Country Style Gardening

Good Morning,
Happy Mothers' Day today.  I will be out in the garden planting this pretty pink Mophead Hydrangea from my boys with a country style twist before the rain rolls in.

I think it will be a nice touch to add this bright pink hydrangea to the front of the house where the property opens up as you come down the long driveway.  Just on the other side I planted a crab apple, which will make a nice combo for the garden.
Since I don't have Osmocote, a slow releasing fertilizer, I will be using a 10-10-10 fertilizer with this hydrangea.
Check back in later to see what I've done with this hydrangea and for some curb appeal ideas for you home.

Enjoy your Mothers' Day!

A Farmhouse Chair even you can make

I apologize for the long time in-between my posts.  I've been busy going to school and training.  As I was moving stuff around in the shed and putting away my summer yard tools and pots, I came across my sons crib mattress.
I thought I would make a farmhouse chair out of it like I made a bed for our dog with the other toddler  mattress and it came out pretty cool.

Old Picture Frame and Chicken Wire Art

Ever wonder what to do with old picture frames that have no glass?  Try adding some chicken wire to the back of the frame to hang pictures or accent another piece of art.  The projects are endless and you also get to recycle the old frame instead of tossing it.

                                                                            

Holiday Gifts for the Teachers

Hello Everyone.   Today is the start of  Christmas vacation for our son.  They had a small Christmas party at the school with a Santa , snacks and small gifts.  As a way to say  '  Thank you  ' to the teachers , I made them a gift.  Although you can never say thank you enough to the teachers for all the hard work they do, a small gift as a sign of appreciation during the Holidays is always nice.

Wrought Iron Gates for our home - my early Christmas present

Those who know me , know of my LOVE for anything old and iron.  Every year we go to this high end garden center for our Christmas tree that also sells expensive antiques , statues and fountains and so on . They sell the type of antiques for people with homes that are Mansions with gardens that are  listed as Estates for the wealthy people.  I can only dream when I go in there.  While we were walking through the garden center , I saw this beautiful wrought iron arbor with some rust showing throughout it.  I fell in love with it.  I looked at it over and over and then I saw the price.  I said to my honey,  " I would love this for our garden. . .  oh, maybe someday ."   Christmas morning came and he said your present is out in the yard. There it was flat on the ground.  I could not believe my eyes.   It took three of us to move it and set it up.  We set it up over the summer and added a lace vine to each side.  The vine has tiny white flowers and grows rapidly.  It is so gorgeous.

Christmas decorating is late this year

By this time in December , my decorations are out and on display .  I am late this year and lots of reasons why. Busy , busy and busy . Let me tell you why.

I went to this demo / hoarder house that is being torn down sometime tomorrow.  Just look at the  ' junk ' that I loaded into my suv.  It's times like this when I wish I had a box truck. 

Chalk Painted dresser with a stencil

Last year I got this dresser from a woman who was down sizing.  It's old and definitely shows it's age. The top was peeling and part of the hardware is missing.  I thought this would be a great piece to try chalk paint.  I let it sit for awhile out in the garage. That's where my projects await me.

I was looking thru some blogs that I follow and got my inspiration from Red Hen Home (www.redhenhome.blogspot.com).

Holiday Solar Lanterns - DIY

I have these lanterns outside for the summer with candles in them for tabletop lighting on the deck. I was going to put them away for the winter but decided to try to use them for the holidays instead.

As you can see the lanterns are old and rusty which I love, not to mention all dented.  I went by the dollar tree store and picked up 2 holiday solar lights. I then masked and painted the lanterns with black spray paint.

I took the solar lights apart to use the tops of them only for this.  I tried to goop the light inside the lantern , but it didn't hold.  There is probably too much candle wax on the bottoms in the lantern.  I had to think of something else to hold the lights in place. Yup, I borrowed some of my son's good ol' play-doh and I he had some black on hand.  I made a couple of play-doh balls and stuck the light into it inside the lantern. I molded the edges over the sides.  I tested the lights to see if they would light up outside at night and they did.

Once the play-doh dried and hardened , I added some pinecones cut in half around the base of the lights. I also added some holiday greenery at the tops of the lantern.  When the spring comes , I will easily be able to take the holiday lights out and re-use the lanterns again for the spring. I think I can get another year out of them.

                                                  I just need to hang them outside.

Another ' CHUNKY ' Wood Frame - DIY

It's been a very busy week trying to get the outside of house freshened up to get ready for Holiday decorating. I have about 5 projects I'm working on that I should have finished in a day or two.  Here is our thermometer that we rely on more than once a day in our house.  I had some scrap wood lying around so I thought it would beef it up a little.

Making Room for Christmas/Recycling Toys

Hello Everyone.  I hope you had a great weekend.   I spent the whole day removing all the leaves from the deck , flower beds and backyard on saturday.  The weather was too beautiful to be indoors.  I started in the morning and spent the whole day and into the night on sunday making room for Christmas. When you have a toddler , timing is everything.

Spray painted Lights

While I was out staining the front of the house last weekend,the lights were looking shabby.

Rather than buying new lights, I thought I would try to paint them to freshen them up a bit.

I masked the light with painters tape.  I didn't get fancy with it as you can see.  I was on the ladder most of the day so I kinda just wanted to do this quick before I put all the ladders away.  I spray painted with black. It actually looks like we changed the lights.

The light stands out more painted black. I just have 2 more to go.

The white trim does not match with the wood exterior.  I have a new color that I picked out for the trim.

Wait until you see what color I picked....

Another DIY project.

Go " Green " for Halloween

I donated a few bags of recycled Enfamil formula bottles to the school.  I use them for leftover paint and some craft supplies.  Here's what the art teacher at the school did with the children for Halloween.