Hello April!

My Papergang box for April is very pink!  And a few days later than usual, April seemed to have snuck up on me.

Once again the stationery in the box is something I'm unlikely to have chosen and bought myself, but like last months now that it's here I'm glad that it is. I think the point of these boxes is the surprise and gift element and if that means pushing you away from your norms and comfort zone.  

It's all pretty and functional enough that it will be used, but that may not be immediately.  I'm fine with that as I often have a stash of things that are waiting for the right occasion.  As well as the usual month card, this month's notebook is a bullet journal, the page is full of dots and so with the rule (which does have numbers on and just hasn't shown in the photograph) it can be kept neat.

My current blog planner is loosely based on a bullet journal, but it's quite freeform and not that pretty, but it works for me, especially as I can tick things off lists.  Some stickers and more uniformity would definitely help, so we'll see how that goes.

That card.  How true has that been so far this year.  There's been glimpses of sun, but the only sure way to have sun lately has been to bring your own.  It's not a bad saying in any case is it?

Also in the box were the stickers I mentioned before, a clear pink pouch which will get used and three chubby pencils. And as you can see with it all piled up, it is very pink.  This box is the last of my Christmas present subscription and it's been a great present. It's been a good reminder that to receive some treats every now and then is a good thing.  

Last month I contemplated extending the subscription for myself, so far I haven't, and I think I'll take a look around to look at other kinds of subscription boxes.  I'm not much into a beauty box, but I've seen some gin based boxes and some craft based boxes which could be more my thing.  If you've had subscription boxes that you've been impressed with then I'd be interested to hear about them.

A succulent in a tin

A while back I bought a tin of strawberry tea in a fabulous pink tin from Fortnum & Mason. It turned out that the tin was indeed fabulous, but the tea not so much. So saving the best of it, the tin has been in my cupboard for a while as I knew, one day I'd have a use for it. I vaguely remembered seeing succulents planted in tins on Pinterest and I thought, as you do, how hard can it be?

In short, pretty easy - the hardest and most laborious part was removing the paper labels from two sides of the tin. There'd been plenty of cycles through the dishwasher, some scoring and some soaking, but some of the label remained. Last weekend I decided the paper labels were going once and for all.  Cue more soaking - and a new trick - some nail varnish remover to remove that sticky residue that some glues leave.

And finally my tin was ready.

I decided not to pierce drainage holes in my pretty tin, but also didn't want the succulent to sit in water. But instead of crocks and stones I added some corks to the bottom of the tin before filling with earth.

I hadn't planned to plant a pink succulent, I'd wanted to use one of the ice white ones that I'm propagating from a fallen leaf as I thought that'd make a nice contrast to the pink. However when I looked at the leaves, they weren't quite ready and I couldn't quite bring myself to uproot the ice white plant that's still establishing itself in my succulent trug. 

And instead this pink succulent called me.

I added some vermiculite to the top - I think I'd used my grit laying the base for the pizza oven - and that adds a textured addition to the soil, which glistens in the sun and will, I hope help with moisture retention. 

The results though were stunning, a pretty succulent in a pretty tin, and a great garden table decoration that'd look equally good in the conservatory, or well anywhere really.

What do you think?

If you want some more succulent inspiration, why not join me over on my Succulent Love board on Pinterest: