Ball Ideas, Tips & Guides

Wondering whether your favorite piece of Halloween decor is a bit too over the top to set out this year? As it turns out, many interior designers have a soft spot for seemingly tacky Halloween decorations, which can be styled to look extra festive and will bring the entire family joy.

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Learning how to make your own cucumber beetle trap can save you a lot of trouble and prevent the need for pesticides. In this article, I’ll share the easy DIY cucumber beetle trap I’ve been using for years. It doesn’t cost much to make using only simple household materials and only takes a few moments of your time to set up. Meet the cucumber beetle Cucumber beetles are common pests of all cucurbits, including melons, like watermelon and cantaloupes, g

IKEA

Once the weather turns and the days get both shorter and colder, there is nothing better than a freshly made bed with clean, fluffy sheets. 

While there are many ways to keep your home smelling fresh and clean, this little trick is an easy way to help your home smell nicer and deter pests all at once.

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Courtesy of P.F. Candle Co.

Happy ornamental grasses need to be divided every three to four years. Smaller species (those less than 2 feet wide or so) are easy to cut in half with a sharp shovel or to dig up and gently pull apart with the help of a soil knife. Bigger grasses can prove more of a challenge. The important thing is to do something about the overgrown grass as soon as you notice a possible problem. Don’t walk away and think, “I’ll do it next year”; doing so only makes rectifying the issue that much harder. I like to divide grasses in spring just as I start to see the new growth starting. This is easier to do because there isn’t a lot of tall (and often sharp) foliage to fight through. Actively growing grasses will keep growing after division. In fall/winter most grasses are dormant, and they can struggle to recover. I have two methods everyone can use for dividing behemoth grasses.

Vicks vaporub is a popular household name manufactured by The Procter & Gamble Company. It is quite effective in clearing out the nasal passages thanks to its camphor, menthol, and eucalyptus oil content. However, its uses are not limited to this, and there are a few Vicks VapoRub Uses in the Garden, too! Let’s have a look!

The quest for a perfectly organized home can feel never-ending. Could there ever be enough bins, shelves, and organizers of all kinds to contain your everyday items? The answer: yes. You don’t need to waste money on boring storage products though. We’ve scoured our favorite retailers for storage solutions that marry functionality with flair, as well as organization with personality. They’re all under $50 too.  Scroll on for our 12 favorite sneakily-chic storage solutions. 

From novices to experts, all gardeners need a trusty spade and they’re often the first tool that gardeners will buy when starting out. These staples of the shed are invaluable and can help with dozens of jobs around the garden. Digging spades are the most common style of spade and are the go-to spade for beginners but there are also several other styles and models of spades, which are designed with particular jobs in mind.

Patrick Biller

For the ultimate in low-maintenance planting, intersperse small balls of box with a seasonal display of bulbs and summer bedding: tulips in spring, geraniums in summer and winter pansies in autumn — or almost any annuals that take your fancy.

Purchasing a bed, dresser, and some nightstands will definitely get the ball rolling when it comes to designing a sleep space, but you're not fully done with this room until you incorporate some accent pieces, too.

Q: I recently repotted my acer into a bigger pot, however it now is looking dead. Can you offer any advice? WT, England

The football pitch is one of the most iconic sports playing surfaces in all of sports and it is also one of the most vital. A well-maintained football pitch can completely change the game and make it go at an even quicker pace. Over the last few years, the use of artificial pitches has started to take over and this has its positives and negatives. I think over the next few years, most of the football pitches that are planted around will use artificial grass but the professional ones will, hopefully, stay the same.

The roly-poly, or pill bug, is a terrestrial crustacean that looks just like an insect. Oval-shaped, with seven sets of legs and a hard outer shell, these creatures are best known for their ability to roll themselves into a perfectly shaped ball when threatened.

How to Grow Bamboo in Containers

DAVIDsTEA; Design: Better Homes & Gardens

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Adam Albright

Having decided to spare a few allium (probably A hollandicum) for today’s vase, I sought other material on the purple spectrum, cutting Geranium phaeum ‘Raven’, a deep purply-blue aquilegia and foliage from Persicaria ‘Red Dragon’ – but the combination just didn’t seem to work. Glancing up at the wisteria W floribunda ‘Multijuga’ in all its glory, it occurred to me that the purple hints in the racemes were on the same spectrum as the allium – would they last in a vase? I have no idea, but I decided to give them a try.

If you love colors, then you will really adore these Ideas to Decorate your Home with Poinsettias! As the festive season is around the corner, add the beauty of the colorful bracts of this plant to your rooms.

I was trying to avoid tulips for today’s IAVOM, as they could easily become a mainstay for many weeks; however, these creamy tulips were tucked out of the way where they mightn’t otherwise be seen and, like last week’s fiery contribution, they are also a bit of an enigma. They are growing in the cutting beds where they were planted around 10 years ago with the sole purpose of cutting them. Presumably, they flowered in the first year of planting but, although there has been foliage in some of the intervening years, I don’t think there have been any further blooms until now. My guess is that these are mature bulblets from the original bulbs, now large enough to flower: I have only picked the two blooms that were in full flower, but there are others to come. They may be ‘Exotic Emperor’, which I have bought periodically over the years.

Looking for creative ways to up-cycle old candle jars? These days, candles are often outfitted in jars that are every bit as beautiful as the scents themselves, making it hard to pitch the empty jar into the trash after the candle wax has been burned down to the wick. Giving new life to an old candle jar isn’t just sustainable—it’s also a great way to transform a candle that was a sentimental gift (or a luxury splurge) into a forever decor piece. To help get you inspired on how to best put old candle jars back to work, we asked a handful of organizing pros to share their favorite reinventions. From makeup brush holders to coffee spoon crocks, these are the best ways to give your old candle jars new life.

You don't need to devote an entire day to spring cleaning tasks to get your home into tip-top shape. Professional cleaning and organizing experts swear by the following seven chores that will have your space looking much more refreshed in just a matter of minutes. So go ahead and spend a small chunk of your time this weekend giving your sock drawer a good clean out or finally dealing with that overwhelming pile of mail.

You can grow these herbs and spices from cuttings and divisions very easily without waiting too long for the harvest! A sunny windowsill will be more than apt for most of these!

Like many of us, I’m on a quest to be more environmentally friendly. It’s something that can be tricky with a busy family of four, but the best hacks I’ve found are the ones that seamlessly replace one item with something naturally less wasteful. It’s one reason I’m an official convert to wool dryer balls, after all. 

With DIY projects and home renovation ideas filling our social media feeds daily, achieving the home of your dreams has never been more affordable and accessible. Just like any other facet of home decorating, DIY home decor trends come and go, often following suit with standard interior design trends. 

Overwatering Philodendron is not uncommon, but what is concerning is that most of us don’t know how to revive one that is suffering from root rot.

Why Autumn is the Best Time for Planting Shrubs

Different botanical specimens perform best in different propagating scenarios – some grow best from cuttings, while some develop better from seeds. However, there are also houseplants that grow the best from division! Let’s learn about them in detail!

Are you seeking inspiration for captivating and artistic Succulent Ball Ideas? Look no further! Here’s the best collection of creative ideas to help you craft stunning succulent balls, infusing your living spaces with natural beauty and charm.

Did you know that the tradition of making and hanging a kissing ball dates back to the early Middle Ages? During that time, people used apples or potatoes as a base to create a ball-shaped decoration we now know as kissing balls. The decorations were hung in doorways to bestow goodwill and blessings to all who visited the home. During the 17th through the early 19th centuries, Puritans and other religious groups frowned upon the use of any holiday decoration. Fortunately, Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria of England, revived the tradition of decorating with live greenery and Christmas trees for the holidays in 1840. Kissing balls were hung from doorways and ceilings to encourage romance, and many young women would stand underneath them and hope for a kiss.

You can create fresh or preserved moss balls to add interest to your floral arrangements. If using fresh moss or reindeer lichen, please don’t collect entire populations of them from a single area. Only gather small amounts from different places to allow the moss or lichen to regenerate. Commercial dried moss and Spanish moss that has been sustainably sourced can be purchased from your favorite craft store. The dried materials will last much longer than the freshly gathered ones.