I've been wanting to create a gift guide to compliment my garden journal for over a year now, and I have finally put one together using the wondrous tool we have in the Etsy collection! Here you'll find my top handmade picks for the gardener, grower or budding plant propagator on your list. BONUS: for a little extra assurance, I've made sure that these gifts are from Etsy sellers whom I've bought from myself, have a star seller badge, and/or great reviews and a decent "about" page. No mass-produced resale junk here! You'll be supporting a real small busines when you buy from these artisans.

You can shop the entire collection HERE via my "Gifts for Gardeners" Etsy collection. Read on for a little summary of why I picked each hand-crafted item.

GARDEN DIBBER

What's a garden dibber, you ask? Well, it's a pointy tool that you use to help you bore a hole in the soft spring earth to plant your seeds, or maybe in the soft autumn earth to plant your bulbs! These beautiful oak models are hand-turned by the hubby of Tess at The Crochettess, and I love that they have little marking lines on them that help you get your hole to just the right depth for your specific seed or bulb!

FORAGING APRON

If you know me, you know that I love anything with an enchanting mushroom pattern! The added bonus of this apron from WillowRue is the leather elements and brass rivets. This would be just as handy as a cashier's apron in my art market booth as it would in the woods or the backyard veggie plot!

HERB DRYING RACK

I bought one of these handy herb-drying racks for my mom for Mother's Day last year, and she absolutely loved it! It makes an attractive and easy way to bundle up and dry your favorite aromatics with the little hooks. An added bonus was the nice canvas tote that came with it, and the shop, Hikiti Home supports women artisans in India through its sales. I love that! Note: at the time of this post, Gabs, the shop owner, was taking a little break to catch up on orders, but her shop should be back open soon. You can sign up to get a notification when she's back.

BEE HOTEL

Did you know that a great majority of our pollinator population is actually native bees? These are not the honey bees that live in hives on the edges of orchards. They make their homes in the ground, in wood piles, dried-out reeds and other nooks and crannies of nature. You can help them thrive and bring the benefits of pollination to your garden with this bee hotel from The 920 Workshop. I have a bee house, but it's not nearly as cute as these! I just love the cute shape of these shelters. They remind me of hobbit houses!

SOAP & BALM KIT

Getting your hands in the dirt is fun, but it can really dry out your skin and do a number on your manicure. That's why I like to keep a nail brush and a healthy bar of soap on the kitchen sink through the growing season. This gift set from Wild Violetta includes an all-natural vegan bar of healing soap that is not made with palm oil (palm forests are being obliterated as an oil source in regions full of endangered wildlife and plant species, so we must do all we can to protect these ecosystems. Read your labels! I'm looking at you, peanut butter!) In addition, it has a nice all-natural balm to soothe hard-working hands, and it's all packaged so sweetly in a tin with twine and a little snail charm!

GLASS BUTTERFLY PLANT STAKES

My girl bought be a tiny stained-glass butterfly for my patio plants once upon a time, but it is now floating around somewhere in the garden shed sans its stake. With these pretty winged jewels from Samara Design Studio, you'll never misplace the stake, and they look lovely in houseplants and potted annuals alike. Just imagine the sunlight streaming through these beauties!

PROPAGATION VASES

For the minimalist on your list, check out this sleek, modern propogation station!It's made from laser-cut wood and mimics the silhouette of a trio of vases. Comes with the glass test tubes to propagate cuttings from your friends or your own favorite plants. From Reece Design Works.

GARDEN JOURNAL

This garden journal is from my very own shop, Jessica Flores Design, and it was created a few years ago based on the specific request of a master gardener friend. I used her suggestions for the specialized lists and charts, logs, tracking sheets and other info I included in the 80 illustrated pages and painted the cover design based on vintage seed packets. It has sold hundreds of copies on Etsy, and was even featured on Forbes.com in a Mother's Day gift guide! Get 10% off with code GGG23

PLANT MARKERS

I've been following Magpie Mischief on Instagram for about a year now, and every time a new product pops up on Anni's feed, I squeal with delight. Her ceramics are so unique and cheerful and imaginative. I love these little herb markers for your garden, because they are so permanent - won't rub off or fade in the weather, and the colors and hand-lettering are so charming! Be sure to check out her entire shop for even more garden goods like her famous flower frogs!

GATHERING BASKETS

I like to keep a basket for gathering veggies and fruits near my back door, and I like it to be cute. Those huge wooden garden trugs are just soooo heavy and awkward, if you ask me. What's wrong with a Little Red Riding Hood basket? These beautiful mushroom baskets from Lithuanian shop, Feberis, are true works of art! Be sure you read the shop "About" page to learn more about how they are made.

PERSONALIZED SEED PACKETS

Help your favorite gardener spread the joy of growing with these sweet little personalized seed packets from Littlebean Boutique. They would make a great stocking stuffer or addition to a gift basket. So thoughtful!

BUTTERFLY PUDDLER

This beautiful work of art is called a "puddler," and the identations collect water for insects like butterflies and bees. Pink Flamingo Arts is the shop. I love that the plant depicted is a milkweed. Adding a puddler to your garden is a great way to encourage pollinator habitat in your yard, and this one is especially pretty!

BUTTERFLY GARDEN SEED KIT

Speaking of butterflies, I love this little kit from Deckerr Seeds that provides everything you need to grow some of our butterfly friends' favorite host plants. This would make a great gift for families, as it provides an activity that kids can experience for many months, and the packaging is just lovely!

COPPER ETCHED GARDEN CLAW

Ok, I'm completely fascinated by this one, and have you ever seen such a beautiful garden tool? Mandelu Garden's copper hand tools are made in small craftsman factories in Europe and get rave reviews for their quality and speed of shipping from Germany. There are over 200 items in their shop, and the science behind using copper implements apparently proves that when used, "trace elements are introduced into the soil by abrasion, which play an essential role in enzymatic processes."  I love a good sharp raking tool (and anything copper), and this one would be so pretty hanging from some twine inside the garden shed or the mud room hook.

CARROT MUG

Every gift guide has to have a mug for the theme, right? I thought this one from Ranch Girl Pottery was so cute! Emelyn has a bunch of other homestead-themed pottery pieces besides this one in case you aren't able to grab this one-of-a-kind piece. Or perhaps you can convo her to make you a custom one with your favorite veggie! 

So, there you have it! I think you'll find that this collection will give you something in just about every price range for gardening from seed to harvest and a little relaxation in between! Remember, you can find the entire collection ready for shopping in just one place in my "Gifts for Gardeners" Collection in my Etsy profile. Let me know if you purchase any of these items and how you like them! 

The last couple weeks have been hard. There's no getting around it. Most of us sat at home New Year's Eve with a glass of something sparkly, breathing a reserved sigh of relief that we could walk away from 2020 and into something new, even if it was a measly blank page on the calendar. A new year usually feels full of hope and the possibility of change and clean slates and . . . . well, you know what happened instead.

If you're alive right now, you've probably had to make some hard decisions like I have about group gatherings, when to speak and when to zip it. You've had to pay attention and look for ways to make your kids feel safe and find footing for yourself emotionally, mentally and spiritually. You've had to decide who you want to share space with. I hope you've had someone to talk it all out with, someone who makes you feel safe. I've been studying Colossians, and yesterday, after a sob fest had hanging over my journal at the dining room table, I read a passage that became a flat and sturdy place to take a step and hoist myself up.

This is Colossians 3:15-17

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts since as members of one body, you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Today I admonish myself and my brothers and sisters in Christ to live out our calling to be peacemakers (also to read the rest of this chapter, because it has some real no-brainer "ideas" for how to be a decent human). In his 1934 book, "The Cross of Peace," Sir Philip Gibbs writes (and Martin Luther King Jr. later echos) "Modern progress has made the world a neighborhood, and God has given us the task of making it a brotherhood." It seems to me that Paul believes the best posture to assume while doing this work is one of gratitude. I like how he makes a full stop in that passage, emphasizing "And be thankful."

I've been working on a little project the last couple of weeks that I thought was going to be a gratitude notepad, but after pricing out the printing, it just doesn't make sense to put the time into it. Instead, I'm giving you the file as a gift. Print out several sheets and keep them by your bed, in your journal, on the fridge. Write down what makes you grateful, especially when it's difficult.

I chose a quote by Anne Frank for this piece: "Thank you God for all that is good and dear and beautiful." It's not the profound use of language here that makes it cut to your heart. It's knowing that she gave thanks in the midst of the darkest dominion of evil that modern history has witnessed.

I know this isn't the feel-good, fluffy type of post you're used to here, and a gratitude list is not a revolutionary idea, but this is what I can do right now with my brush and my "pen." I hope it's an encouragement to you today. Be thankful.

Jump to Recipe

My sister in law has been experimenting with making ice cream, and our family has been the lucky tasting panel. I am a big fan of Earl Gray tea and London Fog drinks - Earl Gray with cream, vanilla and honey- so when I saw a recipe for London Fog ice cream in Taste of Home Magazine, I passed it on to her right away. In a few days I had the most fragrant, creamy tea-spiked confection in my freezer speckled with beautiful little bits of real vanilla. When I tasted it, I imagined how good it would be served with a little tea cookie (or "biscuit" as they would say in London) to add some more sweetness.

So, on my last trip to the big grocery store (after two months of quarantine shopping at our small-town grocery store), I picked up a package of Pepperidge Farm Chessman cookies for a little experiment.  I'm not sure if it's the fancy packaging, or the fact that mostly grandmas eat Pepperidge Farm cookies, but they have such a special occasion feel to them, don't they? I've seen a few recipes using the Chessman for banana pudding, which sounds amazing too. They taste just like the Danish butter cookies you get in those round blue tins at Christmas time.

Since it's summer, I started envisioning a fun tea-party kind of way to combine the London Fog ice cream with the cookies, and I decided on a little sandwich. How cute would these be served with an iced version of Earl Gray, some fruit and finger sandwiches for tea on the patio under the umbrella?! Or maybe just for sneaking out of the freezer a couple of times a day when nobody's watching without too much guilt, because they're really small.

You'll find the recipe for the ice cream below, or get a talented SIL to make it for you. To assemble, soften the ice cream a little at room temp (or bring it out of the freezer before fully set), spoon about 2 tablespoons onto one cookie, top with another and give a gentle press. Use an offset spatula to scrape the sides flush and place in an airtight container lined with parchment paper. Refreeze for at least 30 min or until firm.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups whole milk

2cups half-and-half cream

6 Earl Grey tea bags

1 vanilla bean

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened

condensed milk

1/4 tsp. salt

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

1. In a small saucepan, heat milk and cream to 175°. Remove from heat; add tea bags. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise. Using the tip of a sharp knife, scrape seeds from the center into pan; add bean. Cover and steep 1 hour. Discard tea bags. (I'd suggest steeping for half the time for a more subtle flavor)
   
   2. Reheat the cream mixture just a boil; stir in sweetened condensed milk and salt until dissolved. Whisk a small amount of the hot mixture eggs. Return all to the pan, whisking constantly. Cook and stir over low heat until the mixture is just thick enough to coat a metal spoon and a thermometer reads at least 160°stirring constantly. Do not allow to boil. Remove from heat immediately.
   
   3. Strain mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl; place bowl in a pan of ice water. Stir gently and occasionally until cool, about 5 minutes. Press plastic wrap onto surface of the custard. Refrigerate custard several hours or overnight.
   
   4. Fill cylinder of the ice cream maker no more than two-thirds full; freeze according to the manufacturer's directions. (Refrigerate any remaining mixture until ready to freeze.)
   
   5. Transfer the ice cream to freezer containers, allowing some headspace for expansion. Freeze ice cream until firm, 2-4 hours.

Hi friends! It's been ages since I've checked in here and gabbed about art and stuff. Covid-19 quarantine (and some April snow flurries) has given me a little time to create just for fun and get my watercolor wheels turning. I thought it would be a good time to share a freebie, so I've teamed up with my friend, Ann, from the Madison Road Artisan Market, to bring you a springy illustrated recipe from her kitchen and my studio! 

If you're not already following Ann's personal account on Instagram, you should head over pronto. Her beautiful photography and amazing recipes are going to make you want to rush to the kitchen and cook up some new family favorites. I love her cooking style - it's a little bit old-fashioned and a little bit modern family.

So without further ado, I present to you Ann's recipe for Lemon Poppyseed Loaf. Just click on the image below to get to the PDF for printing directly to your printer or downloading. You'll also want to head over to Ann's Instagram account to see the cake "in person" and get her tips on making it a successful "bake," as Mary Berry would say. Thanks for remembering that this download is for personal use only and may not be reproduced in any format for commercial gain.

As a young professional artist, I spent a lot of time and paint recreating travel photos I'd taken or borrowed from family and friends: the missions of San Antonio, a Puerto Rican garden, an English lake. They were all well and good, but they weren't my voice. In our early twenties, I don't think there are many of us who even have a story yet! It's an advantage we do have in our middle and late years, so that's what I'm embracing lately.

An artist friend of mine recently helped me to "see" a thread running through my work.  A light went on in my head when I realized that it's the concept of "home." Since that conversation, I've begun seeing this entire "period" of work as one that explores what it means to be sheltered by a place, to be part of a community and to be shaped by everyday objects that we normally overlook. For me, this means creating work that reflects my Midwestern-ness, my love for the cocoon that is my tiny house, the anxiety and reward that comes from living beside other broken people, and the wonder that I find in my big backyard. 

Jason Bouwman, author of the book, "Just Thinking,"recently had an Instagram post that stopped me in my scroll. It was the word "belongings" with the letter "s" crossed out. Wow! What if we began eliminating belongings and started focusing on creating more belonging? Are we brave enough? What would we miss? What makes us feel a sense of belonging? How do I balance my tendency to collect pretty things (and sell pretty things) with my longing to live more simply? So many questions! I hope you'll follow along with me as I explore these musings through my work in the coming months. 

Above is the painting I'm currently working on. I'm thinking about calling it "Narcissus with Supplies." My instagram description for it went like this: 

"Sometimes we worry waaaay too much about our image. Maybe we do it consciously by meticulously crafting a persona for ourselves, maybe subconsciously after many years of trying to protect ourselves. Either way, I'm convinced that we need to dig deep, find our true selves and risk looking or sounding like a fool once we're comfortable in our own skin. Even if we feel humiliated at the end of the day, God can use that to help us extend Grace to other broken brothers and sisters."

I'll be sure to post the finished product on my Instagram feed pretty soon. Stay tuned!

You'll have the opportunity to see and purchase many of them at an upcoming event in Elkhart, IN, this May. The next ArtWalk will be held downtown from 5 - 8 pm.  I'll be in the Edward Jones building on the corner of Main & High Streets. The theme is "Flower Power", so I'll be in seventh heaven! Hope to see you there!