Monarchs!!

Our daily milkweed inspections have paid off! We have FOUR tiny Monarch caterpillars and several leaves with eggs!

Egg on the underside of a milkweed leaf (yellow dot in the center of the photo):



Tiny caterpillar on the top side of a milkweed leaf:



A temporary home for the caterpillars (a glass jar with a screen top):



And here's the new home I made tonight after John took the kids up to bed:



The supplies I used were: a yard-and-a-half of tulle, a 12" wooden embroidery hoop, and some ribbon (which was my biggest expense and totally not necessary--string would have worked fine--but the rainbow ribbon was soooo pretty! ;-) Total cost: $6.72.

I taped one edge of the tulle to the inside hoop and then wrapped around the rest of the hoop. I put the top hoop on to hold it in place and then loosened it just enough to slip the ribbon in, which I secured with a knot. No sewing involved (not that I have anything against sewing but just wanted to share how quick and EASY it was to make!). Oh and I used a playsilk that we already had to cover the top.

Easy-peasy! And now I'm off to check out monarchwatch.org to learn more about our visitors...