Spring Garden Centerpiece

Total Time Needed:: Afternoon Or Evening

This centerpiece is anything but garden-variety.

Materials

Potting soil
Aluminum foil tray
Shade-mix grass seed
Water
Clear plastic bag or plastic wrap
Butter knife
Popsicle sticks
Scissors
Glue
Acrylic paint

Green pipe cleaners
Stems of artificial foliage
Artificial vines
Wire tendrils
Disposable pie plate
Bamboo skewers
Nuts
Fabric strips
Mini straw hat
Tacky glue

Instructions

Pour potting soil into an aluminum foil tray (ours is 11 by 16 inches), patting it down flat.
Sprinkle on a generous layer of shade-mix grass seed, then cover the seeds with a light layer of soil, pressing it down gently.
Water the soil, then loosely cover the tray (do not seal) with a clear plastic bag or plastic wrap. Check your garden regularly and remove the plastic when you see the first sprouts. Keep the soil lightly and evenly moist, and you should have a tray full of grass within 3 weeks.
Use a butter knife to remove the grass from a small section of the tray and replace it with a layer of fresh potting soil.
Install a Popsicle or craft stick picket fence. To make each section, use scissors to trim the tops of 7 sticks (a parent's job), then lay them in a row, with equal space between them. Glue two uncut sticks across them. Once the glue has dried, turn over the sticks and glue two more across the back. When dry, paint the fence with white acrylic paint.
Set the finished fence sections in the soil and fill your garden with tiny vegetables, miniature gardening tools, and a scarecrow.
Scarecrow: Use tacky glue to secure two sticks and a walnut together, as shown. Wrap the figure with fabric strips for a shirt and overalls. Glue on yarn hair and a mini straw hat (available at craft stores).
Radishes: Paint hazelnuts white and red, then glue on green pipe cleaner stems.
Carrots: Paint Brazil nuts orange, then glue on stems of artificial foliage.
Watermelons: Paint pecans in shades of green. Add artificial vines and wire tendrils.
Squash: Paint almonds in hues of yellow and orange, then glue on artificial vines.
Tools: Cut shovel and hoe blades from a disposable pie plate and glue them onto trimmed bamboo skewers.