Botany Mystery Detective Party

We've come up with a missing botanist mystery to be played out in the yard. We're going to create a research camp in the very back. We have a small table and chair to be the desk. There will be the remains of a small cooking fire with a camp coffee pot, a clothes line, and an old diary, microscope and index cards. The clues will lead to a series of large, ancient, seeds.

Inside, we're making paper decorations using up the last bits of the glassine you sent me last summer, Cristina. I was thinking of that Edward Bawden post and his New Year's party decorations. I pulled out all the black construction paper and some double-sided tape. It makes a big impact on the diningroom. I'll take the curtains down the day of the party.

To cover our broken chandelier I used twigs from the yard and some really nice crepe paper and leftover paper lanterns. If this were Marie Claire Idees, I know there'd be Christmas lights involved, but this is an afternoon party and will be very sunny. I may add some more leaves. I'd like to do the same thing to the livingroom light but add huge seeds that can be cut off the vine and go home as party bags full of little prizes.

We've had some trouble with the seeds. The initial wheat paste just took too long to dry. A second layer with Elmer's School Paste was much nicer. Next we need to figure out a beautiful seed coat.