized I had an earring missing.

Hours later as I was doing laundry, I heard a clanking in the washer barrel. There at the bottom was the second earring, under the newly-washed beekeeping jacket. 

I love pearls. I have worn them ever since I can remember, each one a gift. The Japanese believe that's the way to get pearls, as a gift, not as something you purchase yourself. Although it's a traditional jewel gift for June, I think pearls are a wonderful gift all year around.

I don't recommend washing them in a washer.

Charlotte

April Gift Flower: Daisies

These simple but happy flowers don't usually bloom in Missouri in April so I waited to get some good pictures.

When I first started learning to identify Missouri wildflowers, this was the second easiest plant to identify. Ox-eye daisies grow from a ground-hugging green wreath of a start, the leaves frilly around the edges. When they are ready to bloom, the stems seem to shoot up overnight.

When finished blooming, the stems dry and the little ground-hugging wreath returns.

There are a number of other daisy-like varieties on the market. Shasta daisies are the domesticated version of these wild cousins but to me, Ox-eye daisies will always be what I think of when someone says daisy.

In the Victorian "language of flowers," these cheerful white flowers represent beauty and innocence.

 Charlotte

March Gift Flower: Jonquil

The traditional gift flower for March is a jonquil, not to be confused with daffodil although sometimes the words are used interchangeably.

Jonquils have several flowers on a stem, usually a scent, and tube-like green leaves as opposed to flat daffodil leaves.

Although in Missouri both grow in abandoned home sites, they should not be confused with native wildflowers. Both jonquils, and daffodils, are imported flowers that grow from bulbs.

In the Victorian language of flowers, which was used to send secret messages in bouquets, a jonquil was a request to have affection returned.

Charlotte

Christmas Gift Suggestions

"To your enemy, forgiveness. 

To an opponent, tolerance. 

To a friend, your heart. 

To a customer, service. 

To all, charity. 

To every child, a good example. 

To yourself, respect."

~Oren Arnold

Happy Birthday Rag Doll

It was late evening on a record-setting cold day. When the phone rang, I fully expected it to be a neighbor needing help, or a repair man putting me off yet again.

Instead, it was the familiar voice of a recent customer who had asked us to gift-wrap one of our Howard Furniture Care gift kits as a birthday present. At the time, she had also mentioned how much she admired our 85th Anniversary Raggedy Ann doll.

“She’s so perfect,” the customer said. Her husband had bought it for her as her birthday present and it had arrived just in time.

“Did you notice the address?” she asked. Of course, I said, but I thought it was a Christmas present so I didn’t want to say anything.

Did I mention we are very good at keeping secrets?

 Charlotte

Warm Heart, Warm Hands!

Sometimes my office is only a few degrees warmer than it is outside. When the weather forecaster said it was 3F, more like -7F with the wind chill, I knew it was time.

Opening the box carefully, I removed a gift from my sister-in-law; felted hand warmers with the cutest applique cats on the top.

Mary said she picked up a number of wool sweaters at a local thrift store and after washing them, put them in the dryer on hot. I have done so but not intentionally so it crossed my mind how many sweaters I could have repurposed.

Once shrunk, wool turns into a soft felt. Mary then cut a couple of holes for my thumbs.

 

She said they were easy to make; the biggest challenge was finding wool sweaters she liked. Well, it's more like finding wool sweaters she likes for hand warmers but doesn't want to wear herself. I understand, we have a hard time cutting up cute clothes for custom clothing quilts sometimes, too.

These live in a box because when I first received them, one of my cats left her own sleeping cats cat throw and decided to use these warmers as her napping spot.

We have reached a compromise. I’m now wearing the hand warmers; the cat is sitting in the box.

Charlotte

And the Winner Is

Wouldn't you just love to get one of these?
A Texas elementary school ordered 5 of our paintable bobble head cats for a kindergarden awards ceremony.
I can see them painted gold, or maybe a school color like all blue.
"I would like to thank…."

Sweet Wedding Party Favor Idea

Julie was looking for something special to put her handmade lip balm in for her best friend's wedding shower.
"Your strawberry pouches will be perfect," she said when she called.
The problem was she didn't know how many to order.
Even though she had sent invitations asking for RSVPS, guests weren't calling back. After a few phone calls, we had a number and Julie had her strawberry party favor pouches.
They turned out just right, don't you think?